Politics

At this point in the war against ISIS, which as we pointed out previously is in full retreat now that its supply of oil-based funding from Turkey has dried up, the only question is when some of the main strongholds of the Islamic State in the region fall, putting what's left of the terrorist organization in terminal disarray. Chief among ISIS' core cities are Raqqa and Deir el-Zour in Syria and Mosul, Baiji and the outskirts of Baghdad, including Falluja in Iraq.

First, a big picture view of the situation.

Following last week's unchanged oil rig count - breaking a 21-week streak of declines - as the rig count inflected perfectly with lagged oil prices. However, despite a rise in lagged oil prices, the oil rig count declined 2 to 316 this week - new lows since Oct 2009. Total rig count dropped to 404 - a new record low. Crude traders appear to have left for the day as there was no visible reaction to this data.

David Cameron announced that the UK is sending a Royal Navy warship to the Mediterranean to stop arms smuggling and people trafficking along Libya’s coast. The British Prime Minister told the G7 summit in Japan that the UK was ready to take on a more “active leadership role” in Libya. The BBC reports: The UK already has a survey vessel, HMS Enterprise, operating in the area. Officials are to seek UN approval for the new warship to seize boats taking arms to so-called Islamic State.

The Netherlands has rejected calls by Israel to declare the international campaign calling for the boycott of Israeli products, illegal. On Thursday the Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said that the Dutch government had told Tel Aviv that joining the campaign was an issue of free speech, to which the Dutch people are entitled. Press TV reports: Netherlands is the second country in the European Union to have announced its support for people’s right to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

There was much surprise, as well as accusations of outright voter fraud, when on Monday the Austrian presidential race - which was set to be won by the candidate of the right wing Austria Freedom Party much to the humiliation of Brussels - Norbert Hofer, was handed to his competitor, Green party candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, with postal votes tipping the final result in the favor of the former despite Hofer winning the outright vote by a solid margin. In retrospect, there may have been reason for the skepticism.