Johnson’s own ties to Russian money have also come under scrutiny. He has long had a close relationship with the newspaper mogul Evgeny Lebedev, who is the son of the Russian oligarch and former KGB agent, Alexander Lebedev.

Johnson was repeatedly hosted by Evgeny Lebedev at his Italian villa, while he was Mayor of London, for what his spokesman described as “purely personal” trips. As Byline Times has previously documented, Italian newspaper reports suggested that Johnson shook off his accompanying police protection officers in order to attend what were described as “X-rated” parties at the villa.

Following this hospitality from Lebedev, whose newspaper the Evening Standard, supported his re-election as London Mayor, Johnson then overruled advice from the House of Lords Appointments Commission in order to hand him a peerage.

Lebedev has since failed to take part in a single vote in the House of Lords, Insider’s Cat Neilan reported on Tuesday.

Johnson’s new-found commitment to revealing the influence of Russian money in the UK was also missing when he decided to block the publication of a report on Russian interference in the UK.

The Prime Minister repeatedly refused to allow publication of the report by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee in the run-up to the 2019 General Election. The Times quoted sources suggesting that his resistance was due to “embarrassing” links the committee had discovered between Conservative Party donors and the Kremlin.

Source: Boris Johnson Refuses to Extend Russian Money ‘Clampdown’ to Conservative Donors – Byline Times

Source: Turkey says Russian recognition of breakaway regions in Ukraine ‘unacceptable’ – Turkey News

Source: Masking in schools: A doctor and COVID-19 researcher explains how it keeps children safe

Source: Homemade Vegan Cream Cheese – Oh My Veggies

Source: Easy Marinated Tofu – Oh My Veggies

Source: The World Is Liberalizing Abortion Laws, But America Is Bent on Criminalization

“They failed to follow basic security procedures for years, failed to protect teachers’ Social Security numbers, and failed to take responsibility, instead choosing to instigate a baseless investigation into two Missourians who did the right thing and reported the problem,” Gross told The Post-Dispatch. “We thank the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Cole County Prosecutor’s Office for their diligent work on a case that never should have been sent to them.” Source: Missouri Governor’s Office Responsible For Teacher Data Leak – Slashdot

How do small and extreme groups take over the American political conversation? In this final installment of a three-part series on educating citizens, Heather and Joanne look at how reactionary movements utilize bullying tactics to wrest control from the majority.

Heather and Joanne offer a comparison between the path to secession at the start of the Civil War, the rise of American Nazi-sympathizing groups in the 1930s, and the current reactionary movements around COVID-19 protocols and the education system.

Source: Bans, Schools, & Power: False Majorities

• Major U.S. and Brazilian financial institutions continue to underwrite the destruction of the Amazon by financing mining companies pushing to operate in Indigenous territories, a new report says.
• The top financiers include BlackRock, Capital Group and Vanguard from the U.S., along with Brazilian pension fund PREVI, all of which have a stake in, have issued loans to or are otherwise financially invested in nine mining companies to the tune of $54.1 billion.
• The mining companies, which include Vale, Anglo American and Rio Tinto, have records of environmental destruction and human rights violations in Brazil and elsewhere, and several already operate close to Indigenous lands in Brazil, polluting rivers and harming the health of native communities.
• A bill currently before Brazil’s parliament could allow mining in Indigenous territories, which is currently prohibited under the country’s Constitution; the national mining authority, meanwhile, continues to register applications to mine in areas that overlap into Indigenous territories. 

Source: From Wall Street to the Amazon: Big capital funds mining-driven deforestation