RUSSIA - From the economic point of view, everyone should get ready for tough actions from Moscow. Sergei Glazyev, the most hardline of Putin’s advisors, sketched the retaliation strategy: Drop the dollar, sell US Treasuries, encourage Russian companies to default on their dollar-denominated debts, and create an alternative currency system (reference currency) with the BRICS and hydrocarbon producers like Venezuela and Iran.

RUSSIA - We are sure it is just coincidence - and an awkward combination of luck and suspicious timing - but Vedomosti reports that Viktor Zubkov, the Chairman of Russia's massive energy monopoly Gazprom, dumped his entire stake in the company just a few weeks before Vladimir Putin crossed the red line. Gazprom shares have dropped 25% in the last 3 weeks so his timing was impeccable. It's good to have friends running the country eh? Thank you Mr Putin. This is important as so many Western watchers believe a crumbling Russia stock market will prompt Putin to back away… it appears his Oligarch friends already got the nod…

MIDDLE EAST - The West enjoys portraying Qatar as a modern nation-state on the rise. Under the carefully managed facade lies barbarism and institutionalized support for international terrorism in support of the West's hegemonic goals across the planet - not to mention the fact that it is ruled by an unelected, autocratic, hereditary dictatorship.

USA - Arizona is the latest state to confirm cases of the deadly Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, a highly contagious pig disease, increasing the tally of US states with confirmed cases to 27, a group of animal health researchers said. Virginia has reported positive samples of the virus in the environment, but not yet in a hog herd, according to data released on Thursday by the US Department of Agriculture's National Animal Health Laboratory Network. Confirmed cases of PEDv increased by 274 in the week ending March 8, bringing the total number to 4,458 in 27 states.

CHILE - A magnitude 7.0 earthquake has hit the Pacific coast of Chile, the US Geological Survey said. As a preventive measure, Chilean authorities have ordered a partial evacuation of the northern coastline. The epicentre of the quake was located 70 km northwest of Iquique in northern Chile, at a depth of 32 km, the US Geological Survey said. The National Office of Emergency of the Interior Ministry has ordered an evacuation of the coastline between the northern towns of Arica and Tocopilla, over the fears of a possible minor tsunami. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center however said there was no tsunami expected. About 80,000 people were evacuated in the Tarapaca region, 3,000 in Arica and Parinacota region and 22,000 in Antofagasta region, said ONEMI's national director, Ricardo Toro, adding that the sea had risen by almost 13 inches.

LATVIA - On Sunday, the most extremist right wing organizations in Latvia are planning to stage a demonstration in commemoration of Latvian Nazi collaborators. "Legionaries' Day" commemorates Latvia's Waffen-SS units, honored as combatants against the Soviet Union. Many of them had helped the Nazi occupiers carry out mass murders of around 75,000 Latvian Jews, unable to flee before the Nazis' arrival. One of the extreme rightwing parties usually organizing the commemoration procession has a minister in the current government. One of that party's leaders expresses the anti-Russian sentiments of his followers by referring to the Latvian ethnic Russian inhabitants as "occupiers" and "illegal colonialists." His party is calling for their deportation ("repatriation") to Russia. The organization "Latvija bez Nacisma" ("Latvia without Nazism") has announced it will protest against this commemoration procession. Ukrainian nationalists had also participated in last year's procession.

USA - You can't get blood out of a rock. Traditionally the United States has had a consumer-driven economy, but now years of declining incomes and rising debts are really starting to catch up with us. In order to have an economy that is dependent on consumer spending, you need to have a large middle class.

USA - US officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move that pleased international critics but alarmed some business leaders and others who rely on the smooth functioning of the Web.

RUSSIA/USA - On the heels of President Obama’s approval rating plummeting to 41% – a record low - it is perhaps ironic that the supposedly despotic (amid shrouded in Hitler-comparisons and homosexual hatred) Vladimir Putin has seen his approval rating soar to 71.6% – a 3 year high - as Interfax notes “we now have a complex society that supports the president, primarily because of his stance on Ukraine.” Interestingly 64% saw Ukraine as a key current event while 32% said that success at the Olympics was most important.

VATICAN - One year on from the election of Pope Francis as successor to the Apostle Peter, we are becoming increasingly aware that he is guiding the Church towards a revolution, fought not by the sword but by personal witness, without throwing away the past, but by helping authentic tradition to flourish once again.

TURKEY - About three miles northeast of the Hagia Sophia on the Golden Horn one will find the Phanar, home to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and site of the recent pan-Orthodox assembly, or “Synaxis” of the primates of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches (not including the Oriental Orthodox). Called by His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the importance of the assembly extends beyond Orthodoxy, giving hope for all Protestants and Catholics who pray for the unity of the church.

CHINA - "Sanctions could lead to retaliatory action, and that would trigger a spiral with unforeseeable consequences," warns China's envoy to Germany adding that "we don't see any point in sanctions." On the heels of Merkel's warning that Russia risked "massive" political and economic damage if it did not change course, Reuters reports ambassador Shi Mingde urged patience saying "the door is still open" for diplomacy (though we suspect it is not) ahead of this weekend's referendum. Russia's Deputy Economic Minister Alexei Likhachev responded by promising "symmetrical" sanctions by Moscow. So now we have China joining the fray more aggressively.

UK - Genetically modified crops could be more nutritious than natural produce, the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser has told the Prime Minister. Sir Mark Walport has written to David Cameron recommending that farmers should start to plant GM crops. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that such crops are dangerous to humans or the environment, he says. They could even be more beneficial to health, he argues. Scientists could add nutrients to the genetic make-up of plants. They would cut down on the need for pesticides and help farmers feed a growing population at a time when global warming threatens climates. A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the government was working to allow GM crops to be grown in Britain.

USA - In yet another sign of its deep slump, J C Penney Company said on Wednesday that it would close 33 stores across the country and shed about 2,000 jobs. The company said in a statement that the closings and resulting job cuts would save about $65 million a year. One of the oldest retailers in the nation, J C Penney has undergone considerable management and investment turmoil in the last few years. It fired one chief executive, Ron Johnson, and then brought back his predecessor, Myron E Ullman III. It tried a new retail strategy, which alienated core customers, and reverted to its old strategy. Its stock has plummeted nearly 80 percent in the last two years.

RUSSIA - Russian companies are pulling billions out of western banks, fearful that any US sanctions over the Crimean crisis could lead to an asset freeze, according to bankers in Moscow. Sberbank and VTB, Russia’s giant partly state-owned banks, as well as industrial companies, such as energy group Lukoil, are among those repatriating cash from western lenders with operations in the US. VTB has also cancelled a planned US investor summit next month, according to bankers. The flight comes as last-ditch diplomatic talks between Russia’s foreign minister and the US secretary of state to resolve the tensions in Ukraine ended without an agreement.