Ukraine
2022 Grammys: President Zelenskyy Says, “Our Musicians Wear Body Armor Instead of Tuxedos”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Recording Academy at the 2022 Grammys, reminding the international audience that since Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion, “Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos.” Before becoming the face of the Ukrainian resistance, Zelenskyy was a professional actor, writer, and comedian, and last week he pressed the Oscars to allow him to appear. Via The New York Times they balked, telling one of the organizers of the attempted cameo that, “They don’t want to overly politicize the show.” Where the Academy Awards showed a concern for politics, the Recording Academy came through. Zelenskyy appeared in a pre-taped video, speaking as fluently in English as he has often spoken in Ukrainian and Russian. He said, “The war. Wh...
World Cup 2022 Draw: England Get USA in Group Stages
The World Cup draw has been made, and England fans will feel confident after they avoided any big names. However, there is the real possibility of the English having to take on neighbours Wales or Scotland, depending how the one remaining European qualifying place goes. Elsewhere, there were some juicy draws, none bigger than European giants Spain and Germany being pitted together in the same group. Favourites Brazil and France will be confident, although the Portuguese have been drawn in a potentially tricky group. England avoid big guns The draw really couldn’t have been much kinder to England. Drawn in Group B, they first drew USA from the second batch of teams. Iran were then drawn, setting up a politically tense match with the US. It was the final team drawn in the group that provided...
‘The cryptocurrency world will help in this war’: Kuna CLO breaks down Ukraine’s digital asset law
While many parts of Ukraine are still facing threats from Russia’s military, some residents, industry leaders and government officials are turning to digital assets for help in relocating people, funding humanitarian aid projects and getting supplies to its own soldiers. On Feb. 17, exactly one week before Russian forces began their attack on Ukraine, the country’s legislature adopted the “On Virtual Assets” bill. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later signed the bill into law, establishing a legal framework for Ukraine to operate a regulated crypto market. Ganna Voievodina, chief legal officer of Ukraine-based crypto exchange Kuna and one of the bill’s authors, told Cointelegraph that the ramifications of the legislation came at a critical time when the country needed legal a...
Camila Cabello & Ed Sheeran Perform ‘Bam Bam’ for the First Time During ‘Concert for Ukraine’
Camila Cabello and Ed Sheeran joined forces at ITV’s Concert for Ukraine on Tuesday (March 29) to perform their new collaboration “Bam Bam” live together for the very first time. “We’re all praying tonight for the peace and the safety of the people in the Ukraine,” the former Fifth Harmony member said before surprising the crowd by welcoming Sheeran to the stage, adding, “This is such a full circle moment for me…But, like, literally I cried the first time I met him, I’m like such a huge fan of his.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news From there, the duo wasted no time jumping into the song — which has thus far peaked at No. 23 on the Hot 100 — with Cabello singing, “You said you hated the ocean but you’re surfing now/ I said I love you for life, b...
Russia seeks to eliminate the ‘legal vacuum’ around crypto mining
Russia’s deputy minister for energy, Evgeny Grabchak. proposes the regulation of crypto mining He also advocates for regional authorities to manage mining activities – energy quotas and allocation of sites The discourse around Russia and cryptocurrencies is slowly turning into a never-ending affair. Various matters have come up, from the proposition to ban crypto before the Ukraine invasion to the role of crypto in evading sanctions and, most recently, the introduction of Bitcoin as an option for countries to pay for Russian oil exports. Now, according to a report published by a local news agency Tass, the deputy minister of energy Evgeny Grabchak is proposing introducing a regulatory framework around cryptocurrencies. Regional authorities should determine the location of sites for m...
Crypto.com will air campaign in support of Ukraine during Academy Awards
Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com plans to use its ad time during the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday to air a TV spot regarding the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. In a Wednesday announcement, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said the exchange had partnered with the International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, to launch a campaign aimed at helping those suffering under war-torn conditions in Ukraine. The CEO did not specify what the campaign would entail, but the platform already allows donations in crypto, fiat and nonfungible token purchases to the humanitarian network Red Cross Red Crescent. The exchange will match up to $1 million in donations until March 31. “The humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine continues to escalate, and I believe it’s our responsibility to su...
Love it or hate it, crypto’s vibe shift is now imminent
Last month, cultural critic Alison P. Davis published an article in The Cut titled “A Vibe Shift is Coming. Will Any of Us Survive It?” The “vibe shift” Davis was referring to had nothing to do with crypto. She was referring to a sea change in pop culture and social trends, particularly in view of GenZ’s ongoing ascendance into trendsetting and cultural relevance. Nevertheless, her positioning caught my eye because she aptly put her finger on something crucial that I’ve also been feeling, particularly as it relates to crypto. The paradigm shift toward the next cultural moment — whatever it is — is perceptible, even if it’s not palpable. We can’t quite make it out, but we know it’s in the room. The concrete conditions haven’t shifted yet, but the vibe most certainly has. In the days followi...
Ukraine launches NFT museum ‘to keep the memory of war’
The Ministry of Digital Transformation in Ukraine has started an online nonfungible token museum aimed at preserving the timeline of major events starting with the Russian military invading the country. In a Friday tweet, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said the government launched an initiative with nonfungible token, or NFT, artwork depicting key moments from the Ukrainian perspective from Feb. 24 onward. The NFTs feature events starting at 5:45 AM local time on the day of the conflict, when Russia announced a “special military operation” in the Donbas region of Ukraine. According to the NFT museum website at the time of publication, 54 NFTs of key moments in the war between Feb. 24 and Feb. 26 will be available starting on March 30, with proceeds of the sal...
Hans Zimmer Lauds Ukrainian Pianist Who Performed Inception Theme During Air Raid
A song of joyful defiance. Hans Zimmer took a moment to honor a Ukrainian pianist during his London concert earlier this week. Pausing his own performance at the O2 Arena, the composer showed a video for the audience depicting the young musician named Alex, who refused to stop playing the main theme to 2010’s Inception when air raid sirens began going off in a Lviv subway station. National Geographic photographer John Stanmeyer captured the moment in a Lviv subway station and posted the video on social media. “When bomb sirens began, police asked everyone to move inside the railway station,” wrote Stanmeyer in the Instagram caption. “Alex @alexpian_official wouldn’t stop, playing his piano louder against the air raid warning. His friend joined with the most calming pink nails. A simple, ov...
Dee Snider Shares “Stand (for Ukraine)” Music Video, Launches Support Campaign: Stream
Dee Snider has shared “Stand (for Ukraine),” a re-worked music video for his 2021 Leave a Scar track “Stand.” The Twisted Sister singer also launched the World United Live support campaign to aid the country. Snider recently made headlines when he voiced staunch support for the Ukrainian’s use of Twisted Sister’s anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as a rallying cry against the invading Russian forces. However, Snider has also lambasted the song’s appropriation for less noble causes, such anti-mask rhetoric and questionable parody usage. “About a month ago, someone on social media told me people in Ukraine were using Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ as a battle cry and asked if I was cool with it. Of course I was,” Snider remarked in a statement. “My response elicited someone asking...
Digital currencies could get a boost from the international crisis: Blackrock CEO
Larry Fink, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, believes the ongoing Russia – Ukraine crisis has boosted the case for digital currencies as a tool of settlement for international transactions. In a shareholders letter, Fink noted that the ongoing war would force nations to reassess their currency dependencies which could eventually make way for a global digital payment network, reported Reuters He said the war has put an end to the globalization forces at work over the past 30 years. Fink’s observation about the boost in the digital currency market is quite spot on, as trade sanctions on Russia have already led many countries that import oil and gas from them to look for alternate payment networks beyond centralized SWIFT. India is reportedly developing a direct I...
Crypto trading in rubles falls even as ECB warns again on sanctions
The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde has reiterated warnings that Russian individuals and businesses are using cryptocurrencies to skirt sanctions. However, as of March 18, daily ruble-denominated crypto trading volume was sitting at just $7.4 million, down over 50% from recent figures and a peak of $70 million on March 7, according to data from Chainalysis. This amount represents a tiny slither of the total global crypto market volume, with Bitcoin’s total daily volume generally fluctuating between $20 billion and $40 billion. In a presentation at the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Summit on Tuesday, the crypto skeptic Lagarde said that European financial authorities had seen the “volumes of rubles into stable, into cryptos, at the moment [is at] th...
