Israel

Some people talk about peak energy (or oil) supply. They expect high prices and more demand than supply. Other people talk about energy demand hitting a peak many years from now, perhaps when most of us have electric cars. Neither of these views is correct. The real situation is that we right now seem to be reaching peak energy demand through low commodity prices.

The wife of Israeli Interior Minister Silvan Shalom apologized on Sunday for tweeting a racist joke about President Obama.

The West is impotent to prevent Armageddon. It is up to Russia and China, and as Washington has framed the dilemma, Armageddon can only be prevented by Russia and China accepting vassal status. This is not going to happen. Why would any self-respecting people submit to the corrupt West? The hope is that Washington will cause its European vassals to rebel by pushing them too hard into conflict with Russia. If European politicians were to break from Washington’s hegemony and instead represent European interests, Washington would be deprived of cover for its war crimes. The breakdown of the neoconservative unipower model would then be apparent even to Washington, and the world would become a safer and better place.

El Al Israel Airlines Flight #7 bound for New York City (from Tel Aviv) has, as AirLive.net reports, U-turn'd abruptly as it entered The Atlantic and appears to be heading back to Israel. Some details are being reported that there is a problem with one engine...

"While most are focused on the risks around a withdrawal of liquidity, we believe the biggest hit to confidence could be the opposite: if another round of US QE is necessary to prop up the economy," BofAML says, suggesting the Fed is now cornered as raising rates risks destabilizing markets and QE4 risks betraying the futility of successive central bank interventions.

The last time the Fed tried to exit a period of massive balance sheet expansion coupled with ZIRP - back in 1937 - its strategy completely failed. The Fed tightening in H1’37 was followed in H2’37 by a severe recession and a 49% collapse in the Dow Jones. This is the ghost of 1937 and it is about to make a repeat appearance.

Our modern western financial and banking system with its massive dependency on single interface websites, servers and the internet faces serious risks that few analysts have yet to appreciate and evaluate.

Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab has released a detailed report that outlines how spyware (which some suggest originated in Israel) was used to infiltrate the hotels that hosted the Iran nuclear negotiations. From the report: "Earlier this year, during a security sweep, Kaspersky Lab detected a cyber intrusion affecting several of its internal systems. Following this finding, we launched a large-scale investigation, which led to the discovery of a new malware platform. Notably, some of the new 2014-2015 infections are linked to the P5+1 events and venues related to the negotiations with Iran about a nuclear deal."

• Pope urges Putin to make 'sincere, great effort' for Ukraine peace (Reuters)
• Merkel Tells Tsipras It’s Time to Back Talk With Policy Action (BBG)
• 'Greek tragedy' needs happy ending now: EU's Moscovici (Reuters)
• Vulture Funds Circle Greece Targeting Europe’s Best Trading Bet (BBG)
• Germany against third aid program for Greece under any circumstances, says daily (Reuters)
• Biggest OPEC Members Pump Record Oil With Rally in Jeopardy (BBG)
• Greek ruling reversing pension cuts will cost state 1 to 1.5 bln euros (Kathimerini)
• China’s Former Security Chief Zhou Yongkang Sentenced to Life in Prison (WSJ)
• MSCI backs itself into corner on China share inclusion (Reuters)

"U.S. President Barack Obama is weighing steps to bolster Iraq's battle against Islamic State," Reuters says, as senior military officials indicate an increase in the number of US "support personnel" may be necessary. Meanwhile, Congressional war hawks are beating the drum.

While Obama is currently under fire for stating at the recently concluded G-7 summit in Germany that the US "does not yet have a complete strategy" how to deal with ISIS, the reality as relates to the true US strategy, namely the ouster of Syria's president al Assad, could not be more different. Because while ISIS continues to deflect attention from what is really happening in the middle east, the noose around Syria's Assad is tightening one day at a time, with the latest blow coming overnight after Syrian "rebels", also supported by the US (and allowed to call in B-1B strikes), scored a major military victory capturing the second biggest Syrian army base in the south of the country, located in the city of Deraa near the border with Jordan, and just 100 km south of Damascus.

in a follow up piece to his stunning original investigative report, Nafeez Ahmed reveals that according to leading American and British intelligence experts, the previously declassified Pentagon report confirms that the West accelerated support to extremist rebels in Syria, despite knowing full well the strategy would pave the way for the emergence of the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS). The experts who have spoken out include renowned government whistleblowers such as the Pentagon’s Daniel Ellsberg, the NSA’s Thomas Drake, and the FBI’s Coleen Rowley, among others. Their remarks demonstrate the fraudulent nature of claims by two other former officials, the CIA’s Michael Morell and the NSA’s John Schindler, both of whom attempt to absolve the Obama administration of responsibility for the policy failures exposed by the DIA documents.

We previously warned of the risks of escalation in The Middle East to something much more dangerous, but, as the Saudi ambassador to UK confirmed today, the risk of Wahhabis going nuclear is even higher than many expected, "...if [Iran will not offer assurances it will not pursue nuclear weapons], then all options will be on the table for Saudi Arabia... Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to the entire region and constitutes a major source and incentive for nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, including Israel."

If you think the corporate-fascist state is overbearing and oppressive now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

• China stocks fall, led by ChiNext, on margin tightening; Hong Kong down too (Reuters)
• Bond market sell-off rumbles on, stocks feel the pinch (Reuters)
• Bond Rout Wipes Out 2015 Gains as Traders Stay Glued to Screens (BBG)
• Greek Groundhog Day Continues With Talks Failing to Break Impasse (BBG)
• Greece and Its Creditors Agree on Some Measures in Bailout Talks (WSJ)
• 'Bellingcat Report Doesn't Prove Anything': Expert Criticizes Allegations of Russian MH17 Manipulation (Spiegel)
• GE Said to Hire Banks to Start Sale on $20 Billion Assets (BBG)
• Alibaba Pictures plans $1.6bn share sale (FT)
• How Companies Justify Big Pay Raises for CEOs (BBG)