Victoria Nuland @ Shevchenko University: #Ukraine will be able to send over 300 students to the US each year via FLEX pic.twitter.com/R8abrEy86E
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) October 7, 2014
Some worrying economic news for Russia according to this report issued by Bloomberg:
Russia’s central bank spent as much as $1.75 billion to prop up the ruble over the last two trading days, its biggest market intervention since President Vladimir Putin’s incursion into Ukraine in March.
Russia’s central bank spent the equivalent of $980 million to shore up the ruble on Oct. 3, the latest data on the authority’s website showed today. The bank also said it shifted the upper boundary of the currency’s trading band by 10 kopeks yesterday, a move that may have involved spending between $420 million and $769 million that day. The exchange rate weakened 0.3 percent to 44.6234 versus the basket by 5:12 p.m. in Moscow, set for a record low for the fourth time this month.
Putin is suffering the consequences for shaking up the post-Cold War order in eastern Europe as the U.S. and European Union impose sanctions on his economy and investors pull money out of the country. Demand for dollars and euros is growing among Russian companies locked out of western debt markets as they contend with $54.7 billion of debt repayments in the next three months, according to central bank data.
Read the entire article here
At least 2 houses was hit by grad rockets today in # Donetsk district of Gladkovka, airport ~4km NW from there. pic.twitter.com/dlfCfs5OUL
— Silver Meikar (@meikar) October 7, 2014
Better late than never. Here's a video of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland:
Here's a Crimea-related update from RFE/RL's news desk:
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says at least five people are still missing after "hostile encounters" in the annexed Crimea region that contribute to an "atmosphere of fear and hostility for anyone who is pro-Ukraine, including Crimean Tatars."
HRW made the announcement after Edem Asanov, a Crimean Tatar missing since September 29, was found dead.
It said the five had been "forcefully disappeared".
They included Islam Dzhepparov and Dzhevdet Islamov, two young Crimean Tatars who disappeared on September 27 after being bundled into a minivan by men in black uniforms.
The others are three pro-Ukraine activists, one of them a Crimean Tatar, who disappeared in late May after they said they had hostile encounters with pro-Russian militants.
HRW said other Crimean Tatars have been found dead, with signs of torture, since the peninsula's annexation by Russia in March.
"Ceasefire in Ukraine is a Mirage" http://t.co/7bSCFPtRlN
— Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (@JSaryuszWolski) October 7, 2014
Me: "Is this a ceasefire?" DNR commander "Botsman": "This is the start of WWIII…"
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) October 7, 2014
Some more economics data via our news desk:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its forecast for global economic growth for 2014-2015.
Citing risks from the Ukrainian crisis, strife in the Middle East, and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the Washington-based organization on October 7 is now forecasting 3.3 percent growth in 2014 and 3.8 percent in 2015.
The IMF said, "An escalation in geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, resulting in a tightening of sanctions against Russia, could entail a serious setback" for the former Soviet Union.
Russia's already battered economy is expected to grow by 0.2 percent in 2014 and 0.5 percent next year, with a knock-on effect being felt by economies reliant on trade with Moscow.
The Ukrainian economy is predicted to shrink by 6.5 percent this year and only recover 1 percent in 2015.
(AFP, BBC)
Ukraine to start tackling corruption through national system of AC Bodies? Laws in first reading adopted http://t.co/MdCTXgbvma
— UNDPUkraine (@UNDPUkraine) October 7, 2014
Carrying water in Shaktyorsk, deep inside DNR territory. Most of town still without basic supplies. pic.twitter.com/GG9hRblR01
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) October 6, 2014