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☆ Navalny's Death Leaves Despair and Apathy in Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-17 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"Navalny's death is terrible: hopes have been smashed," Nikitin said. The West, including U.S. President Joe Biden, blamed President Vladimir Putin for the death. "Navalny's death is very beneficial to Putin's opponents," said Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser. WEST 'NOT OUR FRIEND'At "Patriki", or Patriarch's Ponds, the centre of Moscow nightlife, many young Russians revelled away Friday night just hours after news of Navalny's death. "It is sad of course when anybody dies," Olga Kazakova, a Russian, told Reuters in central Moscow on Saturday.

Persons: Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, carnations, Vladimir Nikitin, Nikitin, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Putin, Navalny's, Africa's Nelson Mandela, Kira Yarmysh, Yulia, Sergei Markov, revelled, Olga Kazakova, Boris Nemtsov, Guy Faulconbridge, Frances Kerry Organizations: KGB, Reuters, CIA, DEATH, Munich Security Conference, Putin, Kremlin, Ukraine, WEST Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russia's, St Petersburg, Navalny, Avdiivka, West, Ukraine, Kremlin, Basil's

☆ Xi’an, China: Ancient city hosts spectacular lantern show
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But this month, all eyes are on another one of its historic sites – the Xi’an City Wall, said to be one of the world’s most impressive remaining traditional defense systems and one of the only complete ancient city walls left in China. China officially marks the Lantern Festival as the 15th day of the first lunar month (February 24 in 2024). A year-round attractionThe top of Xi'an's City Wall is a popular place for locals and tourists to get some exercise. chuyu/iStockphoto/Getty ImagesWhen not glowing with lanterns, Xi’an’s City Wall provides locals and tourists a relaxing space for cycling, or a breezy stroll, while offering panoramic views. A year earlier, in 2014, then-US First Lady Michelle Obama jumped rope and danced on the Xi’an City Wall.

Persons: netizen, Yuan, Xiao, it’s, Mark Zuckerberg, Michelle Obama Organizations: CNN, Army, Visitors, Lantern Festival ., Festival, Wall, Facebook Locations: China, Xi’an, Weibo, Lantern Festival . China

☆ In wartime Russia, soaring prices bite as election looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

When she goes through the snow to the shops, she inspects the prices to search for bargains. Prices for disposable nappies and baby food have at least doubled, she said. While many families across the world are grappling with price rises, the peculiarities of Russia's wartime economy have spurred high inflation for millions of Russian voters ahead of the 2024 election. Putin is expected to run in next year's election, a move that would keep him in power until least 2030. Igor Lipits, a Russian economist, said official Russian data on levels of poverty were poor - as was the overall picture for the Russian economy - despite often rosy announcements aimed at pleasing the Kremlin leadership.

Persons: Sergei, Stepanova, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Igor Lipits, Lipits, Lyudmila, Guy Faulconbridge, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: West, Reuters, U.S, stoke, Monetary Fund, Central Bank, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: SREDNEURALSK, Russia, Ukraine, Stepanova, Sredneuralsk, Lake Iset, Yekaterinburg, Moscow, United States, Russian, St Petersburg

[1/5] A woman mourns next to a makeshift memorial for Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, as people mark 40 days since his death to respect an Orthodox tradition, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 1, 2023. It is still unclear what caused the plane to crash two months to the day since Prigozhin's failed mutiny. The Kremlin said on Aug. 30 that investigators were considering the possibility that the plane was downed on purpose. At memorials in Moscow and other Russian cities dozens of Wagner fighters and ordinary Russians paid their respects, though there was no mass outpouring of grief. Putin was on Friday shown meeting one of the most senior former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group and discussing how best to use "volunteer units" in the Ukraine war.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Anton Vaganov, Prigozhin, Prigozhin's, Violetta, Pavel, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Mikhail, Marta, Dmitry Utkin, Hope, Anton Yelizarov, Guy Faulconbridge, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, State, Embraer, KGB, Reuters, United States, Thomson Locations: Saint Petersburg, Russia, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Moscow, Ukraine, Rostov, Mali

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Target, Cava, TJX Companies, Intel and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Target — Target shares added 2.9% even after the retailer cut its full-year earnings forecast and second-quarter sales fell short of expectations. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected earnings of $1.39 per share on $25.16 billion in revenue. TJX reported adjusted earnings of 85 cents per share on $12.76 billion in revenue, while analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected 77 cents earned and $12.45 billion in revenue. The manufacturer of lasers and optics forecast earnings of 5 cents to 20 cents per share and revenue of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet called for 47 cents per share in earnings and revenue of $1.16 billion.

Persons: Refinitiv, Coinbase, TJX, FactSet, JD.com, Dr Pepper, Agilent, Jack Henry, Mercury, Cava — Cava, Jack, Wells, Morgan Stanley, Imperial, Shawn Fain, —, Sarah Min, Samantha Subin, Michelle Fox, Jesse Pound Organizations: —, Wall Street, National Futures Association, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, TJX, Nasdaq, UBS, Block, Wall, Associates, Mercury Systems, GE, GE HealthCare, News, Getty, Imperial Capital, Intel, Tower Semiconductor, Semiconductor, General Motors —, United Auto Workers, Big, General Motors, Ford Motor Locations: JD.com —, Cava

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, Tesla, Nio, Nvidia, Roblox, Dick's and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Goldman Sachs reiterates Amazon as buy Goldman Sachs said the e-commerce giant remains a top idea at the firm. Jefferies reiterates Cava as buy Jefferies said it's sticking with its buy rating on shares of Cava after the Mediterranean restaurant's earnings report Tuesday. Jefferies reiterates Roblox as buy Jefferies said it's standing by its buy rating on Roblox but that it's lowering its price target to $38 per share from $50. "We reiterate our Buy rating on sequential improvement in product offerings and sales volume." Wedbush reiterates Dick's as outperform Wedbush said it's bullish on shares of Dick's heading into earnings next week.

Persons: Tesla, Bernstein, DINO, MGY, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Cava, Roblox, it's, Bud Light, Beer, KeyBanc, FTNT, Dr Pepper, Wells, Wells Fargo, Marqeta, Nio, Wedbush, Morgan Stanley, Getty Organizations: Street, Barclays, Mizuho, Chevron, North American, Citi downgrades, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Anheuser, Busch InBev, Nvidia, Network, Palo, UBS, GE HealthCare, Bank of America, Corp, News Corp, Getty Locations: MTDR, eCommerce, Cava, Singapore

☆ A Spending Boom Fuels Russia’s Wartime Economy, Raising Bubble Fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | More About Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Anna Gromova, a Russian entrepreneur, made a snap decision to open a real estate agency, hoping to create a safety net from the economic fallout of the conflict. Within weeks, she landed a deal for a stately 18th-century apartment, with parquet floors and high ceilings in the prestigious center of Russia’s former imperial capital of St. Petersburg. Since the war, the owner had stopped coming to Russia, allowing her client to buy it for roughly 40 percent below its current value. Amid the constant shocks, people are looking for “a window of opportunity” to secure their income, she added. Her business has been underpinned by a state-led spending boom that has propped up the national economy despite the swiftest and most far-reaching campaign of sanctions imposed by Western nations in modern history.

Persons: Anna Gromova, ”, Gromova Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, St . Petersburg, Western

Russia's gas, in contrast to its oil, is not subject to Western sanctions, although Brussels is considering extending its embargo on Russian fuel. Gazprom's gas exports, mainly to Europe, almost halved last year because of the political crisis over Ukraine and after undersea Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by unexplained blasts last September. Timchenko had long challenged Gazprom's monopoly on Russian gas exports, saying in 2012 that Europeans wanted to have an alternative to Gazprom. "I believe that Gazprom Export's marketing campaign led to its European share decrease ... Liquefied natural gas has already come to the market. In essence, a new, cheaper gas market is emerging; one has to see such things," Timchenko told the Forbes magazine in 2012.

Persons: Maxim Shemetov, Russia's, Ronald Smith of, Novatek, Vladimir Putin, Alexei Miller, Putin, Miller, Gennady Timchenko, Timchenko, Oksana Kobzeva, Vladimir Soldatkin, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Gazprom, REUTERS, Stream, EU, Kremlin, European Union, Novatek, BCS, Forbes, Thomson Locations: Russia, Europe, MOSCOW, Ukraine, Brussels, Siberia, LNG, Ronald Smith of Moscow, Germany, Italy, Soviet, St Petersburg, Moscow, Russian

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred questions about Surovikin to the defence ministry, which has so far made no statement about him. Asked by reporters if the Kremlin could clarify the situation with Surovikin, Peskov said: "No, unfortunately not. "So I recommend that you contact the defence ministry; this is its prerogative." Questions about "structural units within the ministry," Peskov said, should be addressed to the defence ministry. The Kremlin said Putin also chaired a meeting about the development of tourism in the region.

Persons: Wagner, Prigozhin, Sergei Surovikin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Surovikin, Dmitry, Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Russia's, PUTIN, Alexander Lukashenko, Andrei Kartapolov, Kartapolov, Guy Faulconbridge, Alexander Marrow, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: General Staff, Kremlin, Reuters, Thomson Locations: St Petersburg MOSCOW, Ukraine, Russian, Soviet, Kala, Moscow, St Petersburg, Russia, Belarus, Concord

[1/2] Participants gather near a screen showing Russian President Vladimir Putin, who delivers a speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 17, 2022. The forum in St Petersburg, the former imperial capital built by Tsar Peter the Great 300 years ago as a "window" to Europe, has been held since 1997 and is cast by many officials as Russia's answer to the World Economic Forum held in Davos. Western journalists have never before been banned from the forum in such a blanket way. "It has indeed been decided this time not to accredit publications from unfriendly countries to the SPIEF," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS, using the acronym for the forum. "Unfriendly countries" is a definition used by Moscow to describe those who have sanctioned it over the war in Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Anton Vaganov, Tsar Peter the Great, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Alexander Novak, Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Christina Fincher, Angus MacSwan Organizations: St ., Economic, REUTERS, St Petersburg, Reuters, Russian, Thomson Locations: St, St . Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, MOSCOW, St Petersburg, Europe, Davos, Moscow, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, China

☆ How to put your best travel foot forward for Earth Day 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Forrest Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

But you don’t have to totally cut out travel or stay super close to home to be a good planetary citizen. You need a city that’s dedicated to getting it right to best enjoy an urban biking vacation. Here, we've curated 30 of our favorite corners, including the Thu Bon River, which flows through central Vietnam. A maze of rivers and caves, the UNESCO World Centre is defined by its craggy limestone facades and jade green water. Bruno De Hogues/Photodisc/Getty Images Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park: A UNESCO World Heritage, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is heaven for spelunkers.

☆ Putin touts Russia's 'Arctic power' with launch of nuclear icebreakers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Nov 22 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday touted Russia's Arctic power at a flag-raising ceremony and dock launch for two nuclear-powered icebreakers that will ensure year-round navigation in the Western Arctic. Presiding via video link from the Kremlin at the launch ceremony in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg in northern Russia, Putin said such icebreakers were of strategic importance for the country. "Both icebreakers were laid down as part of a large serial project and are part of our large-scale, systematic work to re-equip and replenish the domestic icebreaker fleet, to strengthen Russia's status as a great Arctic power," Putin said. The Arctic is taking on greater strategic significance due to climate change, as a shrinking ice cap opens up new sea lanes. Vast oil and gas resources lie in Russia's Arctic regions, including a liquefied natural gas plant on the Yamal Peninsula.

Ancient rock carvings that are believed to be more than 2,700 years old have been unearthed by a team of archaeologists in Iraq's northern city of Mosul. The marble slabs were found during restoration work on the Mashki Gate, an ancient monument that was partially destroyed by Islamic State militants when they captured the city in 2016. The relief carvings show scenes of war from the rule of Assyrian kings, in the ancient city of Nineveh, the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage said in a statement Wednesday. The gray stone carvings date to the rule of King Sennacherib, in power from 705 to 681 B.C., the statement added. The discovery was made last week by an Iraqi team, alongside American experts from the University of Pennsylvania who are helping to lead the reconstruction effort.

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