News Round-Up: Brussels Approves Bread Made of Worms, Billionaire Bloomberg to Fund UN Climate Agency After US Exit and Biometric Payment Systems in Russia.
Every week, the editorial team of Freedom Research compiles a round-up of news that caught our eye, or what felt like under-reported aspects of news deserving more attention.
Over the past week, the following topics attracted our attention:
Russia to launch nationwide biometric payment system.
Brussels approves bread made of worms.
Billionaire Bloomberg to fund UN climate agency after US exit from Paris accord.
CIA: Covid-19 most likely originated from a lab.
Sweden sees an alarming increase in explosions – again.
Russia to launch nationwide biometric payment system
Russia is preparing to launch a comprehensive facial recognition payment system, aiming to create one of the largest biometric payment networks in the world, Reclaim The Net reports. This initiative will build upon the existing Face Pay platform, which has been gradually implemented since 2021, and is a joint effort between Sberbank and the National Payment Card System (NSPK). To support the rollout, approximately two million biometric payment terminals are planned to be installed nationwide.
Face Pay, already in use in Moscow’s subway and several other cities like Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod, allows commuters to make payments by scanning their faces. By the second half of 2025, the system will expand across the country, enabling users to register their biometric data through their banking apps and make payments at any terminal, regardless of their bank.
The initiative will also be integrated into Russia’s Unified Biometric System (UBS), a state-run database that centralizes biometric data for identification and authentication purposes. Since 2022, state-owned banks have been required to transfer customer biometric information to this system. However, user adoption has been sluggish, with the UBS database yet to surpass three million users, reflecting public resistance and potential privacy concerns.
The government envisions the system as more than just a payment platform. Planned features include verifying user’s age for restricted purchases and enabling contactless check-ins at hotels.
Many have raised concerns over the system’s dual use, as facial recognition technology has already been leveraged to assist law enforcement in tracking political dissenters. While marketed as a tool for convenience, its integration into surveillance networks highlights significant privacy risks.
Brussels approves bread made of worms
According to Regulation (EU) 2025/89, EU citizens will now be able to enjoy bread made from worms, Remix News writes. The inspiration for this new rule is that we humans need an alternative to meat. Agriculture, or livestock in particular, has been targeted for generating over 10 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions. The EU aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 90 percent by 2040.
A European will eat four oxen, four rams, 46 pigs, 46 turkeys, 12 geese, 37 ducks, and as many as 945 chickens in their average lifespan. Over 73 percent of families prepare meat dishes at least a few times a week. Around 350 million tons of meat are consumed worldwide each year. So, alternative sources for protein are sought. However, last year, the European Commission removed the emphasis on promoting laboratory meat within the framework of the Community’s climate policy due to objections from farmers. So now Brussels allows another protein source – insects. The EU list of new foods for humans currently includes three types of insects: the mealworm (in the form of dried larvae), the migratory locust (frozen, dried and powdered) and the house cricket (frozen, dried and powdered). The larvae of the shiny mealworm have also been allowed to be traded on the EU market in frozen, paste, dried, and powdered form. The European Commission announcement implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/89 on Jan. 20 authorizes “the placing on the market of UV-treated powder of whole yellow mealworm larvae (Teebrio) as a novel food and amends Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470.” It explains that “on March 28, 2023, the Authority adopted its scientific opinion on the ‘Safety of UV-treated powder of whole yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor larvae) as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283’’ in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283.”
The communication continues: “In its scientific opinion, the Authority concluded that the UV-treated powder of whole Tenebrio molitor larvae is safe under the proposed conditions and use levels. Therefore, this scientific opinion provides sufficient grounds to establish that the UV-treated powder of whole Tenebrio molitor larvae, for use in bread and rolls, cakes, pasta products, processed potato products, cheese and cheese products, and fruit and vegetable compotes, intended for the general population, meets the conditions for placing it on the market in accordance with Article 12(1) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283.”
It concludes by stating that “this Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.”
The law means bread and rolls will contain 4 grams of mealworms per 100g of bread, and cakes 3.5g of larvae per 100g of cake. And apparently, this is creating a whole new business of larvae breeders.
The regulation mandates that all products containing UV-treated powder of whole Tenebrio molitor larvae (yellow mealworm) will list it as an ingredient. Also, there will have to be an additional “statement that this ingredient may cause allergic reactions to consumers with known
allergies to crustaceans, and products thereof, and to dust mites.”
Billionaire Bloomberg to fund UN climate agency after US exit from Paris accord
Billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that his foundation would fund the UN climate change agency after president Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement, France 24 writes. Bloomberg’s pledge will cover the 22 percent of its 88.4 million euros ($96.5 million) budget previously provided by the US for 2024-2025.
Bloomberg's intervention aims to ensure the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) remains fully funded despite the United States halting its contributions.
This marks the second time Bloomberg has stepped in to fill the gap left by US federal disengagement.
In 2017, following the Trump administration's first withdrawal from the Paris accord, Bloomberg pledged up to $15 million to support the UNFCCC.
He also launched "America's Pledge," an initiative to track and report US non-federal climate commitments, ensuring the world could monitor US progress as if it were still a fully committed party to the Paris Agreement.
Bloomberg reiterated his commitment to upholding US reporting obligations this time as well.
CIA: Covid-19 most likely originated from a lab
The CIA now believes that Covid-19 most likely originated from a laboratory, AP writes. The finding is not the result of any new intelligence, and the report released a week ago on Saturday was completed at the behest of the Biden administration and former CIA Director William Burns. It was declassified and released a week ago on Saturday on the orders of president Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency, John Ratcliffe, who was sworn in as director of the agency a couple of days before.
The nuanced finding suggests the agency believes the totality of evidence makes a lab origin more likely than a natural origin. But the agency’s assessment assigns a low degree of confidence to this conclusion, suggesting the evidence is deficient, inconclusive or contradictory.
The likelihood of the laboratory origin of Covid-19 has previously been confirmed by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of Energy. Similarly, a US Congressional Select Subcommittee On The Coronavirus Pandemic concluded after two years of investigation that dangerous virus research in Wuhan, China, is the most likely source of the virus.
We have written extensively on the origins of Covid-19 here.
Sweden sees an alarming increase in explosions - again
At the beginning of 2025, Sweden has seen an alarming increase in explosions, with an average of one bombing per day, The Nordic Times reports.
The negative trend raises concerns that this year could be a dismal record year. As of January 27, 2025, 27 bombings have occurred in the country. The figure indicates an upward trend compared to 2024.
The latest bombing took place overnight, when an explosion was triggered at an apartment building in Bro, northwest of Stockholm. One person was reportedly slightly injured in connection with the blast.
A young man has been arrested for the blast, suspected of attempted murder and criminal damage.
In 2024, police reported a total of 317 blasts (detonations, attempts and preparations) – a slight decrease from 351 in 2023. The escalation and increase underline the seriousness of the situation and the need for effective action. “It has escalated in December and January, where we see a sharp increase in bomb violence,” Erik Lindblad, national operations manager at the police, told the SVT.
Several of the recent bombings have taken place in residential areas. Fortunately, the majority of these incidents have not resulted in personal injuries, but many have caused significant material damage, along with the psychological impact such bombings have on civil society.
However, serious injuries have become more common as bombings increase, coupled with the fact that criminals have become more reckless, showing little regard for who is affected. For example, in September 2023, a 25-year-old woman died after a bombing in Fullersta, north of Uppsala.
The government has announced tougher penalties for bombings and increased support for the police in the form of resources and powers.
Bombings are related to gang violence with what Sweden has been struggling in recent years. This rise in gang violence and organised crime in Sweden is directly linked to large-scale immigration. Gangs involved in drug trafficking are fronted by criminals of foreign origin, who typically recruit young people with an immigrant background into their gangs.
The problems of uncontrolled immigration in Sweden and the labelling of citizens who draw attention to the problems as misinformation spreaders was also a topic in an analysis we published last year.