China

On Saturday, Taiwan elected its first female President in what’s being billed as a “landmark” vote that returns the DPP to power for the first time in 8 years.

When all of the votes were in, it wasn’t even close. 59-year-old former law professor Tsai Ing-wen captured 56% of the vote while KMT’s Eric Chu managed just 31% in a humiliating defeat for the Nationalists.

DPP also won its first majority in the legislature, grabbing 68 of 113 seats. Previously, KMT held 64 seats.

"We failed. The Nationalist Party lost the elections. We didn't work hard enough,” Eric Chu said on Saturday before taking a long bow in front of a “thin” crowd of supporters.

Chu stepped in to become the Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate in Taiwan’s presidential race when his predecessor was deemed too divisive. The island held two elections on Saturday, one for the presidency and one for seats in the national legislature - The Democratic Progressive Party scored resounding victories in both ballots.

According to Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power organisation, the Cold War is raging again, and this time both China and Russia are being coerced into a military conflict with the West via North Korea. “Really, the Cold War is raging again,” Gagnon told a Russian radio program, “The US is absolutely encircling Russia and China today.” Part of the Pentagon’s strategy includes utilising a new arsenal of “smart” nuclear weapons, complete with adjustable yields, alongside missile defense systems aboard navy warships.

Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

The first thing that popped into our minds on Tuesday when WTI oil briefly broached $30 for its first $20 handle in many years, was that this should be triggering a Gawdawful amount of bets, $30 being such an obvious number. Which in turn would of necessity lead to a -brief- rise in prices.

Submitted by Ben Hunt via Salient Partners' Epsilon Theory blog,