CHINA - One of the world’s top energy importers, China, is set to roll out a yuan-denominated oil contract as early as this year. Analysts call the plan, announced by Beijing in September, a huge move against the dollar's global dominance. The so-called petro-yuan is a “wake up call” for investors who haven’t paid attention to the Chinese plans, according to the head of Graticule Asset Management Asia Adam Levinson, as quoted by Bloomberg.
CANADA - Canadian University Excludes Whites from Senior Management Position. Dalhousie University, based in the Canadian city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has announced it will only be seeking “racially visible and indigenous candidates” for a senior management position in order to encourage diversity.
USA - Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson responded to calls from the left for gun control in the wake of Wednesday’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. The “Tucker Carlson Tonight” host theorized some Democratic politicians and “blustery charlatans in the media” had much darker aims with their calls for gun control, which he argued had little to do with public safety.
USA - On the same day that 17 students and staff were killed in a Florida high school shooting, nearly 300 Americans were killed by FDA-approved prescription medications. Yet no one cried a single tear, and the (pharma-funded) news didn't even mention the tragedy.
USA - While mass killers generally have guns in their hands, another commonality is that they often have psychiatric drugs in their blood. The difference, though, is that it isn't guns that have the side effect of "homicidal ideation."
INDONESIA - Rumbling Mount Sinabung on the Indonesian island of Sumatra shot billowing columns of ash more than 16,400 feet into the atmosphere and hot clouds down its slopes on Monday. There were no fatalities or injuries from the morning eruption, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said. The volcano, one of three currently erupting in Indonesia, was dormant for four centuries before exploding in 2010, killing two people. Another eruption in 2014 killed 16 people, while seven died in a 2016 eruption. Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said hot ash clouds traveled as far as 16,000 feet southward. The regional volcanic ash advisory center in Darwin, Australia, issued a "red notice" to airlines.
GERMANY - Germany finds itself oscillating between a longing for stability and the desire for upheaval. Surveys show that support for both the CDU and the SPD has plunged, to the point that, were elections held today, it isn't even certain that a grand coalition would have a majority.
GERMANY - The future leader of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) has said the party has “no plan B” if members reject a coalition deal with Angela Merkel’s conservatives this week. “I am convinced we will get a majority,” Andrea Nahles, who was endorsed last week to take over the SPD, told Der Spiegel magazine in comments published on Sunday. “I don’t have a Plan B.”
GERMANY - German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has called for European unity in the face of growing global tensions. 'We need a European moment'. He also spoke of Germany being perturbed at Washington's foreign policy at the Munich Security Conference.
GERMANY - In a speech to the Munich Security Conference, German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen said Europe’s countries would not be able to respond nimbly enough to global challenges if they were stymied by the need to decide joint foreign policy approaches unanimously. “Europe has to up its pace in the face of global challenges from terrorism, poverty and climate change,” she said. “Those who want to must be able to advance without being blocked by individual countries.” Her French counterpart Florence Parly said any such deepened cooperation would be complementary to the NATO alliance, which itself was based on the principle that members contributed differently depending on their capacities.
POLAND - Poland's Jewish community is the surviving remnant of a vibrant and diverse Polish- and Yiddish-speaking community that numbered 3.3 million on the eve of the Holocaust. Only 10 percent survived the German genocide, while postwar violence and persecution in the first decades of communist rule forced out many of the survivors.
ISRAEL - Benjamin Netanyahu opened a war of words with the Iranian foreign minister as he used a speech to brandish a piece of Iranian drone destroyed in Israeli airspace and warn that Iran was "greatest threat to our world". Holding what appeared to be a panel of the Iranian drone shot down last week amid rising tensions between the two powers, the Israeli leader asked Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister: "Do you recognize it? You should, it’s yours. Don’t test us." Speaking at a Munich security conference on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu appeared to threaten Iran with further retaliation, adding: "We will act if necessary not just against Iran's proxies, but against Iran itself."
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - Alarm bells ring as violence by hundreds of armed groups worsens in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Despite 13 million people now needing emergency assistance, the aid response falls far from meeting even minimum lifesaving needs in worst affected areas. "World leaders and public attention have failed to grasp that Congo's wars have returned on an enormous scale. Armed men attack and abuse defenceless women and children every day, displacing millions," said Egeland. "While it's not easy to stop violence by hundreds of armed groups, it's inexplicable and shameful that we aren't providing the bare minimum assistance for the 4.5 million internally displaced people who've fled for their lives, DRC is one of the worst crises on earth, yet no one seems to care about it," Egeland said.
CAMEROON - Kajifu is located in one of Cameroon's two English-speaking regions that have been pushing for independence from the French-speaking elite who rule the West African country. On October 1, separatists declared the two regions as the self-proclaimed republic of "Ambazonia", marking a turning point for the country's English-speaking minority, which makes up around a fifth of the population. Cameroon President Paul Biya dispatched troops, combat helicopters and armoured vehicles to root out the dissidents, forcing tens of thousands to flee to neighbouring Nigeria.
ETHIOPIA - Ethiopia has announced a state of emergency after prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Thursday announced his intention to step down amid a political crisis in the country. The ruling EPRDF coalition’s council met on Friday and decided to impose emergency rule for an unspecified period, the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said. The council “came to the conclusion that imposing emergency rule would be vital to safeguarding the constitutional order of our country”. Further details are expected to be given by the defence minister on Saturday morning. An opposition leader said earlier on Friday the ruling coalition had lost its authority and that all parties must help map the country’s future.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this section are not our own, unless specifically stated, but are provided to highlight what may prove to be prophetically relevant material appearing in the media.