Politics

With the market certain the Fed will hike at 2pm today, there is little room for surprise. Furthermore, as Deutsche Bank previewed yesterday, no matter the Yellen spin, whether it is a "hawkish", "neutral", or "dovish" hike the market reaction is expected to be bullish...

... and as a result the market is already turning its attention to what the Fed will way about 2017, furthermore, with bond traders near record short positions, there is potential for a squeeze in rates after the announcement should Yellen err on the dovish side.

Submited by Alice Salles via TheAntiMedia.org,

The scapegoating of Russia is now so widespread, Dirty Wars author and investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill took to The Intercept to call the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on its bluff.

In the article, “Obama Must Declassify Evidence Of Russian Hacking,” Scahill and Jon Schwartz called out U.S. intelligence agencies for their record of deceit, asserting that the American people are not going to simply “take their word for it.”

Drone footage has revealed extreme devastation in eastern Aleppo, once Syria's largest city and thriving economic center with its renowned ancient sites, with crumbling homes and deserted streets replacing a once-lively area of the city.

Vladimir Putin has said he is ready and willing to meet with President-elect Donald Trump to help him make America great again.  The Russian President recently answered questions from journalists who wanted to know whether he would be meeting with Trump any time soon. “We are ready at any moment. There are no problems from our side,” Putin responded, according to part of an interview transcript released by the Kremlin.

First, the US blamed Russian hackers for Hillary Clinton's unexpected loss, a narrative which continues to reverberate with the relentless crusade by both the WaPo and NYT against "fake news." then Germany preemptively blamed Russia for a potential loss by Angela Merkel in the upcoming elections: as we reported last night, Germany's domestic intelligence agency is reporting a "striking increase" in Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing German society, and targeted cyber attacks against political parties.

Now, it's the UK's turn.