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☆ Meta allowed a Kremlin-linked oligarch to run Facebook ads calling for uprisings against pro-Western government in Moldova
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta allowed a Moldovan oligarch, sanctioned by the US, to run paid Facebook ads, per AP. Meta removed the ads, but only after they reached an audience of millions. The paid Facebook ads featured oligarch Ilan Shor, who now lives in Israel after being convicted of massive financial fraud. In one ad, Shor, who heads the pro-Russia Shor Party, can be heard accusing Sandu's government of corruption. Moldova was rocked by mass protests late last year, which were organized by the Shor Party, the largest of which took place shortly after the ads were placed.

☆ Are we on the brink of a corporate credit crisis?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Economists at S&P Global Ratings forecast that speculative-grade (perceived to have a lower level of credit quality compared to more highly rated, investment-grade, companies) corporate default rates in the US and Europe will double this year alone. So are we on the brink of a corporate credit crisis? Before the Bell spoke with Ruth Yang, managing director and global head of thought leadership at S&P Global Ratings to discuss what lies ahead for the corporate credit market. Before the Bell: What’s your big picture view of the credit economy right now? There will be slower growth with thinner margins and that’s going to change how people look at their investment opportunities.

☆ Why US home prices could fall 20% this year — and which cities and regions will see the largest declines, according to KPMG
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

KPMG economist Yelena Maleyev said home prices could fall 20% in 2023. Maleyev, who focuses on the housing market, told Insider last week that she believes home prices around the US could fall as much as 20%. Underpinning Maleyev's call is the destabilization in the market that has occurred thanks to rising mortgage rates. Mortgage rates have more than doubled in the last year while home prices hit record highs, resulting in a significant drop in demand. And that means an even more activist Fed, that means even more monetary tightening, that means even higher mortgage rates."

Three electricity substations in the Tacoma, Washington, area were attacked Sunday, leaving an as many as 14,000 customers affected, authorities said. The agency estimated the number of homes and businesses affected by the attacks was 14,000 at one point Sunday. In a statement, TPU said, "Two of our substations were deliberately targeted by physical attacks." On Dec. 3, vandals attacked two Duke Energy substations in Moore County, North Carolina, leaving 45,000 customers in the dark for more than three days straight, officials said. Investigators probing the North Carolina attacks were looking at online conspiracy theories to determine whether any played a role, two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told NBC News earlier this month.

☆ Russia's central bank just issued a warning about 'new economic shocks,' and it shows the new $60/barrel cap on oil is working
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The price cap on Russian crude and EU's oil embargo present "new economic shocks," the Bank of Russia said. They could "significantly reduce" Russia's economic activity in the coming months, per the bank. Russia is mulling options to counter the price cap, including banning oil sales to some countries. The European Union, G7, and Australia have set a price cap for Russian crude that kicked in on Monday. On top of that, the EU has also banned all seaborne Russian crude.

☆ The EU price cap on Russian oil is already disrupting the market - tankers are piling up off Turkey after Ankara demands insurance paperwork
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The EU's price cap on Russian crude and its ban on seaborne Russian crude kicked in Monday. Oil tankers have begun piling-up off Turkish shores, as Ankara demands proof of insurance coverage. Shipping insurers rejected the request, as Turkey's asking for coverage that could expose them to a breach of sanctions. The pile-up comes just as an EU price cap of $60 a barrel price cap for Russian crude kicked in. ET Monday, while international Brent crude oil futures were 0.8% higher at $83.36 a barrel.

[1/4] U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends the "Foreign Ministers of Partners at Risk of Russian Disinformation and Destabilization" session at the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, Romania, November 30, 2022. REUTERS/Stoyan NenovBUCHAREST, Nov 30 (Reuters) - NATO foreign ministers will on Wednesday seek to reassure fragile countries in Russia's neighbourhood that they fear could be destabilised by Russia as the conflict in Ukraine drags on, squeezing energy supplies and pushing up prices. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told reporters that NATO wanted to be ensure that, after the war in Ukraine, Russia would have "no chance to dictate security options and a way of life to its neighbours". Bosnian Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic, invited to join the NATO meeting, said she was concerned about Russia's intentions for her country. "The stability in western Balkans is important for peace," Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani said.

☆ Ukraine dismisses push to compromise with Putin after Kherson retreat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Mithil Aggarwal | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

“Ukrainian servicemen accept no talks, no agreements or compromise decisions,” Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny wrote on Telegram late Monday after a telephone conversation with Milley. Lavrov attended the G-20 leaders' summit in Bali instead of Putin. “They clearly have plans to keep the offensive going,” said Rajan Menon, a director at Defense Priorities, a Washington-based think tank. “It makes perfect sense” for Ukrainian forces to reach the Kinburn Peninsula south of Kherson, gaining a tactical advantage around the Black Sea, he added. “Hard fighting does remain for Ukraine as they seek to liberate occupied territory,” a senior military official said, adding that the U.S. and its allies would “ensure that they have what they need to succeed on the battlefield.”

Russia launched an intense wave of airstrikes on cities across Ukraine on Tuesday, forcing widespread blackouts and hitting residential buildings in the capital, Kyiv. The barrage targeted key cities from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the northeast, pounding energy infrastructure and knocking out power to vast areas in one of the largest coordinated attacks of the war. "85 missile strikes were fired at Ukraine, at our cities, mostly at energy infrastructure. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the strikes should put an end to pressure for peace talks with Russia. While the retaking of Kherson sparked jubilation in Ukraine, officials have cautioned that the conflict is far from over and that Putin could retaliate for the humiliation of his forces' retreat in the south.

☆ Will Musk break Trump and satire accounts like mine out of Twitter jail?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Kyler Geoffroy | Kyler Geoffroy Is A Freelancer Whose Writing Has Appeared On Vice | Other Publications. He Focuses On Lgbtq Politics | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

As Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter begins, he must make several important decisions that will determine the future of the social media platform millions use for their newsgathering. I got involved in political satire after watching Trump fire off several conspiracy-theory-laden posts to his over 4 million followers on Truth Social daily. I got involved in political satire after watching Trump fire off several conspiracy-theory-laden posts to his over 4 million followers on Truth Social daily. “After careful review, we determined your account broke the Twitter Rules,” read the notification from Twitter Support. But political parody accounts, even bad ones like mine, should be protected on Twitter.

☆ Mali threatens to defend against French sovereignty violations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Its relations with Mali have soured since an August 2020 coup and it is withdrawing troops sent in 2013 to help fight the insurgency. France's representative denied the "defamatory" accusations, defended its intervention in Mali as fully transparent and said the country had never violated any airspace. Other European countries have ended their military involvement in Mali this year, often citing the junta's collaboration with Russian fighters. Islamist militants have since advanced further into eastern Mali, seizing territory and killing hundreds of civilians as thousands more fled. Mali has faced instability since 2012, when Islamist militants hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in the north.

A new military takeover has been declared in Burkina Faso, after a day marked by gunfire and confusion in the capital city of Ouagadougou. In an announcement on state television late Friday, a Burkina Faso military official announced the dissolution of the current government and the dismissal of the junta leader, President Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba. With the suspension of the constitution and government, this is Burkina Faso’s second military takeover in a year. “People of Burkina Faso, faced with the degradation of the security situation, we have attempted several times to refocus the transition on the issue of security,” Sorgho said. This week, unknown assailants killed eleven soldiers during an attack on a 150-vehicle convoy taking supplies to a town in northern Burkina Faso.

Starting in 2012, the year Mr. Putin retook the presidency, Roskomnadzor built a blacklist of websites that the companies were required to block. In 2021, authorities throttled access to the social media service to a crawl. It gathered information about government critics and identified shifting political opinions on social media. watch opponents and identify new threats to Mr. Putin, Mr. Voronin said. In the records, censors flagged ProUfu.ru for the critical Ukraine editorial written about Mr. Putin in February.

☆ Ion Duminica: It’s not clear how President – Parliament relationship will develop after elections
▼ + stars: | 2020-11-12 | by ( ) www.ipn.md time to read: +3 min

Ion Duminica: It’s not clear how President – Parliament relationship will develop after electionsIt’s not clear how the President – Parliament relationship will develop after the presidential runoff as none of the two candidates presented a team with which they would work if they are elected President. One should know how to discuss with them, how to promote the message in these communities, but the candidates’ message is geo-political, pro-East or pro-West, against corruption, for “good people,” he stated. Before the runoff, they should have attracted other voters, other sympathizers by political debates where they could have exhibited their charisma, capacities, authority. As to the risk of election rigging in the runoff, Ion Duminica said they have always invoked the risk of fraud in the elections held in Moldova. Ion Duminica called on the media outlets to formulate a common message to the candidates so as to make them understand that the voters in Moldova can be attracted by debates.

Persons: Ion Duminica, –, It’s, “, it’s, ”, Maia Sandu, Igor Dodon, destabilization, Hanns Seidel Organizations: Hanns, Hanns Seidel Foundation Locations: IPN’s, Republic of Moldova, Moldova

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