The Financial Times reports: “Russia’s central bank announced that it had started buying Canadian dollars and securities in a bid to diversify its foreign exchange reserves.

Analysts said the move could be a sign of increased diversification of emerging market central bank assets away from the dollar and into investments denominated in other commodity-linked currencies, such as the Australian dollar.

Adam Cole at RBC Capital Markets said if taken in isolation, Russia’s announcement that it was buying Canadian dollars was not significant, but if it was part of a broader trend, then it was an important step.

‘If it is a barometer for the activity of other central banks, then it is structurally positive for the currencies of countries like Canada and Australia that have a commodity bias in their economies,’ he said.

Although not officially confirmed, traders said that other emerging market central banks, including some in Asia which hold large foreign exchange reserves, have also been active in the foreign exchange market in recent weeks buying both Canadian dollars and Australian dollars.

Alexei Ulyukayev, first deputy chairman of Russia’s central bank, said that it would invest in Canadian dollar-denominated deposits and bonds.

‘The Canadian financial market is not very deep, so we can invest in deposits in significant volumes, while the bond market is limited,’ he said.

Although the central bank did not specify how much of its reserves it was allocating to assets denominated in the Canadian dollar, analysts estimated that the central bank could put up to $9bn, or 2 per cent, of its foreign exchange reserves into the currency.

Russia’s foreign exchange reserves, the world’s third largest, stood at $439bn at the end of December. These stockpiles have grown by 14 per cent since the start of the rally on global asset markets in March as rising commodity prices have boosted mineral-rich Russia’s coffers.

Ahead of the announcement, Russia’s foreign exchange reserves were evenly split between dollar and euros.

Alarmed at the plummeting value of the dollars in its holdings, Russia has been at the vanguard of countries calling for the US authorities to stem the fall of its currency. Last year, along with China, Russia urged the creation of a new supra-national currency to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency…” (America’s financial system may soon collapse. China, from whom we buy billions of dollars worth of products annually, presently holds $2 trillion of our debt, which they could demand over night. James 5:1 – 4; Revelation 18 vs. 10, 17, 19 describe such an hour during the time of the Great Tribulation – Revelation 7:14.)

Reuters reports: “Russia will strengthen its Baltic fleet in response to U.S. plans to deploy Patriot missiles in Poland, Russian state news agency RIA reported, citing an unnamed senior navy official.

‘The surface, underwater and aviation elements of the Baltic Fleet will be strengthened,’ RIA quoted the unidentified Russian navy official as saying.

The United States is dispatching the missiles to Poland after dropping an earlier plan to deploy interceptor missiles in the NATO nation as part of an anti-missile system in Europe.

‘In connection with the plans to install the Patriots on Polish territory in the next 5 to 7 years, there may be significant changes in the approach to define the tasks and the military potential of the Baltic Fleet,’ RIA quoted the same source as saying.

A spokesman for the Russian navy declined to comment.

Warsaw said it would station the Patriot missile battery in the northern city of Morag, near Russia’s Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.

A high-ranking source in Poland’s Foreign Ministry said Warsaw was not overly concerned about Russia’s reported plan.

‘Let’s stay calm. Such strengthening, even if it becomes true, is no direct threat to Poland,’ the source told Reuters.

‘The Russians have known about the Patriots for at least two years. So there is no reason to react to unofficial comments.’

Based in Kaliningrad, Russia’s westernmost territory, and in Kronstadt near St Petersburg, Russia’s Baltic Fleet includes surface ships, diesel-powered submarines, a military aviation wing, search and rescue vessels and land-based vessels.

The flagship is the destroyer Nastoychivy, which entered service in 1993.

Poland and the United States signed a deal in November that paves the way for the deployment of a U.S. Patriot missile battery on the U.S. ally’s territory…” (President Obama’s nuclear reduction program with Russia will not work. Russia is planning bases, if agreed upon by Venezuela. Patriot missile bases in Morag near Russia’s Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad as mentioned above is predicted in Ezekiel 38 vs. 1, 2, 8, 11. Rosh, or Russia, will battle the English speaking nations and others during World War III under the banner of Tarshish and her young lions” – Ezekiel 38:13.)

Voice of America News reports: “The threat of an asteroid crashing into Earth has captivated the imaginations of movie audiences for years. Now, however, Russia is working to develop a very real plan to counter such a threat.

The Russian space agency says it is working to prevent a large asteroid from colliding with Earth. Voice of Russia radio reported the agency’s head, Anatoly Perminov, made the announcement.

Without giving many details, Perminov said his agency is working on a way to divert the path of the asteroid, named Apophis, without destroying it.

Voice of Russia says he invited scientists and experts from U.S. Space Agency NASA, the European and Chinese space agencies to join the project.

NASA research scientist Dr. Paul Chodas specializes in the study of near-Earth objects, or asteroids that may one day threaten civilization.

He says that while there are hazardous asteroids in our universe, NASA’s latest calculations put Apophis at having only a one in 250,000 chance of hitting Earth by, or during, the 2030s as Perminov predicted.

He says that with more research, he expects the probability of the collision to drop to zero. However, he says that other asteroids, including those that have not yet been discovered, could pose more of a risk and call for more research.

‘The odds are very small that we will have a huge collision with the Earth, but it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on these objects and ensuring that one is not going to hit any time soon. If one is headed for the Earth, then we feel, if we have enough warning time, we have the technology to divert the object. And that’s what this proposal to develop this technology is all about,’ he said…” (Revelation 6:12 predicts the bombardment of planet earth with a humongous asteroid. It will cause great darkness upon the earth for 120 days according to the late Carl Sagan. In this light, look up Joel 2:30, 31; Acts 2:19, 20; and Matthew 24:29. Should they attempt to blow an asteroid out of the heavens with nukes, they will not be successful as a number will get through according to the verses mentioned in this report.)