Europe

In a setback for Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders, and perhaps the entire European populist movement, the first Dutch exit polls are out and his PVV, or Freedom Party, has only won 19 seats, tied with the Christian Democrats and Democrats 66 party, both of which also got 19 seats; the outcome is in line with polls that were predicting a sharp drop off in support for Wilders in recent days. The winner: prime minister Mark Rutte's VVD, or Liberal Party, with 31 seats.

Authored by Vijeta Uniyal,

The diplomatic spat between Turkey and the Netherlands spilled into the internet on Wednesday after a large number of Twitter accounts including news agencies, and political entities were hacked by a pro-Turkish group and posted content supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his feud with Europe, with hashtags in Turkish reading “NaziGermany” and “NaziHolland.”

It is fitting that just a few hours until the Fed's second rate hike in two quarters, and one day after Goldman downgraded global stocks to Neutral for the next 3 months, not to mention with the results of the anticipated Dutch election due shortly, that global stocks as well as S&P futures are higher, while crude oil has finally managed to stage a rebound as the Dollar DXY index is fractionally in the red.

Authored by Peter Korzun via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Hit by a wave of crises, the European Union is urgently searching a new model of functioning in order to survive in one form or another. The need to balance between unity and diversity is a dilemma faced currently by the bloc. Currencies, politics and interests differ to make a new pattern of European integration a reality.