The Turkish Lira Collapse… And Why Divine Intervention Will Not Be Forthcoming Aug. 14, 2018
After years of rampant dollar borrowing, running large current account deficits (due to the lack of domestic oil production), as well as an autocratic President who thinks that high interest rates produce inflation and meddles in the economy in ways that are guaranteed to backfire (as they are doing at the moment), the lira is now in freefall…
…It looks like Erdogan is digging in his heels as to the Trump administration confrontation while not being proactive as to the Turkish lira crisis. This means the whole mess is spilling into the other emerging markets – and that’s even before the major confrontation with China kicks in around September 5, after most Chinese tariff packages begin to go into effect.
I really need to know. How the FUCK does USAToday and MSN figure this qualifies as news. Seriously?
Alien abduction: 45 years after alleged UFO encounter, Mississippi man breaks his silence
Then the situation became more surreal. Parker said three legless creatures floated from the craft. One had no neck with gray wrinkled skin. Another had a neck and appeared more feminine. Parker described their hands as being shaped like mittens or crab claws.
When one of the creatures put one of its claws around his arm, Parker said he was terrified, but then another feeling came over his body.
“I think they injected us with something to calm us down,” Parker said. “I was kind of numb and went along with the program.”
Tuesday, Aug 14, 2018
Trump calls Omarosa ‘crazed, crying lowlife’ and a ‘dog’ in morning tweet On Tuesday morning, President Trump tweeted about his former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman: “When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!” It’s unclear what prompted the outburst, but 12 minutes before he tweeted, CBS This Morning posted a new recording from Manigault Newman that purports to lend credence to her claim that the president was recorded saying the N-word. “CBS has not been able to verify the authenticity of the tape, but it does appear to confirm Omarosa’s claims that Trump campaign officials were aware of this tape,” CBS said, “and they talked about how to handle it.” Source: CBS News, Twitter
Trump signs defense bill named for John McCain, doesn’t mention McCain On Monday, President Trump signed a $716 billion defense policy bill named in honor of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), but didn’t once mention McCain during his remarks. McCain is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, and has been resting at his home in Arizona. The bill’s formal title is the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act, but during his speech at Fort Drum in New York, Trump only called it the National Defense Authorization Act. The bill authorizes funding for military construction and advanced technology. Trump and McCain do not have a good relationship, with Trump having scoffed at McCain’s military service and taking it personally when McCain voted against a repeal of the Affordable Care Act last year. Source: The Week
The Ponte Morandi viaduct collapses on the A10 motorway in Genoa, Italy. 22 people have been reported dead, including a child, and dozens of others are seriously injured. (TGCom)
US investors are pouring hundreds of millions into a healthcare company that doesn’t take insurance and lists its prices like a ‘McDonald’s menu’
(article is behind paywall)
Using tech and $100M, Dr Consulta transforms healthcare for the poorest
Jun 19, 2018
Monday, Aug 13, 2018
Asian stock prices sink as Turkey’s financial turmoil fuels fears contagion might spread to other emerging markets. (Market Watch)
More than 100 Afghan soldiers and police, 13 civilians and hundreds of Taliban are killed during the ongoing offensive in Ghazni. (BBC)
The Taliban captures Camp Chenaya, an Afghan Army base in Ghormach District, Faryab Province. (Voice of America)
At least 40 people are killed by paramilitary forces in eastern Ethiopia, in the latest spate of violence driven by ethnic divisions. (Voa News)
North Korea and South Korea officials begin high-level negotiations, with reports suggesting that Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in could be planning for a summit in Pyongyang later this month. (Reuters)
The lawyer of Peter Strzok, a former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who was removed from Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation, announces that his client has been fired by the FBI. (The Washington Post via MSN)
Sunday, Aug 12, 2018
A report by the SOHR says that the explosion of an arms depot in Sarmada, Idlib Governorate, Syria, kills at least 69 people, including 17 children. The cause of the blast is “not yet clear”. Most of the victims were reportedly family members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants. (Reuters)
After more than 20 years of negotiations, the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea sign an agreement in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on its shared use and the distribution of its resources. The convention legally defines the body of water as a sea rather than a lake, but with special provisions. (Deutsche Welle)
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa meets with President Joseph Kabila of DR Congo in Kinshasa, praising him for his “respect for the constitution” by agreeing to step down and not take part in the upcoming December 2018 Congolese general election. (The South African)
Around twenty white nationalists hold a protest march in Washington, D.C. on the first anniversary of the Unite the Right rally, with thousands of counter-protesters. (AP via CBC News)
NASA launches the Parker Solar Probe, an unpiloted spacecraft designed to study the sun. (BBC)
Saturday, Aug 11, 2018
Fighting continues around the city of Ghazni. (Reuters)
A delegation of the Taliban political office in Doha, Qatar, has visited Uzbekistan from 7 to 10 August and met with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both parties “exchanged views of prospects of the peace process in Afghanistan”. (The Hindu) (Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
According to the Russian LGBT Network campaign group, a 16-year-old person becomes the first minor to be prosecuted under the Russian gay propaganda law. (The Independent)
Friday, Aug 10, 2018
U.S. President Donald Trump authorizes the doubling of Section 232 tariffs on imports of aluminium and steel from Turkey, to 20% and 50% respectively. The Turkish lira further falls to a new record low against the U.S. dollar and Turkish stocks tumble. (CNBC)
Turkish lira plummets as Trump doubles tariffs The Turkish lira plunged more than 16 percent on Friday, while tensions simultaneously escalated between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported. Investors were already worried about Turkey’s fragile economy and its future financial health, with the lira down 23 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past week. Erdogan seemingly added fuel to the fire when he made a defiant speech on Friday, saying “Turkey won’t surrender to economic hitmen” and blaming an “interest rate plot” that amounted to “a military coup attempt.” Trump did not take warmly to Erdogan’s declaration of “economic war,” announcing on Twitter that he would double tariffs on steel and aluminum. “Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time,” Trump wrote. Source: The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money
A large-scale military offensive is launched by the Taliban in a bid to overrun the southeastern city of Ghazni, a provincial capital on the Kabul–Kandahar Highway. They manage to take control of a part of the city. (The New York Times)
Colombia announces its withdrawal from the Union of South American Nations after having suspended its membership in the organization since April 2018. (CNN)
California awards $289 million to a man who claims that his terminal cancer was caused by Monsanto’s glyphosate-containing weed killer. (BBC)
An airport mechanic steals a Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in the United States, eventually crashing the plane. (CBS News)
452 people are injured in clashes between protesters and police during an anti-government meeting in Bucharest, Romania. (Știrile Pro TV)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/broadcom-co-founder-henry-nicholas-arrested-in-las-vegas-on-suspicion-of-drug-trafficking/ar-BBLIYlw?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout
https://newrepublic.com/article/150355/moviepass-played-silicon-valleys-insane-rules?utm_source=TNR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=f86c7cbdc5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_08_02_02_51&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_50cc843886-f86c7cbdc5-63877145
Vice President Mike Pence unveils White House plan for a ‘Space Force’ Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday explained the Trump administration’s plan to create a sixth branch of the military dedicated to establishing dominance in space. In June, President Trump ordered the Pentagon to establish a “Space Force,” calling it “so important” and explaining that it would take over space-related duties from the Air Force. Pence offered details about the new agency Thursday, describing the Space Force as a way to “meet the emerging threats on this new battlefield” with dedicated space technology experts and defense systems. The White House wants to get the new department off the ground by 2020, The Washington Post reports, but it will likely face opposition from Congress. Source: The Washington Post
North Korea and South Korea plan to hold high-level talks on Monday to prepare for a third summit between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un. Pyongyang also calls for the United States to reciprocate its “goodwill measures” by easing sanctions and stopping demands that the North denuclearize first. (Washington Post)
Thursday, Aug 09, 2018
Over 180 rockets and mortars are launched toward Israel by Hamas militants. In retaliation, IDF launches an air assault on 150 targets in Gaza.(CNN)
Germany lifts a blanket ban on Nazi symbolism in video games, including the swastika. (Deutsche Welle)
Puerto Rico raises its official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 1,427. (The Kansas City Star)
Ecuador declares a state of emergency over increases in migrant entry from Venezuela. (Al Jazeera)
The Venezuelan Constituent National Assembly revokes the immunity of opposition politicians Julio Borges and Juan Requesens after claiming that they were involved in an assassination plot on President Nicolás Maduro. (Al Jazeera)
At least 43 people, mostly children, are killed in an airstrike on a bus at a market in Dahyan, Sa’da, by the Saudi-led coalition, while more than 60 are injured. The coalition calls the strike a “legitimate military action” against the Houthis, accusing them of using children as human shields. (The Guardian)
At least 40 bodies of Afghan National Army soldiers are found in a military base in Urozgan that Taliban forces stormed last week. (Reuters via Euronews)
Italian police seize 20 tonnes of hashish in a Panama-flagged, Montenegrin-crewed “research and survey” vessel’s fuel tanks. (Deutsche Welle)
Indonesian President Joko Widodo chooses the Islamic cleric Ma’ruf Amin as his running mate in the upcoming presidential election. (Reuters)
The End
