Environment

A strong magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southern Taiwan early on Saturday, according to the US Geological Survey . The quake struck at 11:57 a.m. PT about 14 miles northeast of the city of Pingtung, 19 miles (31 km) east-southeast of Tainan at a depth of 6.2 miles, the agency said. The USGS  have also warned that a magnitude 6.4 quake is capable of causing a “severe damage”, though there have been no reports casualties but one official said that a building had partially collapsed No tsunami warnings have yet been issued.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency has issued an orange warning as the Sakurajima volcano erupted sending lava down its slope and spewing ash and stones into the night sky. Lightning flashed above the flowing lava as the Sakurajima erupted on the southern island of Kyushu at around 7 p.m on Friday evening The Sendai nuclear plant which is located 50 kms (30 miles) from the volcano, was the first to be restarted after 2011’s Fukushima disaster, despite local opposition and meteorologists’ warnings, following tremors in the nearby volcano.

An Indian pharmaceutical company has announced a Zika virus vaccine, and says it plans on trialling it in two weeks time.  Bharat Biotech are scheduled to begin pre-clinical trials for the world’s first Zika vaccine candidate. Good.is reports: Bharat Biotech started developing a Zika vaccine months before the current outbreak, applying lessons the company learned producing vaccines for chikungunya and dengue, which are spread by the same species of mosquito.

Before this year the lowest level The Baltic Dry Index had reached was 556 in August of 1986 and the highest was in June 2008 at a stunning 11,612. Today saw the freight index hit a new milestone however, crashing through the 300 barrier for the first time ever - at 298, this is almost 50% below the previous record low.

Commodities obviously are saying something very different from "the market"...

Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in four counties where people have been confirmed as having the Zika virus.  Nine people in total have been diagnosed with the Zika virus in Florida so far, and Governor Scott has warned that the virus is likely to spread even further. ABC News reports: The Aedes aegypti mosquito that is the primary vector of Zika virus infections is present in the southeast portion of the country, including Florida, though in winter the mosquito populations are low.