Russia Bans Lawmakers

Russia Bans Lawmakers, President Obama on Thursday announced new economic sanctions against Russian government officials, influential individuals and a Russian bank, threatening to come back with tougher penalties if Moscow does not deescalate the crisis in Ukraine.

“Further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community,” Obama said in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House. The U.S. is concerned that “Russia has positioned its military” in a threatening way, he added.

The president said the new sanctions would target additional senior Russian government officials, other individuals with “substantial resources and influence,” and a bank. He also signed an executive order that would allow him to slap broader sanctions on sectors of the Russian economy, a move that “is not our preferred outcome,” Obama said, acknowledging that such sanctions could be “disruptive” to the global economy.

A short time after Obama’s statement, Russia announced that it was imposing entry bans on nine U.S. lawmakers and officials in retaliation for Washington’s sanctions over Crimea, the Associated Press reported.

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s list included House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The new U.S. sanctions will hit 16 Russian government officials, members of Putin’s inner circle and Bank Rossiya, the bank used by many senior officials of the Russian Federation.

The government officials who were targeted are high-ranking bureaucrats and lawmakers who publicly backed Putin’s call to use Russian forces to occupy Crimea, according to the Treasury Department, which issued a statement identifying the individuals who were sanctioned.

Those in Putin’s inner circle include Yuri Kovalchuk, the largest shareholder of Bank Rossiya and Putin’s personal banker; Gennady Timchenko, a founder of a commodity trading company involved in the oil and energy markets; and Arkady Rotenberg and Boris Rotenberg, brothers who made billions on Putin-awarded contracts with Gazprom, the state-controlled energy company, and the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The new penalties build on sanctions the U.S. and European Union announced Monday in a last-ditch attempt to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin from formally annexing Crimea. Those penalties, targeting just a handful of Russian and Ukrainian officials, did nothing to shift Putin’s course. Administration officials have since promised more would be coming.

Russia Today

Russia Today, Russian capital Moscow is getting prepared for the next protest after Parliamentarian elections on December 4.

It was announced about this meeting before.

According to Ria Novosti tens of thousands of people have taken to blogs and social networks to pledge participation in the rally, expected to be addressed by figures ranging from Mikhail Gorbachev and corruption whistleblowes Alexei Navalny to rock musician Yury Shevchuk and novelist Boris Akunin.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is also expected to participate in the meeting. He announced that he would deliver a speech only if the organizers called him onto the stage.

Mass protests too place also on December 10 in Russia. Thousands of Russians went out to the streets and claimed to overview the results of the elections. They insist that the elections have passed with many violations. Protestants are especially against Russian PM Vladimir Putin who will also participate in coming Presidential elections on March 4, 2012.

In his farewell state of the nation address on Thursday, Medvedev proposed sweeping changes to the current political system – changes including direct, popular election of regional governors and simplified criteria allowing political parties to register and take part in national politics.

Despite of promises by the authorities to observe the violations in the elections, thousands of people will go out to the streets to try to recover their violated rights.

Russia

Russia, Russia has won the right to host the 2018 World Cup, one of the events of the world’s most important sports, which should boost the economy of the nation and price support positive Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX: 36.10 0.78 2.21%), the SPDR S & P Russia (RBL: 33.6201 0.7501 2.28%) iShares MSCI Russia Capped Index (ERUs: 25.2314 0.7714 3.15%) and the SPDR S & P BRIC 40 (BIK: 27.3752 0.4552 1.69%).

In preparation for the event, Russia would significantly increase infrastructure spending in the coming years. It is expected that the Kremlin will build 13 new stadiums and the renovation of three existing home matches. In addition, the new nation committed to improving and modernizing its airports and other transportation arteries, such as roads, to accommodate increased capacity and utilization.

In itself, these improvements in infrastructure should be significant and the companies that are both directly and indirectly influenced by increased infrastructure spending are likely to enjoy the benefits. As mentioned above, three ETFs influenced by this victory sports include: