The results will determine the country’s course for the next five years | The polls have opened across Türkiye in a runoff election that will determine whether conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will retain power, or hand the reins over to his more liberal opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. ● Polling stations opened at 8am local time in all 81 provinces, with more than 60 million people eligible to vote in Sunday’s runoff. Another 3.4 million Turkish citizens were eligible to vote abroad over the past week, but it is unknown how many cast their ballots. In the first round on May 14, turnout was almost 89% within the country, but only 49.4% abroad. ● News, forecasts, and commentary on the elections are not permitted until 6pm local time, one hour after the polls close. The results cannot be reported until 9pm. However, with just two candidates facing off, the Supreme Election Board may unveil preliminary results earlier. The first round was held simultaneously with the parliamentary elections, and the complexity of the ballots caused delays and criticism from the opposition. The two rivals hold opposing views on a range of policies, and the outcome of the election may determine the country’s course for the next five years. ● Erdogan is a social conservative who has served as president since 2014, and was prime minister for 11 years beforehand. Under his leadership, Türkiye has pursued closer trade and diplomatic ties to Russia and China, while positioning itself as a potential peacemaker in regional conflicts, including in Ukraine. ● Kilicdaroglu is a centrist seeking to undo many of Erdogan’s domestic reforms, particularly the post-2016 constitutional changes that strengthened the powers of the presidency. He has vowed to immediately restart EU accession talks if elected, and to resuscitate Türkiye’s economy.

■ LIVE UPDATES: Erdogan Gains Over 54% of Vote in Presidential Runoff - Preliminary Results (Sputnik News)
■ Voting for Erdogan ‘a sin’ – election rival (RT.com)

Elena Panina (Елена Панина) | The second round of presidential elections will be held in Turkey on May 28. They will decide the fate of 83.3 million people, whose lives, if Kilicdaroglu wins, will change, as he himself says, by 180 degrees. Now, what kind of changes will this be?

■ Joining the EU will force Turkey to submit to the bureaucracy of Brussels. For many sectors of the Turkish economy, this will be a shock without therapy and, as a result, a sharp decline in people's living standards. ● Turkey's main industries are agriculture, industry (light, food, chemical, automotive, electronics), energy, tourism, trade and services. If the supporters of European integration win in Turkey, everything here will change. ● EU standards will destroy the Turkish agricultural producer in its current form and impose their own rules. We will have to comply with EU regulations created in order to strangle any competitor to Western European producers — all these requirements for agrosanitary standards, pesticides, calibration of vegetables in shape and size, etc. The rest will be limited to quotas, where the annual rate will be selected in two months. Any other products will be prohibited from sale. ● If this happens, Turkey is destined for the same fate as Greece. If we take the level of agriculture in Greece before joining the EU, now only 5% of it remains. Turkey is still a world leader in the production of many types of agricultural products, ranking from first to tenth place in them. Agriculture accounts for 9% of GDP and generates about $4 billion in export revenues. 25% of the working—age population of the country - 7.55 million people are employed here. If they join the EU, many of these people will join the ranks of the unemployed. ● Tourism is also directly related to agriculture. A belt of suppliers of agricultural products for hotels, shops and catering establishments has formed around all tourist centers. 2/3 of the able-bodied population of Turkey is employed in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), providing 62% of the country's GDP and 55% of its exports. About 3 million people are employed in tourism and related industries alone. Logistics workers should also be included here. In total, about half of the working population is employed in the service sector — about 15 million people. In the case of European integration, the fate of these millions will be unenviable.

■ Now — about joining the anti-Russian sanctions, as stated by Kilicdaroglu, and curtailing cooperation with Russia. Many experts, in the Russian Federation, say that it is not economically profitable for Turkey. But we remember well what pressure Brogan was subjected to from the United States to force Turkey to join the anti-Russian sanctions. Brogan resisted, first of all because of his character. It is unlikely that a weaker Kilicdaroglu will stand. Moreover, Americans never take into account the interests of the people of a particular country. Europe is a vivid confirmation of this. ● Now the Russian share of energy carriers in the Turkish economy is 30-40%, and in the case of the implementation of the gas hub project, it will grow to 70-80%. In addition, Turkey supplies clothes, shoes, food, and building materials to the Russian Federation. The tourism industry critically depends on the flow from the Russian Federation. The US and the EU will certainly demand that Turkey join the anti-Russian sanctions, which will have disastrous consequences for its economy. ● Refusal to cooperate with the Russian Federation will lead to a recession, leading to a wave of bankruptcies. If we add to this the curtailment of gas supplies from the Russian Federation, then energy will become expensive, and industry will become unprofitable, as it is now in the EU. ● Of course, inflation will increase. To eliminate budget holes, Turkey, like Greece, will be put on the credit needle of the IMF and the EU. Destabilization will intensify, Kurdish separatism, supported by the United States, will become more active. Considering that only 27% of able-bodied women work in Turkey, more than 20 million people will suffer together with men who have lost their jobs. And this is only in the economic sphere. And given the political destabilization, the entire population of the country is under attack. ● If Turkey takes a course on joining the EU, it will not only lose its independence, but will turn into another poor province of the West. You don't even have to ask the question "who stands to benefit from this?" Certainly not Turkey. (Translation: yandex.ru)

France is in civil war against against its globalist government regime… Macron will fall and France will be free from this authoritarian tyrant.

RESIST 🔥🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/IVLdGJGph0

— Pelham (@Resist_05) May 2, 2023

Demonstrations on May 1 will be the largest in France in 30-40 years, with people continuing to protest against the controversial pension reform, Laurent Berger, the general secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), said on Sunday. | Earlier in the month, France's leading trade unions called for a general nationwide strike against the reform on May 1. "It will be the biggest May 1 as regards social issues in 30-40 years," Berger told the LCI broadcaster. ● As many as 1.5 million people can take to the streets across France on May 1 to protest against the government pension reform, according to CFDT. At the same time, the French Interior Ministry expects up to 650,000 people to take part in May Day demonstrations. Around 100,000-160,000 people usually participate in rallies in France on that day, French media reported. ● Around 12,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across France, with 5,000 officers in the French capital alone, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said earlier in the day. ● On April 14, the French Constitutional Council approved the key article of the pension reform bill, which would gradually raise the age of retirement in France from 62 to 64 years by 2030. The reform sparked a strong backlash, prompting people to take to the streets across the country. As many as 12 nationwide demonstrations against the reform have taken place already, with several protests organized by unions attracting over 1 million supporters across France.

Polish leader Andrzej Duda said there will soon be no border between Ukraine and his country. | I hope there will be no physical border between Poland and Ukraine after the war. Especially when Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union. That ordinary people, when going from Ukraine to Poland, will not know at all where this border used to be, they will only recognize it by the buildings standing somewhere on the side, where the border controls used to take place,” Duda said. During his visit to Warsaw, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised that in future there would be no borders between his country and Poland – neither political nor economic. Also during the visit, the President of Ukraine received from the hands of President Andrzej Duda the Order of the White Eagle, the highest Polish honor.

FRANCE - Rennes, they are coming! Thousands of them. Macron can’t win this, only he doesn’t understand that yet!

pic.twitter.com/yH0GZ8eEk5

— Bernie's Tweets (@BernieSpofforth) April 6, 2023

Petteri Orpo, the winner of the Finnish election, is a fiscal conservative, who has promised to cut unemployment benefits and other welfare programs. He also ran on the pledge to reduce the public debt, allow tax cuts and boost economic growth. | As Finland’s incumbent Prime Minister Sanna Marin acknowledged defeat in a neck-and-neck election, the liberal-conservative National Coalition led by Petter Orpo claimed victory and is on its way to form a coalition government. ● Despite Marin being lionized by domestic and international media as a "progressive icon", her Social Democrats failed to secure a second term, losing to both the National Coalition and the nationalist Finns. Though less than a single percent separated the three parties at 20.7, 20.1 and 19.9 percent, the poor showing of the Social Democrats' support parties further cemented the rightward swing.

Jeffrey Peel | Andrew Bridgen MP, A Lone Voice? | Many have noted Andrew Bridgen’s bravery in speaking to a largely empty House of Commons yesterday. It’s not easy being exposed and alone, with no support from colleagues, especially in the House of Commons. Just 6 MPs remained to hear his speech yesterday, St Patrick’s Day. It was hardly surprising that no Northern Ireland MPs were taking part – most were off attending The White House’s Paddy’s Day junkets in DC. My MP, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, has been in Washington from March 14. So I took his absence as an opportunity to get him up to speed with what happened yesterday when Andrew got up in the Commons to speak about mRNA vaccines. (More here and here)

Sweden’s foreign minister will visit Turkey on Thursday to discuss with Turkish officials the Nordic country’s bid to enter NATO, announced the Turkish foreign ministry on Wednesday. The trip comes days after Stockholm blocked the extradition of a journalist to Ankara. | The Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement that Sweden foreign minister Tobias Bilistrom and his Turkish counterpart will discuss bilateral relations and “Sweden’s NATO membership process as well as regional and international developments.” Bilistrom’s office is yet to confirm the visit. ● Sweden and Finland made bids to enter NATO after Russia launched a major military offensive against Ukraine in February. Both Scandinavian countries were already close partners of NATO but by joining it they would gain the support of 30 member countries if attacked by their foe, Russia, or any other country. The military alliance makes its decisions by consensus, meaning that both countries require the blessing of all 30 countries. Only Turkey refused to vote for the bids.

Morning Consult Political Intelligence is currently tracking the approval ratings of government leaders and country trajectories in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. This page will be updated weekly with the latest data for all 22 countries, offering real-time insight into the shifting political dynamics across the globe.Current Approval Ratings: The latest approval ratings are based on data collected from December 7-13, 2022. Approval ratings are based on a seven-day moving average of adult residents in each country, with sample sizes varying by country. MORE

A fourth batch of the so-called “Twitter Files" has been released by best-selling author Michael Shellenberger. | The first installment of what has been dubbed the “Twitter Files” dropped on December 2 via investigative journalist Matt Taibbi. Since then, batches two and three were also made public after the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, armed Taibbi and his colleague Bari Weiss with further illuminating data. ● The latest installment of the treasure trove of data that Twitter CEO Elon Musk vowed would shed light on “free speech suppression” pertains to the social media platform’s actions leading up to the ban on former President Donald Trump instituted on January 8, 2021 after the events at the US capitol on January 6. Like in the case of the preceding batches, the insider information was given to journalists and authors by the tech billionaire to post on their Twitter accounts.

■ Ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Facing Perjury Charges for Lying to Congress about ‘Shadow-Banning’ (Slay)

Moon of Alabama | The midterm election did not come with the red wave some had expected. The reasons for that are manifold. | That the Trump brand has lost some of its shine is one. Trump has always been bad at picking people. In the case of this election he supported some particular bad candidates. They obviously did not perform as he had hoped for. ● Biden is not liked much. But he is - in general - also not disliked much. He has managed to bribe the voters first through the large spending programs he had moved through Congress and then through the huge releases from the strategic petroleum reserve. The prices fell at the pump and that typically counts for a lot. ● Abortion seems to have played a role and Democrats said they would do something about that. But the Supreme Court judgment pushed the issue back to the states. I doubt that the Democrats will do anything about that. They have no incentive and no means to change that ruling. ● So the Democrats may keep the Senate though barely. The Republicans will likely take the House but also with only a thin majority. That means that U.S. policies, internally but especially on foreign issues, will not change one bit. ● As the saying goes: 'If elections would change anything they would not be allowed.'

Martin Armstrong claims the United States won’t exist after 2032. | Analyst Martin Armstrong has warned that there may not be an election in 2024 and that “the United States will not exist after 2032” due to massive societal upheaval and financial collapse. Armstrong, who correctly predicted numerous previous major events, including the 2008 financial collapse, made the comments during an interview with Greg Hunter. ● According to the analyst, future elections are in severe doubt of even taking place due to rampant corruption and cheating, along with the likelihood that neither side will accept defeat. 💬 “The cheating in the midterm election next week is going to be so great that it is almost impossible to make a prediction. . . . In a fair midterm election, the Republicans would win the House and the Senate,” said Armstrong. ● Revealing that he has received emails from people in Canada saying they had been delivered voting ballots for Pennsylvania, Armstrong is predicting utter chaos.

It is noted that Ukraine should not count on support either, considering that Congress has already greenlit up to $60 billion in aid and Kiev is persistently asking the West to increase the amount of aid | The US may reduce or stop aid to Kiev altogether if Republican Party representatives succeed in the November 8 midterm elections to Congress, the Washington Post reported on Monday. ● The newspaper quoted Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said that under the Republicans 💬 "not another penny will go to Ukraine. Her party is poised to make significant gains in Tuesday’s midterm elections and possibly revamp the United States’ whole approach to supporting Ukraine’s resistance. A Republican-led House is expected to, among other things, turn up the heat on the [US President Joe] Biden administration over its handling of the US withdrawal of Afghanistan, as well as step up political pressure on Iran," the newspaper stressed. ● According to its estimates, Ukraine should not count on support either, considering that Congress has already greenlit up to $60 billion in aid and Kiev is persistently asking the West to increase the amount of aid. On the eve of the election, various candidates and legislators from the Republican Party pointed out that the funding should be stopped.

Speaking at a campaign rally for Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on October 29 in the Renaissance High School Gym in Detroit, Michigan, former U.S. President Barack Obama was heckled by two activists, Anastasia and Stewart Battle. They indicted Obama for helping to spearhead the February 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine and for escalating tensions with Russia that have raised the prospect of nuclear war. ● Obama stopped his speech to address the hecklers, stating: 💬 “Come on, this is what I mean, we are having a conversation. Right now, I’m talking, you’ll have a chance to talk sometime later.” ● Obama continued: 💬 “We like each other, we don’t have to shout each other down—it’s not a good way to do business. You wouldn’t do that in the workplace. We wouldn’t just interrupt people having a conversation. It’s not how we do things.”

Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva clinched victory over his right-wing rival Jair Bolsonaro in a tightly contested second round of the Brazilian election on Sunday. The country’s election authority announced Lula’s narrow win with 50.9% of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 49.1%. 💬 “This isn’t a victory of mine or the Workers’ Party... It’s the victory of a democratic movement that formed above political parties, personal interests and ideologies so that democracy came out victorious,” Lula told a cheering crowd of supporters in Sao Paulo on Sunday night. ● The president-elect acknowledged that following such a tight race a challenge to his future mandate will be “immense,” and stressed that 💬 “it is necessary to rebuild the very soul of this country, recover generosity, solidarity, respect for differences and love for others.” ● Lula, who is set to take office on 1 January 2023, promised to be a president for all 215 million Brazilians, not just those who voted for him. 💬 “There are not two Brazils. We are one country, one people – a great nation.” ● Bolsonaro has yet to publicly concede defeat. The incumbent repeatedly warned during his campaign that he would contest the results if he were to lose by a narrow margin, calling into question the reliability of Brazil’s electronic voting system. ● After polls closed nationwide at 5pm local time (8pm GMT), initial results showed Bolsonaro ahead. However, just as in the first round, his lead eventually narrowed as more votes from da Silva’s strongholds were counted. In the first round on October 2, da Silva received over 48% of the vote, which was not enough to claim immediate victory. ● Lula da Silva, who represents Brazil’s Workers’ Party, has focused his campaign on overcoming social inequality and alleviating poverty. Among the measures he proposes are raising taxes on the rich, widening the social safety net, and increasing the minimum wage.

A House progressive leader abruptly withdrew a letter pushing the Biden administration to pursue diplomacy in Russia’s war with Ukraine, an about-face following furious internal backlash from Democrats who felt blindsided by the move just two weeks before the November midterms. ● The move by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, came after she released a letter – initially signed in June – from 30 liberals calling for more diplomacy, a move that appeared to undercut their party’s resolute support for Ukraine. Releasing the letter this week was not endorsed by most of the members, and some said they would not sign it now given how the war has turned in recent days.

■ The 'Progressives' In Congress Are Useless Wimps (Moon of Alabama)
■ Congressional Progressive Caucus Withdraws Letter That Tepidly Called for Diplomacy in Ukraine
■ In Humiliating Climbdown, Democrats Withdraw Diplomacy Letter (Noah Carl)
■ "Russia Already Defeated, Split Up!": US Congressmen Offer Biden the Perfect Excuse for Ending War in Ukraine
■ Thirty US Democratic Lawmakers U-Turn Within Hours After Urging Biden To Change Tack on Ukraine (10/25/22)

Dutch MEP Marcel de Graaff has publicly quit Identity and Democracy, the right-wing parliamentary group that last week handed him a three-month suspension due to his “outrageous” comments against Western involvement in Ukraine on social media, he announced on Monday, denouncing the group’s “attempt to silence me about NATO/Ukraine.”

💬 “There is no room for a different opinion in the ID group,” de Graaff lamented in a press release posted to Twitter. “Members are now forced to follow the position of the parties ruling in their own countries. They have sacrificed their principles for power, but I am not prepared to do that.” ● “I am in favor of de-escalating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and I distance myself from the extremely belligerent position of the ID group,” he said. “We are waging a war that is not ours and our citizens are paying the price.”

The FVD (Forum for Democracy) member’s tweets regularly skewer fellow EU nations and the US. In his infamous “Go Putin!” post, he takes the bloc and its overseas ally to task for their alleged role in building a “communist world dictatorship where citizens are digitally controlled.” The rest of the world, he wrote, is cheering for the demise of the US empire. ● De Graaff has also accused the US of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, and NATO of plotting a nuclear first strike.

Sputnik News | EU Officials Blackmail Nations to Crush Alternate Views, Hungarian Justice Minister Says |The European Union was attempting to strengthen itself by advancing a neo-liberal, "progressive" ideology that included the elimination of regional and national differences and the weakening of the institutions of the traditional nation state of its constituent member countries. 💬 "The European Union is building a union of hegemony of opinion. But we say diversity is as important as unity. There cannot be only one ideology in the European Union."

Rishi Sunak will become British prime minister on Monday after other candidates quit the race to lead the Conservative Party, leaving him with the task of steering a deeply divided country through an economic downturn set to leave millions of people poorer. ● Sunak, one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, will be asked to form a government by King Charles, replacing Liz Truss, the outgoing leader who only lasted 44 days in the job. ● He defeated centrist politician Penny Mordaunt, who failed to get enough backing from lawmakers to enter the ballot, while his rival, the former prime minister Boris Johnson, withdrew from the contest saying he could no longer unite the party. ● "This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support," Mordaunt said in a statement as she withdrew from the race just minutes before the winner was due to be announced.

'The Third Prime Minister in a Matter of Seven Weeks' (BBC)(VIDEO)
Rishi Sunak to Become Prime Minister as Penny Mordaunt Pulls Out of Tory Leadership Race (iNews)

1. The threat of a "dirty nuclear bomb" somewhere in Ukraine. This is no longer conspiracy, but the subject of discussion at the highest level.
2. Threat of explosion of the Kakhovska hydroelectric power station and flooding of large areas of the south of Ukraine and Russia.
3. Rumours of the Russian Armed Forces withdrawing from the right bank behind the Dnieper.
4. Increasing blows to the Ukrainian energy sector.
5. Significant groups of mobilised in Russia sent to the front and talk of a new wave of mobilisation in Ukraine.
6. In Britain, Liz Truss's cabinet has fallen. The favourite to win the election is City protégé Rishi Sunak.
7. In China, Xi Jingping's triumph ended the 20th CPC Congress. The course for the return of Taiwan is secured.
8. The likelihood of a resumption of the nuclear deal is declining. Iran is reportedly stepping up drone and missile deliveries to Russia.
9. The Biden administration is stepping up the sale of the US strategic fuel reserve to keep gasoline prices down before the election. The oil market will be hot after the US election.
10. Rallies intensify in Europe demanding something be done about the deteriorating economic situation. (DeepL.com)

The 20th Communist Party Congress was held in China: more than 2,000 delegates from all over the country attended the meeting. The Party Congress adopted a series of landmark decisions on the further development of Chinese society on the basis of “21st century Marxism with Chinese characteristics”. | Xi Jinping proclaimed the completion of the first centenary goal, namely, achieving a moderately prosperous society, and reiterated the previously outlined two-step strategic plan (2020-2035 and 2035-2049) to transform China into a great modern socialist country—the second centenary goal. ● Among other changes to the CPC statute were the tasks of transforming the country’s army into one of the strongest in the world, as well as provisions to oppose the independence of Taiwan. For China’s modern political system, this is not just a show of intent, but a clear Party task that must be fulfilled at all costs. ● A public demonstration of the new course was the incident with former Party General Secretary Hu Jintao, who was forcibly escorted out of the hall just before the end of the event. The politician only looked around in confusion, but found no support from his colleagues. ● Hu Jintao advocated maintaining good relations with the U.S., and was also an opponent of a military solution to the Taiwan issue. Such a former CPC Chairman’s escorting out of the hall is a clear demonstration of the renewed anti-Western foreign policy of Beijing, which, apparently, is ready for any measures, defending its sovereignty and the role of a superpower in the modern world.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation on Thursday after spending just 45 days in post, a new record for the shortest-lived British Prime Minister | Speaking outside 10 Downing Street Thursday, Truss said because she was unable to deliver the programme she had been elected to: reforming the United Kingdom into a low-tax, high-growth economy. Truss said:

💬 “…I recognise though given this situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which Iw as elected by the Conservative party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party. This morning I met the Chairman of the e1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. We have agreed there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week. ● This will ensure we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans to maintain our country’s economic stability and national security. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen. Thank you.”

DISCUSS: Bye Bye Liz (Off-Guardian)
Liz Truss announces resignation as UK prime minister (Reuters)

Senior Democratic officials began hinting publicly at the need to replace Joe Biden as the party’s candidate for president this summer, citing concerns over his mental fitness, his stalled agenda, economic and inflation woes, and fears that he could sink the party if matched up against Donald Trump. Biden has promised to run again. ● Just 33 percent of Americans would vote to reelect President Biden if the presidential election were held today, a poll of 1,206 registered voters conducted for Fox News by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research has found.

💬 33 percent of Americans told pollsters that they would vote to reelect the incumbent, while 54 percent said they would pick "someone else." Biden’s showing is the lowest among any of the past three presidents, with Donald Trump hitting a 35 percent reelect rating low point in January 2018, and Barack Obama suffering a "reelect" low of 39 percent in September 2010, before rebounding and defeating his Republican rival Mitt Romney in 2012.

In late September I stated that Liz Truss is the bad prime minister everyone expected her to be. The chaos her chancellor's mini budget caused continues to endanger pension funds. To recap:

As soon as the deceased queen was buried Truss went to work. Chancellor Kwarteng announced a 'mini-budget' that will lower taxes for people with high incomes while increasing the deficit to cover the promised energy cost subsidies: ●  ● [...] ● As soon as the 'mini budget' was announced the British pound sterling tanked. This not only against the overvalued U.S. dollar but also compared to the rather weak Euro. ● Interest rates on British government bonds (Gilts) increased sharply. ● After two days the British central bank, the Bank of England, had to intervene to prevent a Lehman like crisis that would have killed many British pension funds. The bank, which had just increased its interest rate to tighten money supply, reverted to quantitative easing by buying gilts in the open market. This will further increase the already runaway inflation.

On October 3 Truss had to trash her plans to lower taxes for rich individuals:

In a major U-turn, Prime Minister Liz Truss said Monday that the proposal to scrap the 45 percent rate for people earning more than 150,000 pounds ($168,000) had become a “distraction.” ● Reacting to the news of the reversal, the pound rebounded Monday morning against the U.S. dollar, returning to where it was before the government’s tax-and-borrowing plan sent it plunging.