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After the US walked away from discussions on Syria, President Putin stepped up his country's military activity, with an enormous mobilization of first responders and civilians on the home front. In addition, the President redeployed nuclear weapons, making sure to leave some in place for American surveillance satellites to see. Mr. Putin also suggested the reopening of Russian military bases in Vietnam and Cuba. However, many see this as a distraction from the Russian economy, which is showing the first dip in income for the country's citizens since Putin assumed the Presidency in 2000. The nation's budget is also being heavily slashed, with healthcare and the military losing 33% and 6% of their funding, respectively. People inside Russia commented that the new budget leaves money for the military and police, and little else. Further speculation is that Mr. Putin is using the same strategy he employed in the Ukraine, which is to ramp up Russia's military and leverage that in diplomatic conversation with other nations. Some of Putin's comments also suggest that he wants to push Russia as a concern of the US Presidential election, and make sure that whoever the next President is will see Russia as a force to be reckoned with.

The Iranian national currency, the rial has been in steady decline for months, and the only method that the government has used to combat the issue is to print more money-- not the best plan of action.

I agree with what Alexander said. I think it would be interesting to investigate whether or not the Obama administration has considered applying economic pressure to Iran in order to achieve diplomatic means. With Iran in such an unstable economic state (which I am surprised isn't covered more by American news media), why would the US government even consider using military force against Iran if the Ahmadinejad regime could be destabilized in another way. We'll see how Obama and Romney treat this issue in the foreign policy debate, as Obama could use an argument based on Iran's economic instability in going against Romney's position on using military force against Iran.

yes!

While many predict that China's economy will overtake ours, inflation has been rising while wages have stagnated, resulting in high food prices, property speculation, and much discontent. It is difficult to say whether the economy is just stabilizing or about to slump.

The CDC changed its Covid-19 testing guidelines this week to include that individuals who have been exposed to the virus and are asymptomatic do not need to be tested. While some speculated this is due to a shortage of tests and long wait times it is unclear why the change has been made. This decision could prove to be dangerous especially because of the reopening of schools across the country.

I think this article highlights people's will to pretend the pandemic is over and try to go back to a normal life. It is very surprising that the CDC, who is generally the voice of conservatism and caution when it comes to outbreaks, is also joining this trend but the idea of it is very dangerous. Even if they had good reason to make the change, not describing it allows people to make their own assumptions about why the change was made. For example, people could think that, as long as they don't show symptoms, they are clear to do whatever they want regarding the virus. This thinking could make the spread of the virus grow even more. Overall, I think that we need more voices of caution and reason in positions of influence to inspire people to continue fighting against the virus.

Similar to what Jalen said, I think the CDC is clearly shaping their advice to optimize the availability of resources where they are most needed. They did this early on when they said people didn't need to wear masks. What they were trying to do was make sure that hospitals and individuals at risk had enough PPE during a shortage, but the unfortunate result was that it undermined their legitimacy when they later said masks were beneficial. It might be possible that a similar thing will occur with asymptomatic testing. When/if testing becomes more available, people might not volunteer to be tested if they don't have symptoms because of previous strategic statements made by the CDC.

Mexico's economy is not making a strong recovery from Covid-19. This article lays out some reasons why and speculates on the country's economic trajectory.

I hope my annotations saved

Great use of Diigo annotation tool, Anay!