By Vestnik Kavkaza
"A bearded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused of planting bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon, made a brief appearance in court Thursday, quietly telling the judge that he was satisfied with his lawyers," an article published by The New York Times reads.
"Mr. Tsarnaev, 21, looked small and thin in a black sweater and gray slacks that were cinched at the waist with a black belt. He slouched somewhat in his chair and frequently felt his chinstrap-shaped beard. His hair is even longer and more unruly than it was in April 2013, when he was captured inside a boat parked in a suburban driveway after a manhunt that shut down the Boston region," the author writes.
"Thursday was Mr. Tsarnaev’s first court appearance since July 2013, when he pleaded not guilty to 30 charges, including 17 that carry the death penalty. It was the last hearing before his trial, which is set to begin next month. The hearing was called to give him a chance to raise any objections to his legal counsel, so it could not become an issue on appeal," the article reads.
"Standing next to his lead defense lawyer, Judy Clarke, Mr. Tsarnaev softly answered “yes” as the judge, George A. O’Toole Jr. of Federal District Court, asked him if his representation was adequate. He then sat through the rest of the hearing, which continued for about 25 minutes as lawyers and the judge discussed trial procedures," the author notes.
"Putin’s Groundhog Day: The Russian people keep paying the price for their leaders’ incompetence" is an article dedicated to the Russian economy which appeared today in the Washington Post. "It's hard to say whether Russia was the victim of bad leadership and worse luck or bad luck and worse leadership. The government's incompetence, you see, was only matched by its corruption. Economic reforms were always a day away. And behind closed doors, state-owned monopolies turned into privately-owned monopolies thanks to sweetheart deals that made government officials rich and the new oligarchs regally so. Russia, in other words, traded one gangster state for another. And its economy, so far as it had one, was still entirely based on extracting natural resources. That's why, when oil prices tumbled from their already-low levels in 1998, Russia found itself back where it'd been a decade before: bankrupt. Under pressure from markets, it devalued the ruble and defaulted on its debt," the article reads.The author argues that Russia's economy hasn't really improved in the last fifteen years. This is how the author describes the current crisis in Russia's economy: "This is Russia's version of Groundhog Day. Oil crashes, so does the ruble, and then unemployment balloons. Sometimes the government goes broke. Other times companies do. In any case, it's the ordinary people who suffer. They get hit by the double whammy of unemployment and inflation."
"Why Russia’s financial crises keep on coming" is another article on the subject of Russia's economy which appeared today in the Guardian. "by the standards of the modern world, Russia is facing a crisis. Even before last week’s turbulence on the foreign exchanges, the central bank was expecting the economy to contract by 4.5% next year. A deep recession is unavoidable," the article reads."Putin’s optimism about the economy is based on the assumption that the global price of oil will rise as cheaper energy prices spur consumer spending and investment across the world. He’s almost certainly right about that... Some analysts think the recent fall in the cost of crude has been overdone and that the price will recover to about $80 a barrel next year. In the short term, this would be good for Russia, given its dependence on the energy sector. In the long term, though, it would be better for Russia if the oil price stayed low: that would force the country to tackle some of the economic challenges it has ducked for the past couple of decades," the article reads."Here’s the problem. Russia is a resource-rich country. It has abundant oil and gas reserves. It has big mineral reserves and large forests. What Russia doesn’t have is a modern manufacturing sector. Its industrial base is old and uses clapped-out equipment. It has failed to invest in either physical or human capital. So 80% of its exports are in oil, natural gas, metals, timber and defence equipment. The make-up of the economy has changed little since Russia’s last brush with the financial markets, in 1998," the article explains.
"Putin’s Groundhog Day: The Russian people keep paying the price for their leaders’ incompetence" is an article dedicated to the Russian economy which appeared today in the Washington Post.
"It's hard to say whether Russia was the victim of bad leadership and worse luck or bad luck and worse leadership. The government's incompetence, you see, was only matched by its corruption. Economic reforms were always a day away. And behind closed doors, state-owned monopolies turned into privately-owned monopolies thanks to sweetheart deals that made government officials rich and the new oligarchs regally so. Russia, in other words, traded one gangster state for another. And its economy, so far as it had one, was still entirely based on extracting natural resources. That's why, when oil prices tumbled from their already-low levels in 1998, Russia found itself back where it'd been a decade before: bankrupt. Under pressure from markets, it devalued the ruble and defaulted on its debt," the article reads.
The author argues that Russia's economy hasn't really improved in the last fifteen years. This is how the author describes the current crisis in Russia's economy: "This is Russia's version of Groundhog Day. Oil crashes, so does the ruble, and then unemployment balloons. Sometimes the government goes broke. Other times companies do. In any case, it's the ordinary people who suffer. They get hit by the double whammy of unemployment and inflation."
"Why Russia’s financial crises keep on coming" is another article on the subject of Russia's economy which appeared today in the Guardian. "by the standards of the modern world, Russia is facing a crisis. Even before last week’s turbulence on the foreign exchanges, the central bank was expecting the economy to contract by 4.5% next year. A deep recession is unavoidable," the article reads.
"Putin’s optimism about the economy is based on the assumption that the global price of oil will rise as cheaper energy prices spur consumer spending and investment across the world. He’s almost certainly right about that... Some analysts think the recent fall in the cost of crude has been overdone and that the price will recover to about $80 a barrel next year. In the short term, this would be good for Russia, given its dependence on the energy sector. In the long term, though, it would be better for Russia if the oil price stayed low: that would force the country to tackle some of the economic challenges it has ducked for the past couple of decades," the article reads.
"Here’s the problem. Russia is a resource-rich country. It has abundant oil and gas reserves. It has big mineral reserves and large forests. What Russia doesn’t have is a modern manufacturing sector. Its industrial base is old and uses clapped-out equipment. It has failed to invest in either physical or human capital. So 80% of its exports are in oil, natural gas, metals, timber and defence equipment. The make-up of the economy has changed little since Russia’s last brush with the financial markets, in 1998," the article explains.
