Europe

With Europe facing two distinct challenges as a result of the ongoing refugee crisis (which in recent months has been tamed as a result Turkey withholding further immigrant outflows via the land route if only for the time being until Erdogan changes his mind and asks for more concessions), namely how to keep track of the hundreds of thousands of new immigrants, and also where to house them, the Netherlands has successfully killed these two birds with one stone.

One of the alliance’s most senior retired generals has warned that Nato risks a nuclear war with Russia within a year if it does not increase its defence capabilities in the Baltic states. Banging the war-drum, General Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as Nato’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in Europe between 2011 and 2014, said that an attack on Estonia, Lithuania or Latvia, which are all Nato members, was a serious possibility and that the West should act now to avert “potential catastrophe”.

• Stocks sag as U.S. rate rise expectations revive (Reuters)
• Clinton, Sanders hit final stretch of nominating contest (Reuters)
• Bernie Sanders Wins in Oregon, But He Needed Kentucky, Too (NBC)
• Clinton less than 100 delegates from nomination (The Hill)
• Trump needs 66 delegates to officially clinch nomination (The Hill)
• Japan GDP Rebound Not Enough to Stave Off Stimulus (WSJ)
• Japan Dodges Recession Thanks to Consumers, Public Spending (BBG)
• Austrian State Dodges Default With $12.4 Billion Debt Deal (BBG)

After two violently volatile days in which the market soared (Monday) then promptly retraced all gains (Tuesday), the overnight session has been relatively calm with futures and oil both unchanged even as the BBG dollar index rose to the highest level since April 4. This took place despite a substantial amount of macro data from both Japan, where the GDP came well above the expected 0.3%, instead printing 1.7% annualized, which pushed stocks lower as it meant the probability of more BOJ interventions or a delay of the sales tax hike both dropped.

None other than the former head of MI6 (the British Secret Intelligence Service) Richard Dearlove expressed his quite candid thoughts on the immigration crisis, as well as the possibility of a British exit from the EU during a speech recently at the BBC. The speech is well worth the listen.

Here are some notable quotes from the speech as it relates to the immigration crisis. The former head of intelligence is quick to point out that despite what the public perception may be, the reality is that there are terrorists already among us.