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Last week, Russian government officials and representatives from fintech firms gathered for the annual Finopolis forum to discuss the future of Russian finance and banking. The conference was held in the Sirius Federal Territory, located outside of Sochi, which operates under an “experimental legal regime”, allowing the municipality to implement “projects that serve as models for Russian …

The word ‘development’ is often invoked as a moral good. Corporations and international investors regard it as a massive business opportunity, and politicians sell it as a template for ‘progress’. For decades, development has been framed as the path out of poverty and a holy grail. But there are certain things that are seldom questioned, …

“When they came in the middle of the night, they terrorized the families that were living there. There were children who were without clothing, they were zip tied, taken outside at 3 o’clock in the morning. A senior resident, an American citizen with no warrants, was taken outside and handcuffed for three hours. Doors were …

Our successor to This Week in the Guardian, This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world. 1. Return of the “planetary health diet” The Lancet has published its review and recommendations for the UN’s “Planetary Health Diet”. Spoiler alert: They’re in …

In my previous article I suggested that the UK’s proposed “mandatory” digital ID, called the BritCard, was a bait and switch psyop. I posited that the arguments presented by Keir Starmer’s purported Labour government, to supposedly justify the BritCard rollout, coupled with the timing of the announcement, the apparent inability to understand public opinion, and the lack of necessity for …

I see a lot of young people in my practice. You know, the kids just out of university and setting out to make their mark in the world. They seem to have a very narrow focus. Get through school and training as effortlessly as possible, find a career that pays really well with little hard …

Let me give you some advice that could change your life forever. It’s called “yes, and” and it will transform your arguments into productive conversations. Let me show you how. Sources, shownotes and links – as well as audio versions and download options – can be found here. Previous episodes of #SolutionsWatch can be found …

The Big News yesterday was that both sides of the conflict in Gaza have agreed to the first stages of a ceasefire plan put forward by the White House. Breaking news says the remaining hostages, having somehow escaped being blown up in the indiscriminate bombardment of a tiny city enclave, will be released on Monday …

Antonio Gramsci argued that propaganda is the main fabric through which contemporary power asserts itself. For Gramsci, propaganda is central to cultural hegemony; in other words, the dominance of a particular worldview (often that of the ruling class or elite) that is so deeply internalised by society that it becomes ‘common sense’ and uncritically accepted as natural and inevitable. There are many reasons why transnational agribusiness has been able to secure its dominance in the global food system, not …