Exactly one year ago, President Vladimir Putin announced that the country would finally abandon its long-standing flat tax policy, which was originally implemented to battle wide-spread tax evasion. Russia’s income tax rate had been set at a rate of 13% since 2001. The introduction of a separate tax bracket, which …
Read More »Despite opposition from Republican voters, Juneteenth platitudes pour in from all sides
After a unanimous vote in the Senate and a 415-14 vote in the House, President Joe Biden officially recognized June 19 – ‘Juneteenth’ – as a federal holiday on Thursday. Once a regional celebration unique to Texas, the date has been recognized in some capacity by 46 states since the …
Read More »Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny’s organisation branded ‘extremist’ by Moscow Court – allies now face election ban
Alongside the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), his national network of political offices and his Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation were also branded as extremist. The decision comes six weeks after the same body approved preliminary restrictions against the activist’s organization, pending today’s result. These limits included a ban on posting materials online, …
Read More »UN human rights commissioner slams Ukraine for closure of opposition TV channels, attacks on politicians & crackdown on activists
The report from the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, updated on Wednesday, welcomes a new civil liberties strategy put in place by President Volodymyr Zelensky in March. However, in practice, it found numerous worrying examples of the state exceeding its powers. Specifically, it blasted a decree signed …
Read More »Belarusian opposition activist stabs himself in neck with pen during court hearing, accusing officials of targeting his family
Shocking footage quickly emerged online, with reports indicating that Latypov gave a short speech from the defendant’s bench in which he accused security officials of threatening to prosecute his family if he did not confess. He was then said to have stabbed himself with a pen. In one clip, an …
Read More »Israel faces change of government as anti-Netanyahu opposition announces agreement
Naftali Bennett, former defense minister for Netanyahu, and opposition leader Yair Lapid will lead the opposition parties under this new agreement that would split power in a “unity government.” Bennett would take over as prime minister first, and then Lapid if they are successful in pushing Netanyahu from power. “We …
Read More »West molding Ukraine into ‘anti-Russia’ & West turns blind eye as crackdown on opposition makes Donbass peace impossible – Putin
Speaking on Friday, Putin also claimed that Ukraine’s crackdown on opposition politicians means that a peaceful resolution to the unrest in Donbass is becoming increasingly unlikely. “It is very sad, but it appears that Ukraine is slowly but surely being turned into some kind of antipode of Russia, some kind …
Read More »Ukraine court orders house arrest of opposition leader Medvedchuk, who is suspected by Kiev of ‘treason’
A judge in Kiev on Thursday denied the prosecutors’ request to jail Medvedchuk, but placed him on round-the-clock house arrest until July 9. His passport was also confiscated. A group of lawmakers had offered to pay Medvedchuk’s bail, while outside the court a group of nationalists had gathered calling for …
Read More »Zelensky targeting opposition leaders for ‘treason’ won’t help Ukraine’s unity problems – but could shatter the country for good
Medvedchuk is a serving MP and one of the leaders of the country’s largest opposition party, Opposition Platform – For Life (OPZZh), which primarily draws its support from Russophone residents of southern and eastern Ukraine. Using his connections and status in the community, he was able to strike deals that …
Read More »Opposition & human rights groups brand bloody Rio favela raid a ‘massacre’, demand probe into possible extrajudicial killings
Thursday’s raid on the Jacarezinho community in northern Rio left 25 dead, including a drug squad officer who was shot in the head. The slums, also known as favelas, are notorious for rampant crime and violence. The raid was the deadliest police operation in a Rio favela since 2005. Although police …
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