World press on Russian economy, freedom of the press in Turkey and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's caseAn op-ed entitled "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was ‘black’ in Russia. Is he white in America?" appeared in the Washington Post. "What do Americans see when they look at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev? And do Russians see the same thing?" the author of the article asks. "In a recent study, Northwestern University professor Nour Kteily found that participants were significantly more likely to demand harsher penalties for the Tsarnaevs if they believed the brothers were “not white.” (Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police after the bombing.)" The author states that "the American media and blogosphere have puzzled over the extent of the men's [Tsarnaev's] whiteness." "Back in the Russian Federation, were the Tsarnaevs “white”? If they weren’t, what were they? Billngual speakers of Russian and English all recognize the disconnect between the terms “Caucasian” (i.e., “white”) and “Caucasian” (person from the Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union); for Russian speakers, the two terms are functionally opposite. What, then, are “people of Caucasian nationality” (as the Russian bureaucratic phrase would have it)? Can their difference be mapped onto a grid of whiteness and non-whiteness?" Through a careful investigation of the issue, the author comes to a conclusion that "Just as Soviet Jews, who were not Russian by definition, became “Russians” in America, it is only by coming to the United States that the Tsarnaevs became fully white. And in the process, reminded us once again of just how tenuous the category actually is."The Telegraph has published an article entitled "Russia 'has deteriorated significantly' as Fitch cuts credit rating." "Fitch has downgraded Russia's credit rating and painted a horrific picture of a struggling economy rocked by a collapsing rouble, falling oil prices, high inflation and declining international reserves. The ratings agency cut the country to BBB- from BBB with a negative outlook, meaning further downgrades are possible," the article reads. "Western sanctions, imposed after President Vladimir Putin's took Russia into neighbouring Ukraine, "continue to weigh on the economy" but the plunging oil price is causing just as much, if not more, damage to one of the world's energy giants." "Fitch expects Russian inflation, which stood at 11.4pc at the end of 2014, to remain in double-digits through this year before falling to 8.5pc by 2016... Fitch ended its scathing assessment of Russia with a look at the country's government, labelling it a "weakness"," the article reads.An article under the title of "Merkel Saves Ukraine As Russia 'Game Changer' Approaches" appeared in Forbes magazine. "This latest news has Germany acting alone instead of with its E.U. partners. Merkel’s government agreed Wednesday to fork over an additional 500 million euros in guaranteed credit lines for the Arseniy Yatsenyuk government," the article reads. "If Ukraine defaults, Russia will be at least partially blamed for not giving Kiev any rest. Its constant barrage of fighters and peace talks and Gazprom delivery payments is making Yats and Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko’s head spin. Russia will remain the bad guy in such a scenario. Investor and business sentiment will worsen. Capital flight will continue. And the Russian equity market will remain a gambling den for hedge funds throwing money at a bottom no one ever hits." The author of the article hopes that at the upcoming meeting in Astana on January 19 a decision to lift the sanctions from Russia will be adopted and this will help Russia not to default. "Given the impact that the Ukraine variable has had on financial markets since February 2014, this could be a game changer," the article quotes Vladimir Signorelli, chief economist and founder of Bretton Woods Research LLC in Long Valley, NJ.An article headlined "Putin and His New Year’s Resolutions" was published in the New York Times. "Russia has been producing so much bad news of late that a lot of it has passed without notice," the article begins. "The onslaught on what remains of Russia’s media, academic institutions and historical groups sends a clear message: The government wants to control not only what people think about current events but also what they think about the past — and how they think in general... is message puts forward a vision of a great Russian Empire under the czars and a great U.S.S.R. under Joseph Stalin and others —followed by a great Russia under himself. None of these earlier historical periods or political leaders is to be questioned. Anyone who dares criticize any of them, or the current government, must be a “foreign agent.” That’s the Putin-era equivalent of what Stalin used to call “enemy of the people," the article reads."Turkey and the media. Trying times" is an article with the subheading "The president insists there is no freer press than Turkey’s. Really?" which appeared today in the Economist. "After Mr Erdogan and his Justice and Development (AK) party came to power 12 years ago, his reforms were enough to get the European Union to open membership talks in 2005. But he has become increasingly intolerant. Fearing his ire, media bosses have sacked hundreds of critical hacks. The pressure rose when a corruption probe of Mr Erdogan’s inner circle became public 12 months ago. Last week police interrogated Sedef Kabas, a TV anchorwoman, for alluding in tweets to government efforts to quash the scandal. Scores of journalists are being prosecuted. Cartoonists are under attack too," the article reads. Reviewing recent interrogations of journalists and media laws, the article concludes that in Turkey "Censorship is getting subtler."
An op-ed entitled "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was ‘black’ in Russia. Is he white in America?" appeared in the Washington Post. "What do Americans see when they look at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev? And do Russians see the same thing?" the author of the article asks. "In a recent study, Northwestern University professor Nour Kteily found that participants were significantly more likely to demand harsher penalties for the Tsarnaevs if they believed the brothers were “not white.” (Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police after the bombing.)" The author states that "the American media and blogosphere have puzzled over the extent of the men's [Tsarnaev's] whiteness." "Back in the Russian Federation, were the Tsarnaevs “white”? If they weren’t, what were they? Billngual speakers of Russian and English all recognize the disconnect between the terms “Caucasian” (i.e., “white”) and “Caucasian” (person from the Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union); for Russian speakers, the two terms are functionally opposite. What, then, are “people of Caucasian nationality” (as the Russian bureaucratic phrase would have it)? Can their difference be mapped onto a grid of whiteness and non-whiteness?" Through a careful investigation of the issue, the author comes to a conclusion that "Just as Soviet Jews, who were not Russian by definition, became “Russians” in America, it is only by coming to the United States that the Tsarnaevs became fully white. And in the process, reminded us once again of just how tenuous the category actually is."
The Telegraph has published an article entitled "Russia 'has deteriorated significantly' as Fitch cuts credit rating." "Fitch has downgraded Russia's credit rating and painted a horrific picture of a struggling economy rocked by a collapsing rouble, falling oil prices, high inflation and declining international reserves. The ratings agency cut the country to BBB- from BBB with a negative outlook, meaning further downgrades are possible," the article reads. "Western sanctions, imposed after President Vladimir Putin's took Russia into neighbouring Ukraine, "continue to weigh on the economy" but the plunging oil price is causing just as much, if not more, damage to one of the world's energy giants." "Fitch expects Russian inflation, which stood at 11.4pc at the end of 2014, to remain in double-digits through this year before falling to 8.5pc by 2016... Fitch ended its scathing assessment of Russia with a look at the country's government, labelling it a "weakness"," the article reads.
An article under the title of "Merkel Saves Ukraine As Russia 'Game Changer' Approaches" appeared in Forbes magazine. "This latest news has Germany acting alone instead of with its E.U. partners. Merkel’s government agreed Wednesday to fork over an additional 500 million euros in guaranteed credit lines for the Arseniy Yatsenyuk government," the article reads. "If Ukraine defaults, Russia will be at least partially blamed for not giving Kiev any rest. Its constant barrage of fighters and peace talks and Gazprom delivery payments is making Yats and Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko’s head spin. Russia will remain the bad guy in such a scenario. Investor and business sentiment will worsen. Capital flight will continue. And the Russian equity market will remain a gambling den for hedge funds throwing money at a bottom no one ever hits." The author of the article hopes that at the upcoming meeting in Astana on January 19 a decision to lift the sanctions from Russia will be adopted and this will help Russia not to default. "Given the impact that the Ukraine variable has had on financial markets since February 2014, this could be a game changer," the article quotes Vladimir Signorelli, chief economist and founder of Bretton Woods Research LLC in Long Valley, NJ.
An article headlined "Putin and His New Year’s Resolutions" was published in the New York Times. "Russia has been producing so much bad news of late that a lot of it has passed without notice," the article begins. "The onslaught on what remains of Russia’s media, academic institutions and historical groups sends a clear message: The government wants to control not only what people think about current events but also what they think about the past — and how they think in general... is message puts forward a vision of a great Russian Empire under the czars and a great U.S.S.R. under Joseph Stalin and others —followed by a great Russia under himself. None of these earlier historical periods or political leaders is to be questioned. Anyone who dares criticize any of them, or the current government, must be a “foreign agent.” That’s the Putin-era equivalent of what Stalin used to call “enemy of the people," the article reads.
"Turkey and the media. Trying times" is an article with the subheading "The president insists there is no freer press than Turkey’s. Really?" which appeared today in the Economist. "After Mr Erdogan and his Justice and Development (AK) party came to power 12 years ago, his reforms were enough to get the European Union to open membership talks in 2005. But he has become increasingly intolerant. Fearing his ire, media bosses have sacked hundreds of critical hacks. The pressure rose when a corruption probe of Mr Erdogan’s inner circle became public 12 months ago. Last week police interrogated Sedef Kabas, a TV anchorwoman, for alluding in tweets to government efforts to quash the scandal. Scores of journalists are being prosecuted. Cartoonists are under attack too," the article reads. Reviewing recent interrogations of journalists and media laws, the article concludes that in Turkey "Censorship is getting subtler."
