Meta Plunged from 5th Most Valuable Stock to 11th, behind Visa. In 10 Months, $647 Billion Vanish

Meta Plunged from 5th Most Valuable Stock to 11th, behind Visa. In 10 Months, $647 Billion Vanish:

Despite the rally on Friday, the shares of Meta Platforms lost more ground, falling 1.0% to $159.10 at the close, and more after-hours, same price where the shares had first been on July 13, 2017. Five years of nothing, with an exciting roller-coaster-ride in between. Four years and two months up, 10 months down. Since the peak in September 2021, the shares have plunged 59%.

Meta still doesn’t qualify for my growing list of Imploded Stocks, for which the minimum requirement is a 70% plunge from the peak, but it’s working hard to get there (data via YCharts):

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Iran Gains Access To Russian Mir Payment Cards

Iran Gains Access To Russian Mir Payment Cards:

In the latest example of U.S. sanctions sparking new financial ties between out-of-favor countries, Iranians will soon be able to make payments with Russia’s Mir bank cards. The move will provide some relief to everyday Iranian people and businesses victimized by economic sanctions.

“I think this payment system will be activated in Iran soon,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Medhi Safari said Wednesday, according to Russia’s RIA news. Mir translates into both “the world” and “peace.”

The Mir card system was introduced by Russia’s central bank in 2015 after MasterCard and Visa were forced by the U.S. sanctions regime into terminating business with several Russian banks. Up to that point, MasterCard and Visa accounted for 90% of payments in Russia. After Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, remaining Russian banks lost their Visa and MasterCard relationships.

Mir’s reach has spread to many other countries and territories, including South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Work is underway to enable the cards’ use in Cuba and the United Arab Emirates. More than 100 million Mir cards have been issued to date.

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‘Paving a Digital Road to Hell’: Digital ID Systems Could Lead to Severe, Irreversible Human Rights Violations

‘Paving a Digital Road to Hell’: Digital ID Systems Could Lead to Severe, Irreversible Human Rights Violations:

The authors of a New York University’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice report on digital identity systems warned of “severe and potentially irreversible” human rights violations and argued for open debate “with full transparency and involving all relevant stakeholders.”

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“Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine”: Hungersteine in der Elbe (Sept. 20, 2018 – Video)

“Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine”: Hungersteine in der Elbe:

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“Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine” – vor über hundert Jahren meißelte der Gastwirt und Schiffer Franz Meyer diese Worte in einen Gesteinsbrocken in der Elbe. Der trockene Sommer hat den sogenannten “Hungerstein” in der tschechischen Stadt D??ín nun freigelegt.

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