June 06, 2022

A Most Important Import


A Most Important Import
A royal agreement from the Arabian kingdom. Wikimedia commons Suresh Babunair

Saudi Arabia has agreed to increase their production of oil if Russian oil production sees a dramatic decline due to sanctions.

The White House has been pressuring Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production since the beginning of the war, but the kingdom has so far resisted. Global oil prices have increased to $120 a barrel; for reference, on February 22, 2022, just before the conflict began, oil cost a little over $93.

Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia produced 10 percent of the world's oil. Now the OPEC nations have agreed to increase their oil production by 50% during July and August, which could wean the world off Russian oil even more in coming months.

With the European Union adopting another sanctions package that includes a ban on the import of non-pipeline oil from Russia, it is eager to find other major sources of oil. Sanctions to date have certainly affected the Russian oil sector, but until there was some measure of a worldwide shortage, Saudi Arabia had no plans of increasing its production.

 

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A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

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Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

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A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

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This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

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Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

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