Russian shadow fleet may be detained by U.K.
26 March, 2026
Downing Street confirmed military and law enforcement officials are prepared to board Russian vessels suspected of being part of a “shadow fleet” used to circumvent Western oil sanctions. that do not surrender, are armed, or use surveillance to evade capture. Russia’s reliance on this fleet has allowed it to continue oil exports despite restrictions imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
European pressure was recently complicated by a US decision to grant a 30-day waiver for buying stranded Russian products to stabilise global energy markets.
[March 20 2026 m.t. Deyne, Grinch seized by French navy ]
French Navy boarded the Mozambique-flagged oil tanker Deyna, in the Western Mediterranean after the vessel, sailing from the Russian port of Murmansk, was suspected of flying a false flag.
In January, the country stopped the oil tanker Grinch between the southern coast of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco on suspicion that it was part of the Russian shadow fleet
[January 23 2026 Russian warship, Boikiy, escorts tanker in English Channel ]
Tensions heightened between London and Moscow over the status of Russia’s shadow fleet tankers – the underinsured, often stateless, generally older vessels that carry semi-sanctioned Russian crude exports. The UK and partners in Europe have begun to show interest in a more muscular enforcement policy towards the shadow fleet, which was assembled for the purpose of sanctions evasion and is known for evading safety regulations as well.
[January 20 2026 ]
A Russian warship has escorted an oil tanker through the English Channel for the first time since Britain threatened to seize Moscow’s shadow fleet ships.
The Times disclosed last week that special forces were being lined up to storm Russian shadow fleet vessels as part of a crackdown targeting the Russian economy, after the US seized several tankers that fled the blockade on Venezuela.
On Monday night, the Russian warship, Boikiy, entered the English Channel, accompanying an oil tanker on its way back to the Baltic Sea. “The tanker General Skobelev is a regular participant on what was known as the Syria Express route delivering fuel to Russian interests in Tartus,” James Droxford, of the intelligence consultancy Droxford Maritime, said. Boikiy (Russian: Бойкий, lit. ’Brisk’) is a Steregushchy-class corvette of the Russian Navy,
Inflation: debt reaching roughly 124% of GDP.
23 March, 2026
The U.S. national debt has surpassed $39 trillion as of March 2026, driven by structural deficits, mandatory spending, and interest costs, reaching roughly 124% of GDP. This high-and-rising debt poses long-term risks, including increased interest payments, potential inflation, and reduced economic flexibility.
“I can end the deficit in five minutes,” Buffet said in a 2011 interview with CNBC. “You just pass a law that says that anytime there’s a deficit of more than 3% of the GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for reelection. Now, you’ve got the incentives in the right place.”
[December 3 2023 Treasury Bonds On Track For Best Month In 40 Years after November Rally ]
November 29, 2023 U.S. government bonds are on track for their best month in nearly 40 years following a summer and early autumn sell off that saw foreign buyers all but desert the Treasury markets.
The dramatic turnaround in November came as Treasury yields dropped from 16-year highs — with the benchmark 10-year yield hitting 5% in late October — thanks to growing optimism that the Federal Reserve’s next policy move will be a rate cut, possibly in the first quarter of 2024. “It is clear from the sharpness of the move across asset markets in the past week or two, that the CPI inflation release was a pivotal moment in the market’s interpretation of the outlook for Fed interest rate policy,” said Jane Foley, senior FX strategist at Rabobank.
[October 26 2023 Yellen: increase in yields due to robust economy ]
Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said that the surge in longer-term bond yields in recent months is a reflection of a strong U.S. economy, not the jump in government borrowing driven by a widening fiscal deficit.
“I don’t think much of that is connected” to the U.S. budget deficit, Yellen said at an event in Bloomberg’s Washington office Thursday. “We’re seeing yields go up in most advanced countries.”
The increase in yields – which has taken benchmark Treasury rates to the highest levels since before the global financial crisis – is instead “largely a reflection of the resilience people are seeing in the economy,” she said.
She spoke hours after data showed the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.9% in the third quarter, the fastest pace in nearly two years.
Robust consumer spending was a key driver, in turn supported by a persistently strong labor market. Yellen said she wouldn’t be surprised if the U.S. posts a growth rate of 2.5% for 2023.
“The economy is continuing to show tremendous robustness and that suggests that interest rates are likely to stay higher for longer,” she said.
[Octobder 4 2023 German ten-year yields passed 3%, their highest since 2011. ]
A global bonds sell-off pushed borrowing costs to multi-year highs in several countries as investors prepared for a prolonged period of tight monetary policy. American 30-year Treasury yields shot above 5% for the first time since 2007, and German ten-year yields passed 3%, their highest since 2011.
[October 3 2023 Treasury:10-year Treasury yield to reach 4.70%, highest since 2007 ]
“It’s a classic good news is bad news because the potential impact of higher interest rates on both the economy and markets is becoming concerning as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note continues to march higher,” said Yung-Yu Ma,
The 10-year Treasury yield, which is used as a benchmark, rose by 0.13 percentage points to reach 4.70%, the highest since 2007. This increase came as manufacturing data exceeded expectations and reinforced investor confidence in the strength of the US economy. The surge in Treasury yields is occurring amidst increased government debt issuance in the US and reduced foreign buyer participation. In August, the Treasury Department expanded its borrowing plans for the first time in two and a half years, aiming to issue approximately $1 trillion in the quarter. In recent weeks, bond prices worldwide have experienced significant declines due to a large amount of Treasury issuance by the US government and growing expectations that central banks will maintain high interest rates for an extended period. It’s important to note that bond yields move in the opposite direction of prices.
[July 4 2023 yield curve to its deepest inversion since 1981 ]
NEW YORK, July 3 (Reuters) – Expectations of another rate hike by the Federal Reserve to tame stubbornly high inflation helped push a closely watched part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve to its deepest inversion since 1981
When the yield curve steepens, banks can borrow at lower rates and lend at higher rates. When the curve is flatter their margins are squeezed, which may deter lending.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/explainer-u-yield-curve-hits-182731416.html
[June 15 2023 ECB: main rate 3.5%, diverging from U.S. Federal Reserve ]
The European Central Bank on Thursday announced it is taking its main rate up by 25 basis points to 3.5%, diverging from a U.S. Federal Reserve decision to pause its own hikes on Wednesday.
For Thursday’s ECB decision, a 25 bps hike is fully priced in and looking forward, the market has already priced in a 25 basis points hike either in July or September. Poor economic performance might limit the ECB’s ability to increase rates further to rein in inflation. ECB officials have nevertheless previously suggested that it is more important to bring down prices than to avoid an economic slowdown.
[March 8 2023 Yield curve: recession becomes a lock? ]
The year that follows a peak curve inversion means bonds over stocks, a barbell over bullet approach to Treasuries, and move up in the quality curve within the universe of corporate credit (spread product in general). The two-year Treasury’s yield was at 5%, far above the 3.96% yield for the 10-year Treasury. That differential, or inversion, is on pace for its widest closing level since Sept. 22, 1981, In the year after the peak inversion, here is what has typically happened. The recession becomes a lock and that takes the yield on the 10-year T-note down 75 basis points. The two-year yield plunges closer to 200 basis points, because guess what? Six months past the peak inversion, the Fed is swinging from tightening to easing. That is the nature of the interest rate and economic cycle.
[July 27 2023 Tightening monetary policies- economy shrinks- beyond neutral ]
The Federal Reserve on July 27 2022 enacted its second consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase, taking its benchmark rate to a range of 2.25%-2.5%.
[July 6 2022]
The minutes from the Fed’s two-day meeting last month show that the central bank’s policymakers concluded higher interest rates could be needed to restrain what they saw as a worrying trend: consumers starting to anticipate higher inflation. The policymakers also acknowledged that more rate hikes could weaken the economy
[July 6 2022]
NEW YORK, July 5 The U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted again as investors continue to price in the chance that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive move to bring down inflation will push the economy into recession.
[July 1 2022]
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow gauge sees the second-quarter running at negative 2.1%.
Coupled with the first-quarter’s decline of 1.6%, that would fit the technical definition of recession.
[June 19 2022]
WaPo’s David Lynch writes. “The U.S. central bank also launched a high-stakes test of the economy’s ability to shed its dependence on limitless credit and tolerate higher borrowing costs for consumers, businesses and the government.”
[June 16 2022]
The Swiss central bank increased its policy rate to -0.25% from the -0.75% level it has deployed since 2015, sending the safe-haven franc sharply higher. Nearly all the economists polled by Reuters had expected the SNB to keep rates steady.
[June 11 2022]
Bloomberg’s Rich Miller writes. “An increasing number of economists … say it may take an economic contraction and higher unemployment to bring inflation down to more tolerable levels, much less back to the Fed’s 2% price target.”
Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius wrote. “We have revised our forecast to include 75bp hikes in June and July. This would quickly reset the level of the funds rate at 2.25-2.5%, the FOMC’s median estimate of the neutral rate. We then expect a 50bp hike in September and 25bp hikes in November and December, for an unchanged terminal rate of 3.25-3.5%.”
[Jume 9 2022]
Robert Shiller said that he believes a recession may become a “self-fulfilling prophecy” as consumers, investors, and companies prepare for the worst and slow down their spending.
[June 2 2022]
The U.S. economy “has a lot of strength” despite increasing inflationary pressures, while President Biden is promoting long-term energy security, White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said.
[1 June 2022]
“Right now it’s kind of sunny, things are doing fine. Everyone thinks the Fed can handle this,” Jamie Dimon said at a Bernstein conference. “That hurricane is right out there down the road coming our way.”
“We just don’t know if it’s a minor one or Superstorm Sandy. You better brace yourself,” Dimon said,
[May 25 2022]
This month’s 50-basis-point hike in the Fed’s benchmark overnight interest rate was the first of that size in more than 20 years, and “most participants” judged that further hikesof that magnitude would “likely be appropriate” at the Fed’s policy meetings in June and July, according to the minutes.
[May 24 2022]
Some strippers on Twitter said they think recession is guaranteed – because the strip clubs are suddenly empty.
On Thursday (9 May), a woman who goes by @botticellibimbo on the platform said the following about the clubs: “The strip club is sadly a leading indicator, and I can promise y’all we r in a recession,
[May 23 2022]
The president, speaking in Tokyo earlier today as he launched a new trade deal with 12 Indo-Pacific nations, told reporters that he doesn’t believe a recession is “inevitable”.
[May 17 2022]
[erome Powell:
“What we need to see is inflation coming down in a clear and convincing way and we’re going to keep pushing until we see that,” . “If we don’t see that we will have to consider moving more aggressively” to tighten financial conditions. The Fed will not hesitate to move beyond a neutral policy, if needed, he said.
[May 16 2022[
US economy saw ‘unexpectedly severe’ drop in first three months of year.
The US economy shrank in the first three months of the year, contracting by -0.4% in the first quarter, or -1.4% on an annualized basis, its weakest quarter since the early days of the pandemic. As the economy struggles to deal with “painfully high inflation,” which has “forced the Federal Reserve to go on high alert,” Mark Zandi puts the odds of a recession at 33% in the next 12 months and nearly 50% within the next 24 months.
[April 28 2022]
The commerce department said the slowdown was caused by a rise in imports and a drop in private inventory investment, exports, federal government spending, and state and local government spending.
[April 26 2022 an even deeper recession may be needed – Deutsche ]
Describing themselves as “the extreme outlier on the street,” researchers at the German bank have an official house call for a “mild” U.S. contraction by late next year, as the Fed pushes forward with hiking rates and shrinking its balance sheet to combat inflation — putting Deutsche Bank at the pessimistic end of 75 forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg. However, they say, an even deeper recession may be needed to bring inflation under control. The Dow fell 810 points, or 2.4%,
[April 21 2022 The neutral rate is an “inferred” rate ]
The neutral rate is the theoretical federal funds rate at which the stance of Federal Reserve monetary policy is neither accommodative nor restrictive. It is the short-term real interest rate consistent with the economy maintaining full employment with associated price stability.
You won’t find the neutral rate quoted on your computer screen or in the financial section of the newspaper. The neutral rate is an “inferred” rate—that is, it is estimated based on various analyses and observations.
Bankers are now calling for a key interest rate to hit its “neutral” level by year’s end due to action by the Fed.
Long-term inflation expectations are considered key to how wages and prices are set, and at that meeting “a few participants judged that, at the current juncture, a significant risk…was that elevated inflation and inflation expectations could become entrenched.”
[April 18 2022]
“Our analysis of historical G10 episodes suggests that although strong economic momentum limits the risk in the near-term, the policy tightening we expect raises the odds of recession. As a result, we now see the odds of a recession as roughly 15% in the next 12 months and 35% within the next 24 months,” said Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs chief economist, in a new note to clients.
[April 7 2022]
It is a gloomy combination for global growth, and the outlook is darkening. Several economies could even suffer recessions, though at different times depending on the obstacles they face.
Economist
]April 6 2022]
NYT’s Ben Casselman reports. He notes that “a majority of forecasters say a recession remains unlikely in the next year,” but growth will likely slow and plenty of factors could upend expectations.
[April 5 2022]
“We no longer see the Fed achieving a soft landing. Instead, we anticipate that a more aggressive tightening of monetary policy will push the economy into a recession,” Deutsche Bank economists led by Matthew Luzzetti wrote in the report.
[February 17 2022]
The Federal Reserve will act in an “appropriate way” to contain inflation while ensuring the US recovery continues.
[February 9 2022]
Inflation hurts. Recessions can hurt more. Ultimately, economic policymakers are betting that tolerating some pain now in hopes that conditions look better in a year or so is safer option.
[january 25 2022]
The economic post-Covid recovery is slowing down, whereas inflation is heating up. The central banks all over the world, including the Fed, are tightening their monetary policies. This might lead to recession sooner rather than later
Cuba: Russia sending oil
22 March, 2026
Hong Kong-flagged tanker, Sea Horse,, tanker carrying fuel originally bound for Cuba, diverts to Trinidad, shipping data shows
The Hong Kong-flagged tanker Sea Horse is heading to the western coast of Cuba and is expected to arrive this weekend or Monday. Russian Anatoly Kolodkin, carrying 700,000 barrels of crude oil, departed from the Russian coast of Primorsk and was en route to Cuba.
The ship Sea Horse halted its voyage Wednesday and is now drifting in the North Atlantic Ocean, according to vessel-tracking data. The tanker is likely carrying 200,000 barrels of Russian gas oil, based on shipping analytics from Kpler Ltd., whose lead analyst previously identified the cargo following a ship-to-ship transfer off Cyprus.
France: appeal hearing for Sarkozy
16 March, 2026
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy returned to court on Monday for an appeal hearing in Paris over his conviction linked to the alleged illegal campaign financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by Libya, a case that led him to spend 20 days in prison last year. In November, the Court of Cassation — France’s top court — upheld his conviction for illegal campaign financing of his 2012 reelection bid, requiring him to spend six months under house arrest wearing an electronic ankle tag, a sentence that has yet to be implemented. In November, the Court of Cassation — France’s top court — upheld his conviction for illegal campaign financing of his 2012 reelection bid, requiring him to spend six months under house arrest wearing an electronic ankle tag, a sentence that has yet to be implemented.
[November 26 2025 Sarkozy 2021 conviction confirmed ]
France’s Cour de Cassation on Wednesday confirmed the convictions, saying that 2012 illegal campaign financing had been established. It upheld Sarkozy’s one-year non-custodial sentence, half of which is suspended. He has said he was not involved in the logistics of his campaign or in how money was spent in the run-up to the election.
The 2021 ruling said Sarkozy was made aware of the overspending, that he did not act on it, and that it was not necessary for him to approve each individual expense to be responsible.
In a statement, Sarkozy’s lawyers said their client was considering bringing the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
The ruling comes after Sarkozy, 70, was sent to prison on October 21 after he was found guilty in a separate case for efforts by close aides to procure Libyan funds for his 2007 presidential bid. He was freed from jail earlier this month, pending appeal.
[September 15 2021 François Fillon appeals conviction ]
A French court on Monday began hearing an appeal by former prime minister François Fillon against a conviction in a corruption scanda In June 2020, a court ruled that Penelope’s job was either “fictitious or greatly overstated” and gave Fillon a five-year jail term, three years of which were suspended, and barred him from holding elected office for 10 years After quitting politics Fillon set up a business consultancy. He is also on the board of Russian state oil company Zarubezhneft.
[September 18 2019 trials of Francois Fillon & Nicolas Sarkozy ]
12/09/2019 Former French prime minister Francois Fillon will go on trial in February on accusations of creating a fictitious but well-paid job for his wife, which destroyed his bid to claim the presidency in 2017.
19 June 2019 Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has lost his final bid to avoid a trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, and will likely have to appear in court in the coming months. Court of Cassation, which rules on questions of law, ruled that a trial was justified for Sarkozy
Tariffs redux
14 March, 2026
“I wouldn’t bet against this administration being able to get back on paper the same effective tariff rate they had before,” said Elena Patel, co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center..
[March 7 2026 Trump reacts to Supremes with war? ]
President Trump seethed when the Supreme Court stripped away his unilateral tariff authority, the first real check on his presidency.
Then he set out to impose his will on every remaining vector of American power — smashing norms and shrugging off Congress in a historic, 14-day show of executive force.
Why it matters: Over the past two weeks, Trump launched a massive Middle East war, blacklisted the hottest AI company on the planet, ordered new global tariffs, and presided over the biggest media merger in two decades.
[October 29 2025 Tariffs caused 1929 crash?
Conservative economists Jude Wanniski and Alan Reynolds have argued that the immediate cause of the crash was investor fears about the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, which was being negotiated in the U.S. Senate at the time. On October 23, 1929, while voting on an amendment to the bill, 16 senators who had been considered members of an anti-tariff coalition unexpectedly changed their votes and supported an increase in the tariff on calcium carbide imports from Canada. The crash began that afternoon and grew worse the following morning.[13] In response, libertarian economist Scott Sumner has pointed out that this vote did not significantly change the anti-tariff coalition, which Sumner says was growing stronger during the days following October 23 while the crash was occurring. Instead, Sumner argues that ongoing conflict between pro-tariff and anti-tariff Republicans led investors to worry that the party could not govern effectively on economic issues
Lindsay Lohan out of Dubai amid war
13 March, 2026
Lindsay Lohan arrived safely in New York City for work after leaving Dubai amid attacks from Iranian drones and missiles.
The Bronx born, Long Island raised actress landed Wednesday, . She was accompanied by her husband, Bader Shammas.
It’s unclear how long Lohan will stay in the U.S. She reportedly begins work this month on a new show co-starring Shailene Woodley.
[November 19 2021 Lindsay Lohan in Netflix Christmas flick ]
Photo with new husband December 25 2022 released to plug flick?
Lohan, 35, will play a “newly engaged, spoiled hotel heiress” (according to the logline), who gets amnesia after a skiing accident and “finds herself in the care of a handsome, blue-collar lodge owner and his precocious daughter in the days leading up to Christmas.” The rest of the cast has not yet been announced.
[April 23 2021 working on a video shoot of some kind ‘]
For one behind-the-scenes shot, working on a video shoot of some kind, Lindsay Lohan posed before a well lit vanity mirror with her cellphone in hand.
Lindsay Lohan’s father has been arrested in a Florida ‘patient brokering’ scheme for allegedly bringing drug addicts into rehab clinics in exchange for $27,000 in illegal kickbacks.
Michael Lohan, 60, was taken into custody in Palm Beach on Friday on five counts of patient brokering and one count of attempted patient brokering.
He is among the 100 people who have been arrested so far as part of a state-wide investigation into patient brokering in rehab treatment centers across Florida.
Lohan, who is listed as the president of Lola Recovery Ventures, has been accused of bringing drug addicts to treatment centers in exchange for illegal kickbacks.
[October 30 2019 platonic ]
2017
According to dad Michael, while Lindsay does know MBS, their relationship is “platonic and respectful.” Lindsay Lohan is back stateside.
[August 5 2019 working in Australia ]
Now a rep for Lohan, 33, says she met MBS just once — around a year ago [2018] at a Formula One Grand Prix race.
Is MBS flying Lindsay Lohan around in his private jets, giving her plenty of presents, and even a gift-wrapped credit card.or do they just “know each other.”aka Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud
Osher Günsberg says Lindsay Lohan has been a professional on Australian TV set.
[July 15 2019]
Lindsay Lohan will join the judges’ panel on the Australian edition of “The Masked Singer.” She most recently appeared on the MTV reality series “Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club,”a rep for Lindsay announced she cancelled the show after its inaugural season.
When it comes to TV, it’s all about the ratings, so there’s no surprise MTV decided to give Lohan the ax. Sheiresa Ngo
[April 14 2016 stars in ‘The Shadow Within’ ]
Lindsay Lohan, center, ‘The Shadow Within’
Shown at Berlinale, the annual festival from 11-21 February, Archstone handles worldwide sales on the Lindsay Lohan horror-thriller The Shadow Within. Tiago Mesquita directed from Mark Morgan’s screenplay about a private investigator forced to reveal her werewolf alter-ego when faced with evil-doers. Filming took place in Belgium, and in addition to Lohan the cast includes Charlotte Beckett and Gianni Capaldi.
In a world where supernatural creatures roam amongst us, KRISTY WOLFE, a tough private investigator, tries desperately to keep her secret hidden. She has descended from a long line of werewolves. When her uncle is brutally murdered, Wolfe must use her natural instinct and risk her secret to unravel the mystery before she becomes the next victim.
It has a certain ring to it. Egor and Lindsay? Egor Tarabasov, 22, , seven years Lohan’s junior, wealthy Russian rich kids in London are often strictly forbidden by their family from drawing attention to themselves on pain of losing their allowance (the ultimate threat).
Tarabasov’s father is said to be less than thrilled with his son’s new love and the light it is shining on the family. He’s a trust-fund kid with a day job as a real estate agent. He has a generous allowance, but doesn’t have his own money yet,” . “His father is a wealthy man who owns a construction firm and a couple of stores similar to Home Depot in the Moscow region, but he is no oligarch.”
[September 29 2014 Lindsay Lohan opens in London in Speed-The-Plough ]
Lindsay Lohan, 28, was said to have fluffed her lines on her opening night but by her third the Mean Girls actress had been word-perfect, in performance in Speed-The-Plough at the Playhouse Theatre in London September 26.
[November 13 2009 Heath Ledger Lindsay Lohan]
Heath Ledger Nov. 22, 2007
Lindsay lohan January 19, 2008
Lindsay[ 2007] , who was rumored to have been dating Heath Ledger in Lindsay Lohan ditched snowboarder lover Riley Giles after hooking up with single Oscar-nominated star Heath Ledger, according to reports.
The actress split with Giles–who she met in rehab–last week, supposedly so the actress could concentrate on her career.
But Australian magazine NW claims she dumped Giles after meeting Ledger in a New York club over Thanksgiving. [Lindsay Lohan went home for Thanksgiving November 22, 2007… or out for dinner with them in NY]
The magazine reports, “Lindsay and Heath hit it off straight away. When she left the club she started texting him straight away and they hooked up a few times while she was still in New York. They were meeting late at night for sex. It was purely physical.”
Ledger has been single since splitting from fiancée Michelle Williams in September.
Lindsay Lohan’s Thanksgiving Holiday
Lindsay Lohan leaves her Long Island home and spends time in New York City with her family over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Lindsay, 21, dined at at Nick Deangelo’s in Merrick, Long Island, accompanied by mom Dina, little brother Cody and snowboarder boyfriend Riley Giles.
“Lindsay is home [for the holidays],” Dina told Life & Style recently. “And my son Michael is home from college. We all have so much to be thankful for!”
Saturdays are meant for shopping, and that’s exactly where shopaholic Lindsay Lohan could be found yesterday afternoon (January 19). 08
US President Donald Trump is considering a waiver the Jones Act, which requires American-built tonnage on domestic trades.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that the measure is under consideration to grease the wheels of trade as the war in the Middle East lifts oil and fuel prices.
“In the interest of national defence, the White House is considering waiving the Jones Act for a limited period of time to ensure vital energy products and agricultural necessities are flowing freely to US ports,” she said in a statement
Russia: €6bn profits from Hormuz close
12 March, 2026
Alexander Kirk, a sanctions campaigner at the NGO Urgewald, said: “When markets panic, authoritarian exporters cash in. In less than two weeks, Russia has earned an estimated €6bn from fossil fuel exports, money that ultimately feeds the Kremlin’s war machine.
[February 13 2026 shipments of crude oil down
About a third of Russian oil is sold on tankers from Greece, Cyprus and Malta, according to the Reuters news agency.
[July 1 2025 ]
The termination of the last Russian crude imports is part of a wider plan floated by the EU to end gas imports from Russia by 2027, but as bne IntelliNews reported, that will be difficult, as the EU still doesn’t have an adequate alternative to replace Russia’s LNG, which still accounts for some 19% of the European energy mix. Direct oil imports were already ended with the introduction of twin sanctions on crude and oil products at the end of 2022. At the end of last year Czech pipeline operator MERO completed an upgrade along the Transalpine (TAL) pipeline, which carries oil from tankers in the Italian port of Trieste to Germany, where it feeds into the Ingolstadt–Kralupy–Litvinov (IKL) pipeline to the Czech Republic.
Orlen said that currently, Czech refineries are supplied with crude oil from, among others, the North Sea and Mediterranean region, Saudi Arabia, South and North America, and Africa.
[June 24 2025 Russian crude value sinks under India sanctions ]
The value of Russian crude oil exports have sunk in May to the lowest level in over two years, data on shipments and Russian crude prices show. Strengthening enforcement needed by Europe , “as currently around 90 percent of Russian crude is shipped over the price cap.”
The volume of Russian crude oil exports in the four weeks to May 25 barely changed from the previous four weeks to May 18, but the value of the shipments dropped to the lowest level since April 2023.
In the four weeks to May 25, Russia exported on average 3.39 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, per tanker-tracking data. This was down by just 10,000 bpd compared to the previous four-week period.Post-February 2022, Russian oil’s share in India’s import basket jumped from under 1% to nearly 40% in FY25. Indian refiners, buying Urals at $4.58–$6.77 less than Brent, reaped high margins—up to $15 per barrel—by exporting diesel, jet fuel, and gasoline to energy-hungry Europe.
India’s fuel exports juggernaut, once supercharged by the inflow of discounted Russian crude, is now staring down a major geopolitical roadblock. The European Union is preparing its 18th sanctions package against Moscow, and this time, it targets a lucrative workaround: refined fuels produced from Russian oil, even when processed in third countries like India. If enforced, the move could choke off a vital $63 billion revenue stream for New Delhi, upend refinery economics, and test the limits of India’s strategic neutrality in an increasingly polarised global energy landscape.
Until now, India’s refiners—particularly Reliance Industries in Jamnagar and Nayara Energy in Vadinar—have capitalised on discounted Russian Urals crude, blending geopolitical neutrality with commercial gain.
Shield of the Americas summit
9 March, 2026
Kristi Noem offered to give all of the leaders her personal cell phone number, “so that you can reach me at any time that you may need something, and we’ll work together to continue to make sure that our relationship is a shield to the Americas.”
Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian American businessman who served a 20-month sentence for campaign contributions to Republican politicians, including Donald Trump, that secretly came from a Russian oligarch, has announced a bid to unseat María Elvira Salazar, a Cuban American Republican who is in her third term as representative for Florida’s 27th congressional district. Parnas was convicted of campaign finance violations in 2021 as part of a scheme to trade Russian political contributions, including $325,000 to Trump’s approved Super Pac, America First Action, for support for a legal cannabis company. While people with felony convictions may not vote in Florida, they are permitted to run for office.
[September 1 2025 Rudy Giuliani ]
Trump says he’s awarding former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom
The former mayor and lawyer was disbarred in New York and Washington for repeatedly making false statements about the 2020 election.
[August 30 2025 Andrew Giuliani: executive director of U.S. FIFA World Cup task force ]
U.S. President Donald Trump announced his appointments to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, tapping his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, among others
President Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped Andrew Giuliani — the son of Rudy Giuliani, New York City’s famous former mayor and Trump’s one-time attorney — to serve as executive director of his 2026 FIFA World Cup task force.
US President Donald Trump has said the chance for Russia to play in the 2026 World Cup could be an “incentive” for the country to end the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s national football team was banned from competing internationally by Fifa and Uefa in 2022 when the country started Ukraine’s invasion.
[February 26 2025 Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss settle ]
The details have not been made public, though Giuliani said it allowed him to keep his properties in New York and Florida “and all of my personal belongings.”
[February 25 2025 ]
Rudy Giuliani satisfied his judgment in the Georgia election worker defamation case, court filings from Monday show.
The judgment was satisfied Friday and comes just more than a month after the former New York City mayor reached a tentative settlement with Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two women he accused of election fraud after the 2020 presidential election.
[November 27 2024 Giuliani: new lawyer – judgment ‘unamerican’ ]
Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph M. Cammarata, argued that Giuliani consults regularly with the president-elect’
[November 20 2024 ]
“The $148 million judgment against Mayor Rudy Giuliani is astronomical, unconstitutional and unamerican,” said Staten Island divorce attorney Joseph Cammarata, who has been representing Giuliani since Friday. He represented Paula Jones in a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton, Clinton settled with Jones for $850,000.
[November 19 2024 Giuliani’s lawyers quit, Rudi attending inauguration ]
Giuliani’s trial is scheduled for January 16, 2025, four days before President-elect Trump’s inauguration. The cash-strapped former mayor has now asked the court to adjourn the trial – which is to enforce the $150 million bankruptcy court judgment against Giuliani – until on or after January 22, so that he can attend the inauguration events.
[November 13 2024 ]
“Mr Trump doesn’t have to help me get out of this,” he said
Rudy Giuliani’s lawyers have abruptly quit representing him in his defamation case after attorneys for the women he defamed accused the disgraced former New York City mayor of hiding property he has been ordered to turn over.
Giuliani’s lead counsel Kenneth Caruso and attorney David Labkowski filed a motion in federal court in New York on Wednesday citing several reasons for their withdrawal, pointing to a “fundamental disagreement” with Donald Trump’s former attorney.
The attorneys invoked a New York rule that allows attorneys to withdraw when a “client insists upon taking action with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement” or when a client “insists upon presenting a claim or defense that is not warranted under existing law and cannot be supported by good faith argument,” or when “the client fails to cooperate in the representation or otherwise renders the representation unreasonably difficult for the lawyer to carry out employment effectively.”
[September 25 2024 disbarred ]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was disbarred in Washington on Thursday, months after he lost his law license in New York for pursuing false claims that then-President Donald Trump made about his 2020 presidential election loss.
[February 22 2024 appeals Georgia defamation case ]
A bankruptcy judge ruled on Tuesday that to appeal the $148 million ruling in his recent defamation case, Rudy Giuliani must acquire third-party funding that’s approved by the court.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane issued an order ruling that Giuliani’s financial situation is so precarious, that the fees required to appeal the verdict can’t come from Giuliani’s assets.
[February 21 2024 ]
Rudy Giuliani filed an appeal late Tuesday challenging a jury’s decision ordering him to pay two Georgia election workers $148 million in damages for defamation.
[January 26 2024 Rudi bankruptcy includes “unpaid legal fees against Donald J Trump.” ]
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani has listed a claim against the one-term president over unpaid legal fees in a new bankruptcy filing.
The ex-New York City mayor includes a “possible claim for unpaid legal fees against Donald J Trump.” in the 26 January filing, which states that the amount is “undetermined.”
[September 19 2023 Rudi sued after Trump $100,000-a-plate fundraiser ]
Robert Costello and his law firm, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, say Giuliani has paid them just $214,000 and still has a $1.36 million tab. Giuliani’s last payment, according to the lawsuit, was $10,000 on Sept. 14 — about a week after Trump hosted a $100,000-a-plate fundraiser for Giuliani at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club.
[March 25 2022 Lev Parnas pleads guilty in Fraud Guarantee fraud ]
Lev Parnas pleaded guilty March 25 2022 to a conspiracy charge alleging that he defrauded investors in a company supposedly created to prevent people from being defrauded.
[January 21 2022 Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman, Rudy Giuliani’s associates, convicted of funnelling Russian money ]
Igor Fruman, one of Rudy Giuliani’s former associates, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison on Friday for his role in a scheme to funnel Russian money into US elections.
[October 22 2021 Lev Parnas convicted, used Andrey Muraviev’s money
Lev Parnas a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, was convicted of charges that he made illegal campaign contributions to influence U.S. politicians and advance his business interests.He used the wealth of a Russian financier, Andrey Muraviev, to make donations to U.S. politicians, ostensibly in support of an effort to launch a legal, marijuana business.
[July 7 2021 Putin sought to influence election ]
The appeals court in DC said Giuliani would be suspended from working as an attorney in the city “pending outcome” of his situation in New York,
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20971834-matter-of-giuliani-2021-00506-pc
As of now, Giuliani has been suspended from the practice of law on an interim basis. He will be afforded an opportunity for a post-suspension hearing to challenge the decision. Giuliani “communicated demonstrably false and misleading statement to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.”
Still, the suspension marks yet another remarkable fall from grace for Giuliani, who was the U.S. attorney for Manhattan and later served two terms as the mayor of New York City.
Giuliani is also facing legal peril in an unrelated matter. He’s under federal investigation over potential violations of foreign lobbying laws related to his work tied to Ukraine. FBI agents searched his Manhattan apartment and office in April and seized his computers and cellphones as part of that investigation.
[ March 17 2021 ]
WaPo: “Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials in Moscow sought to influence the 2020 election by spreading misleading information about Joe Biden through prominent individuals, some of whom were close to former president Donald Trump, the U.S. intelligence community said in a report Match 16 2021.
“The new report does not identify those individuals by name, but it appears to reference Trump’s onetime personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani …
[September 15 2020 Giuliani’s payroll corporation got PPP loan? ]
According to government records, the loan, which was part of the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program coronavirus relief package, was awarded on April 28 to a company called World Capital Payroll Corp., a registered “S Corp” headquartered at 445 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Those records show that the company received between $150,000 and $350,000 in taxpayer-backed federal funds, which can be fully forgiven by the government if the company proves they were put toward payroll and related expenses. (Giuliani’s new private law firm is registered at that same address.)
Hue and Cri 
