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The Kazakh Ministry of Health has issued an innocuous disclaimer, denying social media reports about the seizure of a “military biological lab near Almaty by unidentified people.” According to Russia’s Tass news agency, social media had speculated that specialists in chemical protection suits were working near the lab as “a leak of dangerous pathogens” occurred. The carefully worded press release by the Kazakh ministry clarifies: “This is not true. The facility is being protected.” Period. The intriguing report highlights the tip of an iceberg that has implications for public health and holds serious geopolitical ramifications. Since the late 1990s, when...

Russia's New 'Conservative' Ideology To Counter Liberalism ...

On episode XXIV of "In the Know," (January 7, 2022) ARK CEO/CIO, Cathie Wood, weighs in on the tech sell off, innovation stocks, autos, China, the tech & telecom bubble, and more. As always, she also discusses fiscal policy, monetary policy, the economy, market signals, economic indicators, and innovation. We hope you find this monthly series useful, especially during periods of heightened volatility. Stay Healthy. Stay Innovative.Tech Sell Off, Bubble Comparisons, China | ITK with Cathie Wood | January 7, 2022 | ARK Invest

Belarus state TV reported that an American who faces criminal charges from the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is seeking asylum in Belarus, a move that could heighten tensions between the turbulent former Soviet nation and the United States * * * The Belarus 1 anchors described Neumann as a “simple American, whose stores were burned down by members of the Black Lives Matter movement, who was seeking justice, asking inconvenient questions, but lost almost everything and is being persecuted by the U.S. government.”

Russians secretly mocked Obama for so easily giving them American uranium, nuclear fuel contracts and technology, FBI informant reveals in excerpts from the new book "Fallout: Nuclear Bribes, Russian Spies and the Washington Lies that Enriched the Clinton and Biden Dynasties." The failed Russian reset .. repeatedly gave Russia's nuclear monopoly, Rosatom, assets like uranium under U.S. soil and billions of dollars in nuclear fuel contracts that made American electricity customers reliant on Moscow for years to come. And then Vladimir Putin pulled the rug out from under the Obama administration in 2014, invading the Crimea region of U.S. ally...

Surprising photos of soldiers in Almaty wearing UN peacekeeping helmets spark a response from the United Nations. Images released by the Associated Press on January 8 show several soldiers in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, wearing helmets with "UN" stenciled on them in the unmistakable colors of United Nations peacekeeping forces. The photos, made by photographer Vladimir Tretyakov and shared by independent journalist Jake Hanrahan, have added to questions over what exactly is happening in the restive Central Asian country.

To say investors are bullish on oil again would be an understatement. In a year that has begun with serious uncertainty—largely about the path of interest rates and tech stocks — a positive call on oil is as close to a consensus opinion as it gets. In fact, traders are making bets again that U.S. oil prices will rise above $100. It would take a major surge to get there. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, were down 0.2% on Monday to $78.72 per barrel. There are several reasons for the resurgent bullishness. For one thing, oil...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has recently told the world that nations which separated themselves from the Soviet Union, specifically those of the Intermarium, the lands between the Black, Baltic, and Adriatic Seas, are not independent but, rather, “masterless” for the moment. He singled out Poland, Ukraine,” and the “Baltic provinces.” It is telling that Lavrov did not call Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — “Baltic States” [strani Baltii] but “Baltic provinces” [Pribaltika]... What Lavrov implied, of course, was that Russia would take care of the master part sooner or later, slowly but surely. But sometimes the Kremlin sees an opportunity...

After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Warsaw Pact dissolved, the breakup of the USSR began. But the dissolution did not stop with the 14 Soviet "republics" declaring their independence of Moscow. Decomposition had only just begun. Transnistria broke away from Moldova. South Ossetia and Abkhazia seceded from Georgia. Chechnya broke free of Russia but was restored to Moscow's control after two savage wars. Crimea and the Donbass were severed from Ukraine. Besides these post-Cold War amputations, assisted by Russia, what do Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have in common? All seek admission to NATO, and with it Article...

The prime minister of Kazakhstan unexpectedly announced his resignation Wednesday and was swiftly replaced by his influential predecessor. All three parties in the oil-rich Central Asian nation’s parliament voted to approve Karim Masimov, 49, as the new head of government. …

THE West must "prepare for the worst" as conflict with Russia looms, the Defence Secretary gravely warned tonight. Russia has told the US to back off over mounting tensions with Ukraine or "endanger not only its own security but that of Europe" as World War Three fears mount. And in his darkest intervention yet as tensions rise in Eastern Europe, Ben Wallace vowed that Britain would "stand up to bullies" amid fears of a Russian invasion into Ukraine. Mr Wallace said distance should "not deter Britain" from seeking to "defend those who cannot defend themselves" as the West confronts Russia...

Monday on FNC’s “Your World,” former CIA Director and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta proposed the United States should retaliate against Russian aggression by using cyber warfare. Cavuto asked Panetta that given Russia was one of the most sanctioned countries in the world, if there was anything else the United States could do.

s a Russia-led military alliance moved to quell violent unrest that has consumed Kazakhstan, China has also offered to provide security assistance to stamp out what officials from all three countries have claimed to be acts of terrorism backed from abroad. Coming at a time when Beijing and Moscow are growing closer than ever, they also spoke directly about the events rapidly unfolding in a nation which they both border. Days after the six-nation Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) answered Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's plea for help to quell nationwide unrest that began as protests against rising energy prices and...

PART 2 OF 3. The Hunter Biden Files Hunter Biden and his business partners were involved in discussions about possible deals in dozens of foreign countries, often corrupt backwaters, at times invoking official channels like ambassadors, emails reviewed by The Daily Wire show. While most attention has focused on Ukraine, where a gas company paid the now-president’s son tens of thousands of dollars a month while he was in deep crack addiction, and China, Hunter and his partners at a consultancy called Rosemont Seneca were eager to do business in a vast array of other places. The map below highlights...

Hunter Biden referred to Massimov in a 2016 email as a "close friend." Former Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov, a known Biden family business associate, was detained Saturday on suspicion of treason, according to an announcement from the Kazakhstan National Security Committee, a body he chaired until this past week. Local media report at least 164 people have died as a result of riots that broke out Jan. 2 following an increase in fuel prices. An unverified photo shows then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden flanked by then-Prime Minister Massimov and Kazakh oligarch Kenes Rakishev in the...

Kazakhstan Denies US-Funded ‘Military Biological Lab’ Seized By Rioters After Russia Claims Potential Pathogen Leak Kazakh officials have denied that a US-funded ‘military biological laboratory’ was seized by rioters in the recent unrest, which has seen at least 160 dead since the violence broke out just one week ago. It is unclear whether the deaths, reported by the health ministry to state news channel Khabar-24, are primarily civilians or law enforcement according to the Daily Mail – however officials said on Sunday that at least 16 police or national guard members had been killed. Pictures of Kazakh secret service operatives...

GENEVA (Reuters) - With diplomats publicly pessimistic, the United States and Russia are set to begin fragile negotiations in Geneva on Monday that Washington hopes can avert the danger of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine without conceding to the Kremlin's expansive security demands. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said over the weekend it was entirely possible the diplomacy could end after a single meeting, and even U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken played down expectations for the high-stakes talks. "I don't think we're going to see any breakthroughs in the coming week," Blinken said in a CNN interview...

Officials in Kazakhstan have denied that a controversial 'military biological laboratory' was seized in the recent unrest. Russian media highlighted claims that the US-funded facility near Almaty was compromised, resulting in a possible leak of dangerous pathogens. The airport, mayor's office and secret services buildings fell briefly into the hands of rioters during a wave of protests backed by shadowy armed cells. The Kazakhs said earlier that no US personnel remain involved in the lab's work, which included the study of Covid.

At least 164 people have died in Kazakhstan during violent anti-government protests, according to media reports citing health officials. If confirmed it would mark a sharp rise from the previous figure of 44 deaths. Almost 6,000 people have been arrested, including "a substantial number of foreign nationals", Kazakhstan's presidential office said on Sunday. The demonstrations, triggered by a rise in fuel prices, turned into huge riots as they spread across the country. They started on 2 January and grew to reflect discontent at the government and former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who led Kazakhstan for three decades and is still thought...

The President of Kazakhstan is tightening his grip on power and has given the order for authorities to "shoot to kill without warning" as political unrest in his country grows. NBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin explains the situation, including the latest war of words between the U.S. and Russia on the future of the region.