Russia

Over the past week a lot of digital ink has been spilled trying to preview and predict what will take place during Trump's first official mammoth visit abroad, when over the next 8 days after an overnight flight on Air Force One, Trump will hopscotch from Saudi Arabia to Israel to the Vatican. He’ll close his trip with a pair of summits in Brussels and Sicily. The stakes are great for Trump who makes his debut on the international stage: he’s the first president since Jimmy Carter to not travel abroad during his first 100 days in office.

Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

“With the stroke of a pen, Rod Rosenstein redeemed his reputation,” writes Dana Milbank of The Washington Post.

What had Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein done to be welcomed home by the Post like the prodigal son?

Without consulting the White House, he sandbagged President Trump, naming a special counsel to take over the investigation of the Russia connection that could prove ruinous to this presidency.

The following article by David Haggith was published first on The Great Recession Blog:

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in the Republic of Cyprus on Thursday for a working visit, which will last until May 20. There Lavrov is expected to hold talks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulidis. On the sidelines of the session, Lavrov met with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland.

Authored by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,

Oil prices surged on Monday after Russia and Saudi Arabia said they support an extension of the OPEC/non-OPEC production cuts. Oil prices have clawed back a lot of the losses exhibited over the past month, with Brent now safely in the low-$50s and WTI on its way toward those levels.