A US Commander has said that he believes NATO are prepared to “fight and win” a war against Russia in the very near future. US European Command (EUCOM) and NATO are ramping up their efforts to expand their military presence on Russia’s borders, US Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Philip Breedlove said on Thursday. Russia have warned that the increased military presence constitutes provocation towards war.
China warned the U.S. on Wednesday not to adopt punitive currency policies after Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump nudged up another victory in Nevada. Free Bacon reports: Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing that “we are following with interest the U.S. presidential election.” Hua was asked about China’s response to a possible Trump presidency and his announced plan to punish China for currency manipulation with a tax on Chinese goods.
The Russian Foreign Minister has dismissed alternative plans by the US for a political settlement of the Syria crisis. On Thursday Sergei Lavrov rejected claims by his US counterpart John Kerry that there was a ‘Plan B’ if an imminent truce deal for Syria fails to reduce hostilities in Syria. Moscow will focus on “Plan A” in accordance to the agreement signed between the US and Russia on the cessation of hostilities in Syria and is not looking at “Plan B,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.
Submitted by Joao Peixe via OilPrice.com,
The Islamic State (ISIS) is taking on recruits faster than anyone can keep up with, and it’s heading towards Libya’s oil crescent, eyeing billions of barrels that a country at war with itself cannot protect - even with U.S. air strikes.
After a burst of volatility in the developed market over the past month, one odd outlier was China, where after a surge of gut-wrenching moves in both its currency and equity markets (recall that it was China's troubles with marketwide circuit breakers at the start of January that may have catalyzed the global volatility wave), Chinese stocks remained relatively quiet and resilient, levitating quietly day after day. That all changed overnight when the Shanghai Composite plunged by 6.4% with the drop accelerating into the close.