News from Russia, Brazil and South Korea

In Russia, the ruble hit a 16-month high on boosts from oil prices and hope that the country’s year-long monetary easing cycle may soon end. The ruble traded at 33.56 and the price of oil was just above $83 a barrel.

In Brazil, the Belo Monte dam is giving President Lula da Silva a serious headache. The Brazilian government is planning to build the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam, costing around $17 billion, but activists are protesting the dam saying it will displace 20,000 people. One of those activists is Hollywood director James Cameron. A Brazilian court on Wednesday delayed an auction to build the dam on the grounds that it may violate environmental law, slowing the flagship project of an $878 billion public works crusade that is a key campaign platform of Lula's anointed successor, Dilma Rousseff, for this year's presidential vote.

In South Korea, President Lee announced that there would be no retaliation against the North, even if findings showed they were in fact were responsible. The North says they have nothing to do with the sinking of the Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors. The issue for the South is terrible sensitive. If he were to launch a military attack on his impoverished neighbor, it would be the South that would come off worse, with investors likely to take fright at the threat of conflict across the Cold War's last frontier just as the economy is recovering fast from the global financial crisis.