Enslave
Profiteer
Rule
Don’t go there!
Perhaps ironically, one of the most famous 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse paintings is by a Russian:
- Pestilence (on a White Horse -> COVID !?)
- War (on a Red Horse -> PUTIN !?)
- Famine (on a Black Horse -> HYPERINFLATION !?)
- Death (on a Pale Horse -> TOO LATE !?)
- Meduza
- DW
- Ahead
Russia’s Higher Education and Science Ministry told the rectors of the country’s largest universities that at least 2 percent of students must sign contracts with the Defense Ministry, the independent Russian political newsletter Faridaily reported, citing a source acquainted with the rector of a Moscow university. A source in the leadership of a Siberian university confirmed the information.
Russia blocked the option to top up Apple ID balances from mobile phone accounts at midnight on April 1, the Russian business daily Kommersant and the Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti confirmed. Users attempting to make a purchase in the App Store see a message saying that payment by mobile phone is temporarily unavailable and to try again later. Payments are failing for customers of three of the four major carriers: MTS, Beeline, and T2, Kommersant reported.
A Russian military transport plane crashed in Crimea on Tuesday, killing all 29 people on board, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The An-26 was carrying six crew members and 23 passengers.
In January, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) launched a platform for Russian democratic forces in exile. One of its most active participants, representing (at least in theory) the interests of anti-war Russians, is artist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. She initiated the platform’s first public statement on Russia’s responsibility for its aggression in Ukraine, a gesture that drew sharply divided reactions. She also came out against Russia’s return to the Venice Biennale, and the PACE group soon followed with its own letter on the subject. At Meduza’s request, journalist Sonya Groysman spoke with Tolokonnikova about PACE, Pussy Riot, and her work on OnlyFans. We’ve translated some of her most notable responses below.
From March 26 to 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toured several Middle Eastern countries. The trip resulted in military cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as plans for a similar agreement with the United Arab Emirates and cooperation with Jordan.
2026.03.28
Phase 1 of exploration has begun at Orestone Mining’s (TSXV:ORS) Francisca Gold Project in Salta province, Argentina.
The program will consist of detailed mapping and sampling of a 200 by 500-meter grid covering the surface exposure of the South Zone. Sampling will consist of 600 rock chip, channel and grab samples including the resampling of the 11 existing trenches which crosscut the zone along its 500-meter strike length.
2026.03.28
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had a profound impact on the prices of oil, natural gas, and other key industrial commodities.
Before the war started, 20 million barrels of oil flowed through the strait daily, or about a fifth of global oil consumption. Significant volumes of aluminum, LNG, distillates such as gasoline, fertilizer, and sulfuric acid used in metal refining, also normally transit the narrow waterway, but are trapped in the Persian Gulf due to the conflict.
By Anna Cooban – CNN Business
The world, hungry for oil, got a modest reprieve earlier this month when Saudi Arabia began diverting millions of barrels of crude —ordinarily destined for ships transiting the blockaded Strait of Hormuz — to its Red Sea port of Yanbu.
But over the weekend Iran-backed Houthi militants entered the war in an escalation that threatens to sever even that lifeline.
Anything that jeopardizes Saudi oil flows out of the Red Sea will put more upward pressure on global oil prices, said Richard Bronze, co-founder and head of geopolitics at research firm Energy Aspects.
By Frank E Holmes – KITCO
The best-performing precious metal for the week was silver, up0.63%. First quarter’s record-setting environment pushed average realized gold prices up 14% quarter over quarter, which should support strong revenue growth for miners in the first quarter of 2025. Even as spot gold pulls back from its highs, the quarterly average that drives gold company revenue remains at historically elevated levels, reflecting a market that spent most of the quarter at prices the industry has not seen before.
From Financial Post
Amid US President Donald Trump’s threats to take Greenland, melting polar ice caps opening up new shipping routes, a desire by North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries to secure the Arctic and a growing appetite for a broad range of critical minerals, places such as the Northwest Territories are getting a surge of attention.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the capital of Yellowknife to announce C$32 billion ($23 billion) to shore up Arctic defenses.
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Mandela’s Kiss Endures
The 2024 Global Elections Super-Cycle
Stay tuned for continuous updates on elections around the world. Click on a country for the latest elections data and analysis.
- Number of national elections to be held in 2024 18 of 68
- Overall turnout (based on registered voters) 63%
- Total number of ballots cast in 18 elections 467,094,737
Pulled conclusions from pooled data compilations
Using some of the world’s largest companies by market cap & some of the most quoted indices + two most sung alternatives: data for this millennia where available
- At 134x, Apple is the absolute stock price growth winner; with Amazon at 45x and Google at 32x
- Despite the lack of interest or dividends, gold at 6.6x looks good compared to any other stock or index!
- Barrick Gold on the other hand seems to be poorly correlated to anything including the gold metal itself!?
- But Barrick is the only stock producing negative correlations with most of the indices including a relatively high -0.77 with the Euronext100 index
- If one wast trying to get something totally uncorrelated on purpose- it would be hard to beat: gold and the Euronext100 index at -0.03; or Barrick and the Hang Seng index at 0.04; or gold and Merck at 0.16; or BTC and the FTSE index at 0.19
- Correlation against a basket of indices & alternatives is best in Disney and Google (0.81-0.82), albeit at different growth multiples
- If an average historical P/E is somewhere in the 20x range, then the current S&P quoted average which is in high 30s is as warned high, BUT: only Amazon and Visa seem to be widely out of range (justified by growth in online transactions?), with many below current & historical averages
- In the current world of no interest & no inflation, maybe the higher P/E averages are justified..? For how long, that is a different question…
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