Nuclear Power

And the 'incidents' just keep coming for Japan. Lax safety checks at Kwai Chung container terminal - the only sea entry point for food from overseas - have allowed banned imports from Japan to enter Hong Kong, according to Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan. As The South China Morning Post reports, radioactive contaminated food may have been entering the city unnoticed for years because of deficiencies in safety controls on fresh produce since the ban following the Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in 2011.

Vladimir Putin holds his annual live Q&A event where, over the course of more than four priceless hours, the Russian President takes questions from across the country and discusses everything from foreign relations, to military might, to his sleeping habits, to not wanting to be cloned. 

• Euro zone bond yields sink to historic lows (Reuters)
• Clinton Foundation to Keep Foreign Donors (WSJ)
• Russia says U.S. forced it to act on Ukraine (Reuters)
• Bankers to China's Rescue (BBG)
• Saudi Arabia Adds Half a Bakken to Global Oil Market in a Month (BBG)
• Valuations of Hong Kong's stock market operator go interstellar (Reuters)
• Switzerland Attracts Fewer Firms as Politics Hurt Business Image (BBG)

It is quite obvious that Russia cannot substitute the West and in particular European countries with someone else. It is impossible for historical and cultural reasons, the abundance of industrial relations, geographical proximity and so on. Moscow can however substantially weaken such dependency through the strengthening of political, military, financial and economic relations with other countries which are friendlier and less susceptible to pressure from Washington. Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) holds a special place amongst countries friendly to the Russian government, and strategic dialogue is being actively developed with it.

Water and energy have a symbiotic relationship. Energy is needed to move water to people and businesses. Water, in turn, is necessary to produce energy. But how much...

We are sure this is nothing to worry about... and Japanese officials will re-iterate that everything is on track but when a snake-like robot sent to inspect a reactor containment vessel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant dies three hours into the operation, one might wonder just how "contained" the radiation situations really is.

• Nikkei tops 20,000, Europe hits 15-year high (Reuters)
• GE to sell real estate holdings, sets $50 billion share buyback (Reuters)
• Iran’s Middle Class Plans for Life After a Deal (BBG)
• Walgreens to Close 200 Stores as It Expands Cost Cuts (WSJ)
• Hillary Clinton expected to announce presidential run as soon as this weekend (Reuters)
• It will cost $1.5 billion to keep Deutsche Bank Libor Manipulators out of prison  (USA Today)
• Police Cameras Bring Problems of Their Own (WSJ)
• Obama says concerned China bullying others in South China Sea (Reuters)
• Investors Revive Appetite for Asian Junk Bonds (WSJ)

"NATO completed the first military drills for its new rapid reaction force. From Tuesday through Thursday, more than 1,500 troops took part in exercise 'Noble Jump,' designed to test whether troops assigned to NATO’s new Spearhead Force, or Very High Joint Readiness Task Force, could be ready to deploy 48 hours after receiving an order-to-move." In other words: NATO could deploy troops to counter Russian "aggression" within 2 days.

Fuku Nuku ... No Beaucoup

• Greece pleads cash running out, told to hasten reforms (Reuters)
• ECB Cash Said Likely to Fall Short of Greek Request This Week (BBG)
• Chinese Stock Buying Frenzy Sweeps Into Hong  (WSJ)
• Shell’s $70 Billion BG Deal Meets Shareholder Skepticism (BBG)
• Yemen's Houthis seize provincial capital despite Saudi-led raids (Reuters)
• Iran Nuclear Deal Gives Syria’s Bashar al-Assad Reason to Worry (WSJ)
• Slow apps, low battery life limit appeal of Apple Watch (Reuters)
• Gilead’s $1,000 Pill Is Hard for States to Swallow (WSJ)
• The Oil Industry's $26 Billion Life Raft (BBG)

As The United States continues to 'deal' with Iran's nuclear ambitions, Sputnik News reports that "the expansion of cooperation between the Russian Federation and China in the nuclear sphere is being actively discussed." The source went on note that talks on the construction of the seventh and eighth units of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Station in China are in the final stage following the signing of a major memorandum of understanding between Russian and Chinese officials in March 2014, that laid the groundwork for future energy cooperation between the two countries. Isolated?

"Amid the wave of bellicose rhetoric that has swelled in Moscow since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, officials as high up as President Vladimir Putin have been making open nuclear threats, a public saber-rattling with weapons of mass destruction largely unseen even in the days of the Cold War."

As Moscow and Seoul throw their support behind China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the question is no longer about the end of dollar hegemony but rather about the extent to which the new venture will be used to institute a global shift towards the yuan. 

Russia is once again ratcheting up the rhetoric, this time to a fever pitch. Just a day after Putin’s Security Council posted a remarkably accurate and amusingly concise assessment of US foreign policy aims on its website, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry as well as President Putin himself are out with strong condemnations of both the NATO presence in Eastern Europe as well as US plans to arm Kiev.