Via AFP:
Global stocks slumped and gold and oil prices soared as Russia's sending of troops to Ukraine's Crimea sparked a backlash and threats of reprisal from leading Western powers.
The rise in tensions over Ukraine fed worries on everything from economic sanctions against Moscow to a possible cutoff of energy supplies flowing from Russia to Europe, to a clash of forces in Ukraine.
The turmoil, escalating since pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was deposed and fled on February 22, sent investors seeking safe havens in top-quality bonds and currencies, a plus for the US dollar but also f...