Cargo transportation between the two countries via the Caspian Sea has increased, tracking data compiled by the news outlet shows
Russia and Iran are building a new transcontinental trade route and are rapidly expanding supply chains, having stepped up mutual cargo deliveries across the Caspian Sea, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing tracking data.
The trade corridor that stretches from the Sea of Azov and the mouth of the Don River in Russia to Iranian hubs on the Caspian Sea and ultimately the Indian Ocean has become increasingly busy in recent months, with new routes emerging, according to the report. Ship-tracking data compiled by the news outlet showed hundreds of both Russian and Iranian vessels along rivers that lead to the Caspian Sea.
Iran’s geographical location allows Russia to safely transport goods via the trade corridor through Iranian territory all the way to Asia and India without incurring the risk of Western sanctions.
“With European transport networks getting closed off, they’re focused on developing alternative trade corridors which support Russia’s turn to the East. You can impose controls over sea routes, but land routes are difficult to watch. It’s almost impossible to track them all,” Nikolay Kozhanov, a Gulf expert at Qatar University, told Bloomberg.
Trade with Iran, while significant on its own, is seen as “a logistical bridge” between Russia and the Middle East, as well as South and Southeast Asia, according to the head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sergey Katyrin.
Read more
Iran may join Russian-led free trade zone
At an economic forum in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin also drew attention to the need to develop the ship, rail, and road infrastructure along the route, as it “will provide Russian companies with new opportunities to enter the markets of Iran, India, the Middle East and Africa, and will facilitate supplies from these countries in return.”
“This is about establishing sanctions-proof supply chains all the way through,” Maria Shagina, an expert on sanctions and Russian foreign policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the news outlet.
Russia and Iran are investing some $25 billion in the expansion of the trade route, according to Shagina.
Russia is also reportedly in the final stages of establishing rules that would give ships from Iran the right of passage along the inland waterways of the Volga and Don rivers, according to Iran’s Maritime News Agency.
Trade between Russia and Iran has surged this year, with turnover exceeding $4 billion over January-October 2022 and expected to surpass $5 billion by the end of the year, according to Russia’s Federal Customs Service. Russian exports to Iran have so far jumped by 27% versus last year, while imports are up 10%.
The album lives! The cohesive, grand statement that has shaped pop’s flow from “Pet Sounds” to “Purple Rain” to “Dirty Computer” still lives! Much of this is thanks to Beyoncé. But there were plenty of other big (and small) statements worth spending an hour or two or ten with.
“Renaissance,” Beyoncé
Self-love in the dance club. Always a great theme for an LP. More than any other Queen Bey record, “Renaissance” is an album for anyone who likes pop, any avenue of pop – disco,’80s Top 40, ‘90s r&b, a hundred strains of electronica. It’s meticulously constructed and yet feels. not like a labored-over skyscraper, but a natural piece of art, maybe a cathedral lit by strobes and disco balls. Defiance through dancefloor joy. High art through freedom married to pop pleasure.
“Special,” Lizzo
A million albums have come and gone. None start like “Special”: “Hi, [expletive], did you miss me? I’ve been home since 2020. I’ve been twerkin’ and making smoothies, it’s called healing. And I feel better since you seen me last.” On this LP, Lizzo shakes it and she shakes it fast in a masterclass in hooks, bravado, hooks, dignity, hooks, genre mashups, and more hooks. It has many similarities to “Renaissance” – more self-love, self-care, and self-confidence. But it mixes in ever more pop styles including blustery ballads (remember those) and extra retro grooves plus a double dose of joy.
“Denim & Diamonds,” Nikki Lane
“Denim & Diamonds” was a chain of honky tonk night clubs. Nikki Lane’s dad used to party at the one in Nashville. She had to write a song about that. It became the title track to her twang-filled, half-indie-rock, half-outlaw-country fourth album. She writes about scamming tanks of unleaded and Cokes at a gas station where they knew her dad (“First Time”). She writes about how her single mom’s devotion prepared her for her divorce (“Born Tough”). She writes about her grandparents’ six-decade relationship (“Good Enough”). The whole record is craft and hooks, wit and honesty.
“Expert in a Dying Field,” The Beths
The Beths’ “Jump Rope Gazers” made my list of fave 2020 albums. The Beths’ makes my list of fave 2022 albums. I can’t wait until 2024! The New Zealand heroes do power pop, pop punk, indie pop and indie rock better than anyone working today. They also do tender and wounded and defiant and silly and dynamic. Best band in rock ‘n’ roll.
“Clouds,” Ballroom Thieves
Like a lot of people, Martin Earley and Calin Peters of the Ballroom Thieves spent much of the pandemic working through big questions and heavy emotions. Oh, and also like a lot of people muddling through the pandemic, they fell in love with Harry Styles. On “Clouds,” the duo unveil an ode to the man in “Harry Styles,” a shaky-with-echo-and-reverb ballad with a scorching little guitar solo and dreamy chorus. The song sits between a jaunty bit of indie pop (“Borderline”) and a nearly-seven minute, cello-driven fever dream (“Trodden”). The trio of songs represent how deep and dense “Clouds” is.
The surge in consumer prices recorded earlier this year amid Western sanctions has been gradually subsiding
Annual inflation in Russia slowed during the week ending December 19, according to official data released on Thursday by Rosstat, the country’s official statistics agency.
The weekly inflation report showed prices having decreased by 0.3% against the previous week to reach 12.35% in year-on-year terms.
The price increases in the food segment slowed to 0.10% from 0.15% a week earlier due to a drop in the cost of fruit and vegetables. Rosstat noted that the prices on certain food items even fell below last year’s levels.
The non-food sector also recorded deflation, of 0.03%, mainly due to a decline in prices on electricity and household appliances. Prices on travel and tourism services fell 0.18% owing to a decrease in the cost of airline tickets and hotels, the report noted.
Inflation in Russia spiked to a 20-year high of nearly 18% in April against the backdrop of Ukraine-related Western sanctions. It has been gradually dropping in the subsequent months as the economy started to recover, trade flows were reoriented and the ruble strengthened. The indicator is still far above the central bank’s 4% target, however.
The Ministry of Economic Development forecasts annual inflation in Russia finishing this year at 12.4% and dropping to 5.5% next year. The central bank has issued similar forecasts, predicting a drop to 5-7% in 2023, and for price growth to fall to as low as 4% by 2024.
President Joe Biden turned 80 on Nov. 20, and so far, he has given every indication he plans to run for reelection in 2024. If he were to win, his second term would conclude not long after his 86th birthday.
Too old?
One of Biden’s would-be opponents has previously said he thinks not. Former President Donald Trump, 76, who has announced he will run again, once declared, “I would never say anyone is too old,” adding at the time that Biden and other rival candidates were making him “look very young.”
America is being led by a president well into what most people would describe as old age. But as Trump pointed out, there’s old and then there’s “old.”
Most people associate “old” with changes that go beyond a few gray hairs. As people grow old, inevitably, the heart works harder, the skin feels different, sight and hearing weaken and energy declines. Yet we all know people who seem to defy old age, working effectively and energetically well into their 80s.
The Constitution requires presidents to be at least 35 years old, but it sets no upper limit, and clearly some octogenarians are more capable than others.
Without directly addressing Biden’s age, Vice Adm. Vivek Murthy, America’s surgeon general, acknowledged as much to the Tribune Editorial Board earlier this month. “There is such a wide range between your actual age and how you perform and function and show up in the world,” Murthy observed.
“Thanks in part to advances in medicine and a greater understanding about how to stay healthy through a combination of nutrition, physical activity, medical interventions and sleep and focus on mental health,” Murthy said, “we’re learning how people can be functional and contribute to society and enjoy their lives at ages that 30 or 40 years ago people would not have thought possible.”
Research supports Murthy’s perspective.
A recent survey of 2,000 Americans pinpointed the age at which people consider themselves old at a surprisingly low 57. The World Health Organization states that in most of the developed world, old age is considered to begin at a still-surprisingly low 60.
.Republican President Ronald Reagan, 73 at the time, gave a famous answer to the “too-old” question at a 1984 debate against Democratic nominee Walter Mondale, who was 56. “I will not make age an issue of this campaign,” Reagan said. “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” Even Mondale laughed.
Leading up to the midterm elections, most Democratic candidates carefully avoided stating that Biden is too old to run again, even if they were thinking it. The president has said he will discuss running for reelection with his family over the holidays and announce a decision early next year.
We believe Americans should take Murthy’s word for it: No age is automatically too old to serve. Still, voters must consider a candidate’s capabilities, especially if there were to be a national emergency.
