Tag: finance

“We’ll Destroy Twitter” Blasts Turkish PM

It appears the madness is contagious. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, embroiled in an ongoing and huge corruption probe, lashed out at “international conspiracies” in a speech at a rally in Bursa. “We’ll dig up Twitter – all of them – from the roots,” he raged, “they’ll see the power of the Republic of Turkey.” With the looming elections – sure to fair and equitable to all – he warned he would “settle scores” after winning. Indeed…

 

Via Bloomberg,

“We’ll dig up Twitter and so on — all of them — from the roots.”

 

“When people say, ‘Sir, the international community would say this or that,’ it doesn’t interest me at all,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says today, according to state-run Anatolia news agency.

 

Erdogan, quoted at a rally in Bursa, also says:

 

Court decision has been made regarding Twitter, without elaborating on the decision

 

“International conspiracies are a part of this”

 

“They’ll see the power of the Republic of Turkey”


    



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NASA study: “collapse is very difficult to avoid”

March 20, 2014
Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile

As any long-time reader of this column knows, we routinely draw from historical lessons to highlight that this time is not different.

Throughout the 18th century, for example, France was the greatest superpower in Europe, if not the world.

But they became complacent, believing that they had some sort of ‘divine right’ to reign supreme, and that they could be as fiscally irresponsible as they liked.

The French government spent money like drunken sailors; they had substantial welfare programs, free hospitals, and grand monuments.

They held vast territories overseas, engaged in constant warfare, and even had their own intrusive intelligence service that spied on King and subject alike.

Of course, they couldn’t pay for any of this.

French budget deficits were out of control, and they resorted to going heavily into debt and rapidly debasing their currency.

Stop me when this sounds familiar.

The French economy ultimately failed, bringing with it a 26-year period of hyperinflation, civil war, military conquest, and genocide.

History is full of examples, from ancient Mesopotamia to the Soviet Union, which show that whenever societies reach unsustainable levels of resource consumption and allocation, they collapse.

I’ve been writing about this for years, and the idea is now hitting mainstream.

A recent research paper funded by NASA highlights this same premise. According to the authors:

“Collapses of even advanced civilizations have occurred many times in the past five thousand years, and they were frequently followed by centuries of population and cultural decline and economic regression.”

The results of their experiments show that some of the very clear trends which exist today– unsustainable resource consumption, and economic stratification that favors the elite– can very easily result in collapse.

In fact, they write that “collapse is very difficult to avoid and requires major policy changes.”

This isn’t exactly good news.

But here’s the thing– between massive debts, deficits, money printing, war, resource depletion, etc., our modern society seems riddled with these risks.

And history certainly shows that dominant powers are always changing.

Empires rise and fall. The global monetary system is always changing. The prevailing social contract is always changing.

But there is one FAR greater trend across history that supercedes all of the rest… and trend is the RISE of humanity.

Human beings are fundamentally tool creators. We take problems and turn them into opportunities. We find solutions. We adapt and overcome.

The world is not coming to an end. It’s going to reset. There’s a huge difference between the two.

Think about the system that we’re living under.

A tiny elite has total control of the money supply. They wield intrusive spy networks and weapons of mass destruction. The can confiscate the wealth of others in their sole discretion. They can indebt unborn generations.

Curiously, these are the same people who are so incompetent they can’t put a website together.

It’s not working. And just about everyone knows it.

We’re taught growing up that ‘We the People’ have the power to affect radical change in the voting booth. But this is another fairy tale.

Voting only changes the players. It doesn’t change the game.

Technology is one major game changer. The technology exists today to completely revolutionize the way we live and govern ourselves.

Today’s system is just a 19th century model applied to a 21st century society. I mean– a room full of men making decisions about how much money to print? It’s so antiquated it’s almost comical.

But given that the majority of Western governments borrow money just to pay interest on money they’ve already borrowed, it’s obvious the current game is almost finished.

When it ends, there will be a reset… potentially a tumultuous one.

This is why you want to have a plan B, and why you don’t want to have all of your eggs in one basket.

After all, why bother working so hard if everything you’ve ever achieved or provided for your children is tied up in a country with dismal fundamentals?

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Here Come The Official Russian Counter Sanctions: Boehner, Reid, McCain Barred From Entering Russia

Moments after Obama “escalated” against Russia with a second set of sanctions, here comes the prepared Russian statement, which bars the following US individuals from entering the Russian Federation “in relation to the US sanctions over Ukraine and Crimea.”

The people sanctioned via the Russian foreign ministry:

  • Caroline Atkinson
  • Daniel Pfeiffer
  • Benjamin Rhodes
  • Harry Reed (sic)
  • John Boehner
  • Robert Menendez
  • Mary Landrieu
  • John McCain
  • Daniel Coats

The original, with Harry Reid’s name misspelled:

And like that, the second Cold War promptly escalates into a farce.


    



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US Sanctions 2.0; “Additional Costs” Levied On Russian Banks & Billionaires – Full List

After warning of the potential for “dangerous risks of escalation” President Obama, absent his Congress, has signed an Executive Order authorizing further penalties on more Russian individuals and also a bank. “We’re imposing sanctions on more senior officials of the Russian government,” Obama said. “In addition, we are today sanctioning a number of other individuals with substantial resources and influence who provide material support to the Russian leadership, as well as a bank that provides material support to these individuals.” The list includes Bank Rossiya (Russia’s 5th largest bank), and 20 more individuals including Billionaire Gennady Timchenko, and Duma Deputy Speaker Evgeny Bushmin.

Via AP,

President Barack Obama says the United States is levying a new round of economic sanctions on individuals in Russia, both inside and outside the government, in retaliation for the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine.

 

Obama says he has also signed a new executive order that would allow the U.S. to sanction key sectors of the Russian economy.

 

The new penalties mark the second round of economic sanctions the U.S. has levied on Russia this week. The first round of penalties had little impact in stopping Moscow from annexing the strategically important Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.

 

  • *TREASURY ADDS 20 INDIVIDUALS, BANK ROSSIYA TO SANCTIONS LIST
  • *OBAMA SIGNS DECREE ON POSSIBLE INTRODUCTION OF SANCTIONS ON KEY SECTORS OF RUSSIAN ECONOMY
  • *U.S. SANCTIONS MAY TARGET METALS, MINING, DEFENSE: OFFICIALS

The following individuals have been added to OFAC’s SDN List:

BUSHMIN, Evgeni Viktorovich (a.k.a. BUSHMIN, Evgeny; a.k.a. BUSHMIN, Yevgeny); DOB 10 Oct 1958; POB Lopatino, Sergachiisky Region, Russia; Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation; Chairman of the Council of the Federation Budget and Financial Markets Committee (individual) [UKRAINE2].

DZHABAROV, Vladimir Michailovich; DOB 29 Sep 1952; First Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation (individual) [UKRAINE2].

FURSENKO, Andrei Alexandrovich (a.k.a. FURSENKO, Andrei; a.k.a. FURSENKO, Andrey); DOB 17 Jul 1949; POB St. Petersburg, Russia; Aide to the President of the Russian Federation (individual) [UKRAINE2].

GROMOV, Alexei; DOB 1960; POB Zagorsk (Sergiev, Posad), Moscow Region, Russia; First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office; First Deputy Head of Presidential Administration; First Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff (individual) [UKRAINE2].

IVANOV, Sergei (a.k.a. IVANOV, Sergey); DOB 31 Jan 1953; POB St. Petersburg, Russia; Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office (individual) [UKRAINE2].

IVANOV, Victor Petrovich (a.k.a. IVANOV, Viktor); DOB 12 May 1950; alt. DOB 1952; POB Novgorod, Russia (individual) [UKRAINE2].

KOHZIN, Vladimir Igorevich; DOB 28 Feb 1959; POB Troitsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia (individual) [UKRAINE2].

KOVALCHUK, Yuri Valentinovich (a.k.a. KOVALCHUK, Yury Valentinovich); DOB 25 Jul 1951; POB Saint Petersburg, Russia (individual) [UKRAINE2].

MIRONOV, Sergei Mikhailovich (a.k.a. MIRONOV, Sergei); DOB 14 Feb 1953; POB Pushkin, Saint Petersburg, Russia; Member of the Council of the State Duma; Leader of A Just Russia Party; Member of the State Duma Committee on Housing Policy and Housing and Communal Services (individual) [UKRAINE2].

NARYSHKIN, Sergey Yevgenyevich (a.k.a. NARYSHKIN, Sergei); DOB 27 Oct 1954; POB Saint Petersburg, Russia (individual) [UKRAINE2].

OZEROV, Viktor Alekseevich (a.k.a. OZEROV, Viktor Alexeyevich); DOB 05 Jan 1958; POB Abakan, Khakassia, Russia; Chairman of the Security and Defense Federation Council of the Russian Federation (individual) [UKRAINE2].

PANTELEEV, Oleg Evgenevich (a.k.a. PANTELEEV, Oleg); DOB 21 Jul 1952; POB Zhitnikovskoe, Kurgan Region, Russia; First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Parliamentary Issues (individual) [UKRAINE2].

ROTENBERG, Arkady; DOB 15 Dec 1951; POB St. Petersburg, Russia (individual) [UKRAINE2].

ROTENBERG, Boris; DOB 03 Jan 1957; POB St. Petersburg, Russia (individual) [UKRAINE2].

RYZHKOV, Nikolai Ivanovich (a.k.a. RYZHKOV, Nikolai); DOB 28 Sep 1929; POB Duleevka, Donetsk Region, Ukraine; Senator in the Russian Upper House of Parliament; Member of the Committee for Federal Issues, Regional Politics and the North of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation (individual) [UKRAINE2].

SERGUN, Igor Dmitrievich; DOB 28 Mar 1957; Lieutenant General; Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU); Deputy Chief of the General Staff (individual) [UKRAINE2].

TIMCHENKO, Gennady (a.k.a. TIMCHENKO, Gennadiy Nikolayevich; a.k.a. TIMCHENKO, Gennady Nikolayevich; a.k.a. TIMTCHENKO, Guennadi), Geneva, Switzerland; DOB 09 Nov 1952; POB Leninakan, Armenia; alt. POB Gyumri, Armenia; nationality Finland; alt. nationality Russia; alt. nationality Armenia (individual) [UKRAINE2].

TOTOONOV, Aleksandr Borisovich (a.k.a. TOTOONOV, Alexander; a.k.a. TOTOONOV, Alexander B.); DOB 03 Mar 1957; POB Ordzhonikidze, North Ossetia, Russia; alt. POB Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, Russia; Member of the Committee on Culture, Science, and Information, Federation Council of the Russian Federation (individual) [UKRAINE2].

YAKUNIN, Vladimir; DOB 30 Jun 1948; POB Vladimir Oblast, Russia (individual) [UKRAINE2].

ZHELEZNYAK, Sergei Vladimirovich (a.k.a. ZHELEZNYAK, Sergei; a.k.a. ZHELEZNYAK, Sergey); DOB 30 Jul 1970; POB Saint Petersburg, Russia; Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (individual) [UKRAINE2].

The following entity has been added to OFAC’s SDN List:

BANK ROSSIYA (f.k.a. AKTSIONERNY BANK RUSSIAN FEDERATION), 2 Liter A Pl. Rastrelli, Saint Petersburg 191124, Russia; SWIFT/BIC ROSY RU 2P; Website www.abr.ru; Email Address bank@abr.ru [UKRAINE2].


    



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Ordinary Russians “Retaliate” To Obama’s Sanctions

As is widely known by now, Barack Obama, in an executive order, earlier this week as well as moments ago in a very dramatic follow up performance, decided to sanction a handful of Russian military leaders and Kremlinites close to Putin. He didn’t touch Putin of course, that could be seen as too strong a signal one which may cut off German gas supplies for a day or two. Remember: there are “costs” and stuff. So while Russian official debate just how to retaliate best to US and European sanctions, as they said they would, ordinary Russians are taking matters into their own hands. And on twitter. Here are some examples in which the “Russian on the street” has some fun with Obama’s sanctions, and prohibits the US president and people close to him to approach, enter and/or use the facilities.

A zoom up:

The poster prhibits from entering the abovementioned individuals, among which:

  • Barack Obama
  • John Kerry
  • Hillary Clinton
  • Bill Clinon
  • Samantha Power
  • Pussy Riot
  • Adolf Hitler
  • Benito Mussollini

and others.

It continues:

Here the offended Russian says the following:

  • Barack Obama is prohibited from entering the toilet in our office
  • Members of the US Congress are prohibited from using our cafeteria and toilet

and finally:

  • Barack Obama is forbidden from eating the bananas in our fridge.

Needless to say, Russians are hardly taking the US “escalation” very seriously.

In conclusion:


    



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To Eliminate Flight 370 Theories, Start With A Ruler, Pencil And Map

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,

No conventional scenario accounts for the methodical disabling of the communications systems, the bizarre altitude changes and professional navigation to way points, or the presumed turn south and a flight path that extended to at least 8:11 a.m.

UPDATE ON POSSIBLE DEBRIS: the 24-meter (79-feet) object is located far to the south of the search field indicated on the map below. The remote area is known as a floating junkyard, so while this could be yet another false lead, it appears to be the only credible lead at this point: If this is the debris of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, what happens next?

Every plausible theory about what happened to Flight 370 has to not only fit the most reliable facts (radar tracks and satellite data) but basic geography. A widely circulated scenario proposed by Chris Goodfellow theorizes that a fire (from either a smoldering front tire or electrical fire) filled the cockpit with smoke and caused the pilots to head for the nearest major runway which happened to be to the west on Langkawi.

The reason why the transponder and ACARS systems were deactivated is the pilots pulled all the fuses in an attempt to control the electrical fire.

In Goodfellow's reconstruction, this gallant effort failed and the pilots were overcome by fumes and lost consciousness. The aircraft then flew on the westward heading on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the sea.

This scenario has been critiqued on a number of points: Here's What Pilots Think About The New Idea That The Missing Plane Flew For Hours After A Fire Killed The Pilots documents that full-face oxygen masks were easily accessible, nixing the notion that the pilots could not possibly have had time to radio air traffic control.

A “Startlingly Simple Theory” About the Missing Airliner is Sweeping the Internet. It’s Wrong addresses other problems with the scenario.

I've prepared a map with the "it has to be somewhere along this line" arc based on satellite data and Flight 370's last known west-bound heading. This heading has been confirmed by both Malaysian and Thai military radar.

if the pilots lost consciousness and the aircraft continued west on autopilot, the 777 would have been approaching India before its fuel ran and and it ditched into the sea. This is not even close to the arc traced by the satellite transmission at 8:11 a.m.

This map also eliminates theories that have Flight 370 being diverted to Diego Garcia, a U.S./British military base 1,200 southwest of Sri Lanka. According to my information, Flight 370 had 108,247 pounds of fuel, nowhere near its maximum capacity but more than enough to reach Beijing. Thus there is no way MH370 could have made it to Diego Garcia. The fact the the last satellite transmission was 8:11 a.m. suggests the aircraft crashed before the next automated ping could be sent.

The problem is that various pieces of data do not support conventional scenarios based on past losses of commercial airliners. We can start with the fact that the Boeing 777 is one of the safest aircraft in commercial use. The only fatalities occurred quite recently as a result of pilot error.

The fire scenario in which pilots can't find time to radio ATC (air traffic control) but they manage to navigate multiple way points using the flight computer is not plausible. Not only do the masks and the safety record of the 777 make this a stretch (not to mention that a DC-8 is not necessarily a useful analogy to a 777) it's not yet clear (due to conflicting reports) whether the pilots could deactivate the ACARS system from the cockpit; some reports suggest that requires opening a floor compartment in the aisle outside the cockpit.

The methodical disabling of the two separate communications systems is inconsistent with an emergency that allowed the pilots enough time to change course via the flight computer, navigate to way points and change altitude.

The bizarre altitude changes (climbing to 45,000 feet, well beyond the aircraft's designed ceiling and then descending to 23,000 feet, according to Malaysian military radar) and lengthy flight path along navigational way points do not align with the pilot suicide scenario. In the two previous instances of pilot suicide (both denied by the host nations for reasons of face), the suicidal pilot dove the aircraft into the sea early in the flight.

The complex flight path westward does not align with this unless the pilot was aiming to ditch the aircraft beyond the reach of recovery. And if this were the goal, why climb to 45,000 feet and then descend to 23,000?

My pilot sources report that the 777 (along with all other commercial aircraft) are designed to fly within a narrow envelope of efficiency to conserve fuel. It's pushing the envelope hard to take an almost fully loaded airliner above its designed ceiling (around 43,000 feet). What possible motivation could there have been for this action, and the subsequent drop to 23,000 feet?

A struggle with hijackers comes to mind, but there is no solid evidence that any of the passengers or other crew members had the motivation or training to hijack the aircraft and either fly the 777 in the professional manner demonstrated or coerce the pilots to disable the communications systems and proceed west.

The passage over known Malaysian military bases suggests to some observers that the pilots may have been trying to draw a response, i.e. force the Malaysian Air Force to scramble fighters, but this did not happen.

That leaves a struggle between captain and co-pilot as one explanation for the wild changes in altitude, but if that occurred, the rogue pilot retained control and the communication systems remained off.

Since there is no evidence (after 12 days) that Flight 370 headed north and landed or crashed on land, official speculation has turned to the southern arc.

In order to reach the southern reaches of the arc, Flight 370 had to have turned south sometime after Malaysian and Thai military radar lost contact with the 777 around 2:30 a.m. Once again, this decision (the only possible choice left if the northern route has been ruled out) does not align with hijacking aimed at stealing the aircraft or holding the passengers hostage, given the paucity of potential landing sites. And if the presumed hijacking was intended to be an act of terrorism that murdered all 239 people on board, why fly the 777 six hours beyond the point when the presumed hijackers took control of the cockpit?

While it is certainly possible that the pilots were incapacitated by some event after they turned the aircraft south and the 777 flew on autopilot until it crashed somewhere close to this arc, the fact that the aircraft was obviously being piloted up to that turn south only deepens the mystery.

No conventional scenario accounts for the methodical disabling of the communications systems, the bizarre altitude changes and professional navigation to way points, or the presumed turn south and a flight path that extended to at least 8:11 a.m., almost six hours after the aircraft flew beyond the Malaysian military radar's range.

As noted in my previous entries on Flight 370, it is possible that the U.S. Navy's SOSUS (Sound Surveillance System)(Wikipedia) may be active in the region of interest. According to this article on the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), an advanced version was put in place in the mid-2000s.

On 26 April 1999 Lockheed Martin Corp., Manassas, Va., was awarded a $107,031,978 firm-fixed-price contract for Phase II of a deep water, undersea surveillance system. This system is a long life, passive acoustic surveillance system that can be configured for multiple mission applications. It has the capability to provide long-term barrier and field acoustic surveillance, long-range acoustic surveillance coverage of open ocean areas, and acoustic surveillance in areas with high ambient noise. This contract contains one option, which, if exercised, would bring the total cumulative value of this contract to $153,234,288.

Although there is no public indication that the SOSUS system detected an acoustic signal that could have been Flight 370 crashing into the sea, we can anticipate that no public announcement would be made. Rather, various naval assets would be directed to search in the appropriate area.

Unfortunately, even if the black box is recovered, we may never know what transpired in the cockpit from 1:00 a.m. on, as the black box only records the previous two hours of cockpit voice data (it records 25 hours of other flight data). If the aircraft was on autopilot those last two hours (or was flown by a silent human pilot), there may well be little record of events in the cockpit prior to the two-hour mark.

It increasingly appears to be a mystery that will never be solved with any certainty.

My previous entry on Flight 370:
Finally, a Plausible Scenario of What Happened to Flight 370 (March 17, 2014)


    



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President Obama To Reiterate “Sell Russia” Call, Discuss New Sanctions – Live Feed

Despite Russia’s scoffing at the extent of the West’s sanctions and Ukrainian politicians seemingly resigned to the fact that Crimea is lost (and wanting some compensation), we are sure President Obama will want to reset the narrative. As Jay Carney noted earlier in the week, we suspect a broad-based “sell Russia” recommendation will be issued along with threats of more “costs” and strongly worded language…

 

 

Live Feed here:


    



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Stick A Fork In The “Housing Recovery” (Spoiler Alert: Blame Record Student Debt)

The chart below from Bank of America – showing the progression of first-time US homebuyers in recent months – should scare everyone who still believes that there is some sort of “housing recovery” in the US.

What this chart tells us is that an increasingly greater amount of existing homes is being sold not to people who want to live in them, but speculators who are merely seeking to flip to a greater fool, or worse, to Chinese and Russian olilgarchs who are simply seeking a place where to park hot money or simply launder other ill-gotten cash.

The NAR essentially confirmed this (something Zero Hedge readers have known for nearly a year), when it reported that “all-cash sales comprised 35 percent of transactions in February, up from 33 percent in January and 32 percent in February 2013. Individual investors, who account for many cash sales, purchased 21 percent of homes in February, compared with 20 percent in January; they were 22 percent in February 2013. Seventy-three percent of investors paid cash in February.

Read that last sentence again: 73% of investors, i.e. speculators who now account for a greater portion of total purchasers than first time home buyers, paid cash!

So what explains this collapse in the traditional housing pathway, where people buy houses to live in them? Simple. Record debt. Only not the credit card debt variety which historically was the biggest impediment to large purchases and was among the reasons for the 2007 credit bubble pop. This time it is all student debt.

NAR President Steve Brown, co-owner of Irongate, Inc., Realtors in Dayton, Ohio, said student debt appears to be a factor in the weak level of first-time buyers. “The biggest problems for first-time buyers are tight credit and limited inventory in the lower price ranges,” he said. “However, 20 percent of buyers under the age of 33, the prime group of first-time buyers, delayed their purchase because of outstanding debt. In our recent consumer survey, 56 percent of younger buyers who took longer to save for a downpayment identified student debt as the biggest obstacle.“

 

Brown notes the survey results are for recent homebuyers. “It’s clear there are other people who would like to buy a home that are not in the market because of debt issues, so we can expect a lingering impact of delayed home buying,” Brown added.

As a reminder, in Q4 student debt rose to a record $1.08 trillion, and continues to rise at a breakneck pace.

But… but… what happened to the whole “the US consumer has deleveraged and can’t wait to go on a spending spree” fable again?

Source: Bank of America, NAR


    



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Russia On “Absurd” EU,US Sanctions: “This Is An Operetta, We Can Only Laugh”

Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has soared to new five-year highs as the State Duma ratifies the agreement on Crimea’s admission to Russia. However, it is the clear distain that the Russian Foreign Affairs Committee Deputy Chairman Alexander Romanovich had for the West’s response so far. “The US and EU sanctions against Russia are absurd and unreal,” the lawmaker scoffed, adding “this is an operetta, and we can only laugh.” So much for non-mutually-assured-destruction-based sanctions. The Duma are considering how retaliatory sanctions could be imposed.

 

The State Duma considers sanctions imposed by the US and the EU in response to Crimea’s accession to Russia absurd and unreal.

“The US and EU sanctions against Russia are absurd and unreal,” State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Deputy Chairman Alexander Romanovich told Itar-Tass.

 

The lawmaker is head of the Russian delegation at the 130th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) currently underway in Geneva.

 

“This is an operetta, and we can only laugh: for example, sanctions have been imposed against (head of the A Just Russia party faction in the State Duma Sergei) Mironov. Then it turned out that he had not been banned the entry. It was reported his property abroad had been arrested,” Romanovich said.

 

“Maybe, the list will be expanded. As for response measures, we should look at how sanctions should be imposed,” the lawmaker said.

Via ITAR-TASS,

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rating has hit a five-year record high, according to a survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (WCIOM) on March 15-16.

 

 

The survey, published on Thursday, showed that 75.7% of 1,600 respondents in 130 Russian towns and cities approved of their leader’s policy.

STATE DUMA RATIFIES AGREEMENT ON CRIMEA’S ADMISSION TO RUSSIA

Lower house of parliament ratifies treaty signed March 18 by President Vladimir Putin on Crimea, Sevastopol joining Russia as new regions.

 

Duma also passes changes to constitution required for accession

 

445 Vote:- 1 Voted Against, 4 didn’t vote

Need more “costs”


    



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