The week the dam broke in Russia and ended Putin's dreams

Telegraph

This was the week when the country’s long-festering crisis turned virulent. A last-ditch attempt to defend the exchange rate by raising interest rates to 17pc failed within hours, yet the shock is surely enough to set off a chain of corporate failures and push banks over the edge. Traders in the City watched open-mouthed as the dam broke on Black Tuesday. The event exposed the awful reality that the Kremlin does not have the infinite foreign reserves that many had supposed. “What is happening is a nightmare that we could not even have imagined a year ago,” says the central bank’s deputy chief, Sergei Shvetsov. The currency has since stabilised at 60 to the dollar. But it has lost half its value in a year. Russia’s $2.1 trillion (£1.3 trillion) economy has shrunk to $1.1 trillion, half the GDP of California. The external debt of Russian banks and companies has by mathematical effect ballooned to 70pc of total output. “A Russian downgrade to junk is only a matter or time,” says Tim Ash, from Standard Bank."

Russia is heading for a 'full-fledged economic crisis' warns former finance minister, with the country's output expected to fall by 3.6%

Daily Mail

Russia's government has pushed the country into an economic crisis by not tackling its financial problems fast enough, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin has said.  His comments came as the central bank bailed out its first victim of the collapsing currency and authorities announced a tax on grain exports to protect domestic stocks. A poll of 11 economists also predicted that Russia's gross domestic product would fall 3.6 per cent next year. Russia has been hit by what Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev recently called a 'perfect storm' of plummeting oil prices, sanctions related to its military action in Ukraine, and a flight of investors' capital. A lack of structural reforms has compounded the problem, making the economy overwhelmingly dependent on oil revenues."

Tony Blair gets sweaty over Wendi Deng question

Telegraph
Tony Blair has said he will never discuss the nature of his relations with Wendi Deng, the ex-wife of Rupert Murdoch. The former Prime Minister lost his cool when questioned on the subject in a recent interview, banging his coffee cup “so loudly into its saucer that it spills and everyone in the room jumps.”

Revealed: Hundreds of thousands of immigrants 'waved through' UK border with no checks... including convicted KILLERS

Daily Mail

In one case, an applicant disclosed to UK Visas and Immigration they had fled their country of nationality after stabbing someone to death. When asked why this had not been considered, managers said the information was recorded in a paper file which was not routinely checked. In another case, officials made the ‘very poor decision’ not to revoke the British citizenship of someone who used forged documents. There was ‘far too much reliance’ on self-declaration so, unless an applicant revealed their financial problems or offences such as tax avoidance or benefit fraud, no other checks were made, the report added. No evidence was found of any consideration given to prosecuting applicants who used deception to obtain British citizenship, apart from a small number of cases involving organised crime, the inspector revealed."

Zoella quits internet after Girl Online ghostwriting row

Telegraph
Zoella has announced she is quitting the internet after admitting that she did not write her best-selling novel Girl Online. .....It emerged this weekend that a ghostwriter, Siobhan Curran, was responsible for Girl Online.   .....

---------------
Some bloggers claimed to have found an archived, deleted post on Curham's website about being asked to write a novel in six weeks, which could in theory fit with the timeline from Zoella announcing her novel to its release.
Despite chronicling much of her life on social media and in her YouTube vlogs, Sugg rarely mentioned working on her novel, which is about a teenage girl whose blog goes viral after she meets a rock star, before publication.(Telegraph)

------------------

EU Wankers gone mad…

E.M.Smith
I really have to wonder just how long the strain between the EU and the UK can stand before the UK says “Chuck it all, you wankers” and goes their own way (as they always have).
The Brits have an astounding ability to ‘tolerate’ and put up with shite… but at some point, it goes all Celtic on your arse and I suspect that point is near."

How Norway beats the EU

CapX
The EU is a child of its time, reflecting the corporatist assumptions of the 1950s, when the future was thought to lie with large conglomerates. In the Internet age, geographical proximity barely matters. Euro-scepticism is in tune with the spirit of the age. Look upon Norway, all you Euro-nostalgics, and see what you might be if only you would embrace the modern world."

Labour MP Frank Field says Britain will turn 'very nasty' if the strain mass migration puts on public services isn't addressed

Daily Mail

Britain will turn ‘very nasty’ if politicians continue to ignore the pressure immigrants put on housing, schools and hospitals, a Labour MP has warned. Frank Field said there is no plan to address the strain on public services, despite the population increasing by the size of Birmingham every two-and-a-half years. The former employment minister said this level of immigration must be questioned at a time of deep spending cuts. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Yet there are no plans for increasing housing or places in schools, at a time when we will in the next parliament, have to make cuts greater than the cuts made in this parliament."