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The ruble continues to fall, sanctions are biting and the slide in the price of oil shows no sign of slowing – it's hitting Russia hard and means a credit rating downgrade to "junk" status could be on the way. Russia's Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Wednesday that the chances of the beleaguered country's rating being downgraded to junk were "pretty high," according to the Interfax news agency.

Shortages are nothing new in Venezuela. Indeed, a shortage of toilet paper has been the subject of global amusement for quite some time. But recently, the shortages have become much worse. Last week, a government official was jeered for saying that long lines indicated that “Venezuela has plenty of food”, when rows and rows of empty shelves in stores were telling a different story. Bloomberg reports that people are queueing overnight for necessities such as soap, milk and diapers. This is very dangerous. Venezuela is already one of the most violent societies on earth. And when shortages start to affect...

Back in November, before most grasped just how serious the collapse in crude was (and would become, as well as its massive implications), we wrote "How The Petrodollar Quietly Died, And Nobody Noticed", because for the first time in almost two decades, energy-exporting countries would pull their "petrodollars" out of world markets in 2015. This empirical death of Petrodollar followed years of windfalls for oil exporters such as Russia, Angola, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Much of that money found its way into financial markets, helping to boost asset prices and keep the cost of borrowing down, through so-called petrodollar recycling....

The larger-than-life Russian leader has held power — with one title or another — for 15 years, and is set to reign for at least a decade more. Yet Putin remains inscrutable. With only a smattering of biographical details released to the public and his sometimes puzzling public appearances, scholars — and even many world leaders — still struggle to understand the man at the helm of the Kremlin. To glean a clearer picture, FRONTLINE took a closer look at some of the most identifiable aspects of Putin’s public persona. --------------------------------------------------------- Putin’s Way, FRONTLINE’s investigation into the accusations of criminality...

I've been in the oil patch for close to 30 years. During that time, I have seen oil price go down to about $10 per barrel, and I have seen the price rise to over $100 per barrel. I have seen the price swing for no reason at all. I have heard different bogeymen being blamed for changes in the oil price. Supply and demand are certainly part of the oil price equation, but speculation has been a major price driver for at least the last couple of years, beyond the S&D factors. Right now, the Saudis are being blamed...

In the face of difficult circumstances, Russia, understanding the mindset of its “former” foes, made the brilliant decision to join the West through economic and diplomatic “cooperation.” This convergence strategy gave the outward appearance of a liberalizing Russia, but consistent with its historical adeptness at subversion and subterfuge, proved a clever way to rebuild, gain leverage over and embed itself within its enemies. Russia opened itself to trade to raise capital and procure technology that it could use to exploit its natural resources, rebuild its military and enrich Vladimir Putin and his cronies. In so doing, Russia developed energy pipelines...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that countries behind the fall in global oil prices would regret their decision and warned that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait would suffer alongside Iran from the price drop. "Those that have planned to decrease the prices against other countries will regret this decision," Rouhani said in a speech broadcast on state television as oil plunged to near six year lows on international markets. [O/R] "If Iran suffers from the drop in oil prices, know that other oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will suffer more than Iran," he added. Oil prices...

Portia Crowe January 12, 2015Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the eccentric Saudi billionaire once labeled the "Arabian Warren Buffett," predicted that oil would never again reach $100 a barrel. "The price of oil above $100 is artificial," he said. "It's not correct." That's in an interview with Maria Bartiromo for USA Today, in which the business magnate blamed oversupply and weak demand for the recent drop in oil prices. He also predicted hard times ahead for America's shale-oil and gas industries. "No one knows for sure what price is the breaking point for shale," he said. "Wells have a higher production...

"You better believe it is gonna go down more," Alwaleed bin Talal said.Saudi royal prince Alwaleed bin Talal says in a new interview that the days of $100-a-barrel oil are a thing of the past, as oil prices continue to drop around the globe. Asked by USA Today if prices, recently below $50 a barrel, would continue to plunge, Talal answered: “If supply stays where it is, and demand remains weak, you better believe it is gonna go down more. But if some supply is taken off the market, and there’s some growth in demand, prices may go up. But...

Christians and Churches Attacked in the WestPosted By Raymond Ibrahim On December 26, 2014 @ 12:17 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 4 Comments Reprinted from GatestoneInstitute.org. “You have a cross on… Do you know what we do to people like you?” — Muslim in Denmark.Muslim Fulani gunmen forced their way into the church, cut [the pastor], his wife and a daughter with a machete, and then tied the hands and feet of the three of them before setting the building on fire… We only found the charred remains of the three of them in the morning. I heard them shouting...

US intelligence believes that members of the al-Nusrah Front, al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, have linked up with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in order to develop a plot to down a plane headed to the US or Europe. Officials are worried that jihadist fighters in Syria who hold US or European passports would be central to the plot. A source told ABC that this threat “is different and more disturbing than past aviation plots.”

Hopefully, Russians realize that our House of Representatives often passes thunderous resolutions to pander to special interests, which have no bearing on the thinking or actions of the U.S. government. Last week, the House passed such a resolution 411-10. As ex-Rep. Ron Paul writes, House Resolution 758 is so "full of war propaganda that it rivals the rhetoric from the chilliest era of the Cold War." H. R. 758 is a Russophobic rant full of falsehoods and steeped in superpower hypocrisy. Among the 43 particulars in the House indictment is this gem: "The Russian Federation invaded the Republic of Georgia...

The joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region said Monday an initial investigation has turned up no evidence of a claimed mass rape in a village there, but a U.N. envoy said there was a heavy military presence during the visit which could have affected the findings. […] Allegations first surfaced earlier this month of a mass rape of 200 women in Tabit and UNAMID said it intends to conduct further investigations. […] (Australia’s U.N. Ambassador Gary) Quinlan said (the U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Hawa) Bangura raised questions about whether “a wall of...

The Duke of Wellington said of his close-run victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo that the French "came on in the same old way, and we sent them back in the same old way." Something like that happened to the Democrats in Tuesday's midterm elections, as they lost the Senate, a few more seats in the House and additional governorships. They came on with the same old strategy, but this time they went down with it. Obama and the Democrats chose not to defend the administration's record of the last six years. On foreign policy, no Democratic chorus...

Hemorrhagic fever cases reported in Sudan’s Kordofan About five cases of hemorrhagic fever have been reported in Kadulgli town in Sudan’s South Kordofan, according to medical sources. A source told Radio Tamazuj that about five children were taken to Kadugli Hospital, amid a media blackout due to a visit by the First Vice President Bakri Hassan Selah to the town today. The visiting vice-president was expected to inaugurate health facilities in the area. Meanwhile, security agents allegedly refused a transfer of one of the suffering children to El Obeid Hospital for treatment. This comes after similar reports in October of...

CAIRO — The Arab League warned Sunday that Israel has reached a “red line” after fresh clashes in Jerusalem, urging international pressure to stop what it branded “violations” in the holy city. Clashes around the flashpoint Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa Mosque compound — the third holiest site in Islam and Judaism’s holiest — prompted Israel on Thursday to close the site for a day. The Temple Mount and adjacent neighborhoods have seen months of violence, with the mosque compound a rallying point for Palestinian resistance to perceived Jewish attempts to take control of it...

It hasn't made much noise worldwide, but Iran's rapidly deteriorating relationships with several African countries is huge news across the continent. On February 16, the Nigerian Federal High Court in Lagos began the prosecution of an alleged member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Azim Aghajani, and a Nigerian associate, Usman Abbas Jega. They are accused of arms smuggling. This video link is in Arabic, but is very self-explanatory. It is of the opening day of the court proceedings.The story is a classic, just one of many on the Dark Continent nowadays: In late October 2010, Nigerian intelligence officials...

Egypt has declared a state of emergency in the north and centre of the Sinai Peninsula after a suicide car bombing killed at least 30 soldiers. The measures will begin on Saturday at 03:00 GMT "for [a] duration of three months," Presidency Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said in a statement, in the wake of the deadliest attack on the security forces since the army deposed President Mohamed Morsi last year. A three-day mourning period has been declared across the country, ...

Newser) – Three teenage girls from Denver flew overseas in a bid to join ISIS in Syria before being stopped, reports the Denver Post. The girls, ages 15 and 16, apparently were lured by a "slick" online campaign to join militants with the Islamic State, an FBI official tells ABC News. They made it as far as Frankfurt, Germany, before being detained, and all three have been returned to their families in Denver. It's unclear whether they will face charges. The Voice of America first reported the incident, saying that two of the girls are of Somali origin, while the...

An explosion in southern Lebanon last week destroyed what is believed to have been a Hezbollah weapons depot. This latest in a series of mysterious “accidents” in Hezbollah-controlled precincts proved, as one Israeli official wryly remarked, that those who “sleep with rockets and amass large stockpiles of weapons are in a very unsafe place.” With the Party of God’s overland supply route through Syria choked off by the 22-month-long uprising against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and Israel virtually in total control of the maritime route, Hezbollah’s stockpile is being systematically degraded.Yet the arsenal of Iran’s other regional proxy force, Hamas,...