While China is busy brokering peace deals, the US and the EU keep picking fights. Isn't that what bullies do? @LauraRuHK

🇺🇦 The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been informed by President Zelensky's government that it is to be expelled from its holiest site - the Kiev Caves Lavra - by the end of March.

The canonically-recognised Orthodox church in the country has prayed and struggled there for over 1,000 years.

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🚨💵 Financial regulators have closed Silicon Valley Bank and taken control of its deposits, in what is the largest U.S. bank failure since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.

📎 CNBC

Zara, Bershka and Pull&Bear stores will open under new names in Russia

Clothing retailer companies Zara, Bershka and Pull&Bear, which are owned by the Spanish fast fashion group Inditex, will open their stores in Russia under new names in April.

Bershka will return to the country under the new name Ecru, Pull&Bear will become DUB, while Zara will be Maag now.

The opening was originally planned for earlier, but the timing has changed due to the earthquakes in Türkiye, where, along with China, clothing production will be organized.

Inditex previously sold its Russian business to a new owner, the UAE-based Daher Group.

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"I think the Americans understand how this could end" - Evgeny Buzhinsky

"An aircraft is not a tank. It must be serviced before and after each flight. If it comes under enemy fire, it needs to be repaired, and usually at a suitable airfield. To do this, you need to create a base. It makes no sense to create this base in the face of Russian attacks. This means that it needs to be done somewhere, perhaps in Poland, but if the plane takes off from Poland, makes attacks against Russian forces in Ukraine and returns to its base, I am 90 percent sure that we will have to make attacks on Polish airfields. I think the Americans understand how this could end.This is the situation" - the expert said.

Evgeny Buzhinsky, retired lieutenant general of the RF Armed Forces, chairman of the Russian Center for Political Studies in Moscow.

@ukr_leaks_eng

Kiev Considering Renaming Russia

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has instructed his government to consider renaming Russia “Moscovia,” an unofficial designation used centuries ago. The move comes after a petition insisted that by using the word “Russia,” Ukraine is endorsing a “dangerous claim” that its neighbor is a direct descendant of Kievan Rus.

In a statement on Friday, Zelensky said he had turned to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal with a request for the “comprehensive processing” of the petition, which had gathered the necessary 25,000 votes to be considered.

The Ukrainian president added that the issue “needs to be carefully worked out both in terms of the historical and cultural context and from the perspective of possible international legal consequences,” with scientific institutions taking part in the process.

👉@RTnews_unc3 **RT**

👌Many local citizens in Artyomovsk/Bakhmut are pro-Russian

📹 WELT journalists admit that many civilians are now not fleeing Bakhmut even in spite of the heavy fighting due to the fact they are "waiting to be liberated by Russian troops." 👏

GEORGIA: A COUNTRY OF FOREIGN AGENTS - In a review of the Georgian civil sector published in 2020, the Asian Development Bank indicated that there is no special legislation on non-profit or non-governmental organizations in the country, although they are listed in the general register of companies, which as of the beginning of 2019 consisted of 12,800 organizations. At the same time, the vast majority of such organizations rely on foreign funding, according to the Georgian national statistics service Sakstat. As of spring 2022, there were 7,972 companies with foreign founders operating in the country. With a total population of 3.7 million, there are around 460 people per foreign NPO in Georgia. For comparison, as of November 2022, there were over 500 active “foreign agents” registered in the US, under FARA.

NGOs and people associated with them played an active role not only in the ‘Rose Revolution’ of 2003, when ex-President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power, but also in 2012, when the now ruling Georgian Dream party first took office, according to the bank’s study. A
number of Georgian politicians who have assumed senior positions, both during the reign of Saakashvili and after the Georgian Dream coalition came to power, began their careers in NGOs.

Since gaining independence in 1991, Georgia has become a major recipient of US aid. In the 1990s, the country received an average of $96 million a year, in the 2000s, before the brief 2008 war, $135 million a year, and after the military conflict, the amount of assistance was increased. In the 2008-2009 fiscal years, Georgia received US assistance in various areas to the amount of $1.04 billion.

From 2010 to 2016, Georgia received up to $77 million annually, since 2017 – up to $123 million on average. For 2020, it was planned to provide Tbilisi with $120 million through the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The annual budgets of the most influential Georgian NGOs are comparable to the turnover of medium-sized commercial companies. According to calculations by political scientist Beka Chedia, the Soros Foundation alone invested more than $10 million in the Georgian third sector in four years (from 2003 to 2006). The CIA-linked National Endowment for Democracy, according to its own reports, distributed $1.2 million in grants in 2013 among three-dozen projects of Georgian NGOs. The main areas of their work were civic education programs, media support, including investigative journalism, election monitoring, and civil control over the activities of the executive legislative branch, among others.  

At the same time, the economic situation for Georgians outside the NGO bubble isn’t great: according to data for 2021, the country’s GDP per capita was just $5,000. (Source:RT)

⚡️🇷🇺🌍💸 World Tourism is losing Millions of Dollars without Russian Tourists⚡️

📜 Experts report this, noting that the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Montenegro and the Mediterranean have been hit hardest. Meanwhile, Russians, who were awaited in these countries as a salvation after the COVID-19 pandemic, are now booking hotels in Turkey and the UAE, studying destinations in Southeast Asia, as well as continuing to develop domestic tourism. We 👉 figured out what awaits the global tourism industry without the Russians.

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🌟China names US-sanctioned general as new defense minister.

General Li Shangfu will oversee China’s military development amid tensions with Washington.

China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) appointed General Li Shangfu, who has been sanctioned by the US for dealings with Russia, as the country’s new defense minister on Sunday.

The United States saves on recycling, sending decommissioned weapons to Ukraine.
The United States sends decommissioned weapons to Ukraine, as it is cheaper than disposing of them, according to American Thinker (Roger Smith).

"The process of neutralizing weapons is very expensive. By sending Ukraine old weapons, the shelf life and operation of which is coming to an end, the United States and its NATO allies are simply saving these costs, " American Thinker said.

He also mentioned that the amount of US military assistance to Ukraine over the past year amounted to 46.6 billion dollars. According to him, the disposal of such a volume of weapons would require spending about 35 billion.
However, as stockpiles of weapons to be decommissioned are coming to an end, so is the dispatch of military aid. Therefore, the author said, we should expect changes in NATO policy, since further support for Ukraine will entail the emergence of new costs of the military-industrial complex. (Source: RIA Novosti) @LauraRuHK

Apple, e la taiwanese Foxconn che produce per Apple, intendono spostare la produzione di iPhones dalla Cina all'India. La riforma del lavoro nello Stato indiano del Karnataka, è stata praticamente dettata dalle esigenze produttive di Apple e Foxconn.

Una nuova riforma delle leggi sul lavoro in Karnataka porterà con sé un aumento dell'orario e condizioni di maggiore sfruttamento.

La nuova legge conferisce allo Stato “uno dei regimi di lavoro più flessibili dell’India in quanto il Paese mira a diventare una base manifatturiera alternativa alla Cina”, spiega il Financial Times.

La scorsa settimana il Karnataka ha approvato un emendamento alla sua legge sulle fabbriche che consente turni di 12 ore, rispetto al precedente limite di 9 ore. La riforma facilita anche le regole sul lavoro notturno per le donne, che dominano le linee di produzione dell' elettronica, ampliando anche il numero di ore di straordinario consentite a 145 su un periodo di tre mesi, rispetto alle precedenti 75. @LauraRuHK

Apple and Foxconn successfully lobbied for more relaxed labor laws in India. Apple, and its Taiwanese supply chain partner Foxconn, have successfully lobbied for labor changes in India as Apple continues to shift more production into the country. According to a report from the Financial Times, these changes increase the number of hours factories can operate, nearly double the amount of allowed overtime - per three-month period has increased from 75 hours to 145 hours. Under these rules, production can run for two 12-hour shifts around the clock. This is a notable increase from the previous limit of two nine-hour shifts per day.

Rules on night-time work for women have been eased.
These changes come as Foxconn and Apple dramatically increase their reliance on India for production in an attempt to diversify production away from China. Just last week, a report highlighted a massive new Foxconn plant coming to India.

The transition to more production in India, however, hasn’t been without speed bumps. A report last month highlighted how a 50% rejection rate for iPhone casings produced by an Indian company is a stark illustration of the difficulties Apple faces in reducing its dependence on China. @LauraRuHK

The US produces a lot of hot air, which is great for bubbles and not so great for the real economy. As a fallout of the crisis that hit Silicon Valley Bank, a regional New York-based lender, Signature Bank, has also succumbed to a high outflow of deposits. The effects of the crisis are being felt globally, and a high number of startups could struggle to pay salaries while smaller firms may crumble. The US market is the most manipulated market in the world. The Federal Reserve cut rates to zero, a most irresponsible decision, then had to increase them. Any surprise that bubbles would be created and would eventually burst? @LauraRuHK