On June 25, right after a military parade in Moscow, the nationwide early voting began. Citizens of Russia were asked to vote on 220 constitutional amendments, all at once, during a 7 day period from June 25 to July 1.

The amendments include a variety of peculiar, controversial, unnecessary, and, of course, authoritarian laws, some promising indexed pensions to the elderly, and some re-setting the count of Putin’s presidential terms, allowing him to stay in power until 2036.

Though many celebrities and activists actively spoke up against or for the amendments, the untold truth remains in the air — the…

In case you didn’t get the memo: the world is on fire, and America is nearly burned down to its ashes.

In the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a worldwide BLM movement, and protests against police brutality, it’s quite normal to get caught up and lose track of news, correct blackout Tuesday hashtags, and your mental health.

Nevertheless, it’s time we talk about Yemen, where the state of things is worse than anywhere else on Earth.

Yemen is one of the poorest Arab countries, with a population of over 28 million people…

I never believed in Horoscopes.

Dots of light across the dark azure

arranged in shapes of dippers and bears

did not seem to have significance

of any magnitude.

Except for the loveliness of its look, of course

and an integral part of books-based romance.

Until the daily correspondence (you subscribed for)

landed on our doorstep

right by the flower beds you planted

last Sunday;

following the argument we had

over the cat I always wanted and you never did.

“What the Stars Foretell”

occupied the front page with its bold

letters and lies

predicting the unpredictable,

obviously stating the obvious

…

I was born in Ukraine, a post-Soviet country, in which being called a feminist can be as insulting as being called a slut.

Growing up in a traditional family, I had a father who worked and a mother who didn’t. Not because she didn’t want to, but because my dad could provide for us so she ‘didn’t need to’. I grew up in a family where ‘behaving like a girl’ and ‘dressing like a girl’ were rules I had to obey. When I wanted to pursue kickboxing, I was told this sport wasn’t for girls. When my idealistic 14-year-old self…

At that very moment, I knew that the whole world was mine. The music, the lights, the applause — everything that any girl could dream of — just for me. The whole Albert Hall was looking at me… And I was not thinking about pointing my foot the right way, or stretching my arm perfectly, or giving the audience that charming smile that my coaches taught me. All I knew was: I am being myself, I am living a story and from the first beat of the orchestra I was writing that story.

Yes, what I just wrote sounds like…

The COVID-19 virus has often been called the ‘great equalizer,’ as it rapidly spread around the world and killed both the rich and the poor. This is wrong. Instead, the pandemic revealed how deep and dangerous the class divide is (for those on the lower end of it).

Though coronavirus left almost no country untouched, the developing world has been taking the hardest hits. As the world suddenly stopped, global food supply chains have been disrupted, particularly in poorer countries. While developed nations are able to automatize large portions of their manufacturing, particularly in food industries, countries in South America…

On Monday, April 20th, US oil prices became negative for the first time in history. Previously landing at around $60 a barrel, prices fell by more than 300%, becoming -$37.63.

In other words, suppliers paid the buyers to take oil off their hands. There are multiple reasons for this collapse. An obvious guess would be COVID-19, a pandemic that stopped the world. The second, less obvious reason is the growingly hostile relationship between Russia and Saudi Arabia, which resulted in OPEC’s failure to reach an agreement to cut oil production to raise the prices.

Let’s go back to early March…

Crude oil is the single most important resource in the world. Oil price fluctuations can drive a country into a recession, and conflicts around the production of oil can trigger wars.

Simply put, oil markets are extremely important.

If you only briefly understand how the oil industry operates, and why price fluctuations of oil always cause panic, that’s okay. It is truly complicated, so I will try to simplify it.

Crude oil is refined into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other fuels that are crucial for transportation, heat, and electricity. Basically, it is the main source of energy. By-products of…