War

Yesterday's news that Saudi Arabia has issued an ultimatum to Qatar, listing ten demands among which that Qatar end all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, has prompted a dramatic response by the small Gulf nation, and according to a just released report by Arabic CNN (and confirmed locally) US officials have said they have observed increased Qatari military activity as the country placed its forces "on the highest state of alert" over fears of an imminent military incursion.

The day before "Berserker Thursday" with its UK elections, Comey testimony and the ECB decision, was supposed to be quiet. Instead we had the first domestic Iran terrorism in decades, Iran vowing revenge on Saudi Arabia, rising Qatar crisis tensions, South Korea telling the US it can go to hell, Syria threatening to strike US forces, the biggest crude crash in months, Germany pulling out of Turkey, Turkey approving the deployment of troops to Qatar, and stocks of course finishing the day higher.

Two days after Germany's foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel - standing next to his Turkish colleague Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara - said his "country has no choice but to begin the process of pulling its forces out of Turkey's Incirlik air force base" as the Turkish government will not allow all German lawmakers to visit troops there, Germany followed through on its threat and on Wednesday, the German Cabinet backed the withdrawal of the country's troops from Incirlik air base in Southern Turkey.

Incirlik air base

Having chided President Trump for his "selfish" decision to pull of out the Paris Climate Accord, North Korea's Kim Jong Un is reportedly preparing for the 10th ballistic missile test-fire this year, and as Asahi reports, unconfirmed information that North Korea will carry out its sixth nuclear test.

Military sources revealed North Korea had signs of launching ballistic missiles on the morning of the 8th. The detailed location has not been revealed.

Iran's infamous Revolutionary Guards accused Saudi Arabia of being behind the twin terrorist attacks in Tehran, which killed 12 and left at least 39 injured, and have vowed "revenge."

Earlier in the day, a group of four people in women's clothes opened fire in the building of the Iranian Parliament, with a subsequent explosion. Another attack involving an explosion took place near the Imam Khomeini shrine. One of the perpetrators of the attack was detained and the rest were executed.