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Stock Down

Economic warfare: Panicked sellers spark global contagion, Turkish lira implodes

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 10 Aug 2018 16:19 UTC
The Turkish currency crisis is finally here and it is sending shockwaves around the globe.

After weeks of a slow, but controlled collapse, investors finally hit the panic button overnight, when the Turkish lira crashed as much as 11.2% against the dollar as concern over contagion from Europe's exposure to the Turkish economic devastation overshadowed promises by the Turkish government to bolster the economy.

The Turkish Lira plunged to a record low of 6.3005 per dollar on Friday morning, before rebounding modestly to 5.88, and is now down more than 35% in the year to date.
lira
And a longer-term chart:
lira

Comment: See also:

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Boat

Iran promises to safeguard trade with partners through Strait of Hormuz amid sanctions


Sputnik
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:03 UTC
oil tanker
© AFP 2018 / ATTA KENARE
Earlier, Admiral Hossein Khanzadi Khanzadi pointed out that security in the Strait of Hormuz will be provided by Iran's naval forces and the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi has pledged that the country will maintain security for marine trade routes in Iran's territorial waters in the northern and southern areas, according to Fars news.

"The [Iranian] Navy will guarantee safety of all Iranian exports and imports in Northern and Southern waters, where 90 percent of the exports and imports are being conducted. We are equipped with the most complicated infrastructure and manpower to ensure sea, air and coastlines security," he underscored.

The statement came after Khanzadi noted that the security of the Strait of Hormuz, which he said would be maintained by Iran's navy and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), will "influence those who threaten Iran by using their petrodollars."

"If any oil faucet in the region is turned on and the petrodollars go to the pocket of those who threaten Iran, it will definitely have an impact on the security of the Strait," he pointed out.
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Russian Flag

The Roadmap for 'Rusi-Pakistani Yaar Yaar' (buddies)

Andrew Korybko
Oriental Review
Fri, 10 Aug 2018 13:59 UTC
Pakistan and Russian defense ministers
Russia and Pakistan are well on the their way to reaching a strategic partnership with one another in light of four very high-profile events from the past two weeks, and sticking to the roadmap of "Rusi-Pakistani Yaar Yaar" ("Russians and Pakistanis are buddies") could allow their relations to blossom to the point of resembling Moscow's Soviet-era ones with New Delhi that were popularly known as "Rusi-Hindi Bhai Bhai" ("Russians and Indians are brothers"), albeit this time the Kremlin will be seeking to "balance" affairs in South Asia instead of decisively siding with one country over the other.

Four High-Profile Visits In Two Weeks

Russian-Pakistani relations are at their best-ever point in history and only continue to strengthen by the day, putting these former Old Cold War rivals way past the point of a rapprochement and well on the way to clinching a strategic partnership. These past two weeks have represented a milestone in their ties and saw four high-profile visits between these two states. The first one took place last week and saw the Pakistani Vice Chief of Naval Staff and a few ships from his country's flotilla travel to Saint Petersburg and attend Russia's Navy Day celebrations and participate in its maritime parade. Moscow and Islamabad consequently sealed a naval cooperation deal with one another too that will importantly help Russia deepen its influence in the Afro-Bengal Ocean, a centuries-long strategic goal of the continental Eurasian state.
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Light Saber

Nope! US military bases at Caspian Sea are 'out of question', says Kazakh Foreign Minister


Sputnik
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:50 UTC
Baku Bay Caspian Sea Azerbaijan
© Sputnik / MURAD ORUJOVShips in the Baku Bay of the Caspian Sea against the background of the Azerbaijani capital.
Aktau (Kazakhstan) - The establishment of US military bases at the Caspian Sea is "out of question," Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov told Sputnik.

"Some representatives of Russian media and expert communities do not have a firm grasp of facts on the real situation regarding the transit of US non-military cargo via Kazakhstan ... It is about commercial railway transportation of non-lethal cargo via Kazakhstan to continue the operations to support the Afghan government, which is necessary for the whole international community ... Naturally, any military bases on the Caspian Sea are out of question," Abdrakhmanov said.

The minister added that the route went through the territory of several other countries and the same cargo had been shipped through the Russian, Kazakh and Uzbek territory in 2010-2015.
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Map

Qatar and the Persian Gulf: What lies beneath one particular event

Viktor Mikhin
New Eastern Outlook
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:33 UTC
Kurdish sniper
© Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty ImagesMusa, a 25-year-old Kurdish sniper, on top of a building in the destroyed town of Kobani, also known as Ain al-Arab, in Syria in January 2015.
The online news publication The Intercept referred to their sources in diplomatic circles in its reports that Arabic countries lobbied to have Rex Tillerson removed from his post as the US Secretary of State because they were not happy with his work. According to information leaked to the press, the US Secretary of State irritated Riyadh and Abu Dhabi by interfering with their plans to attack and occupy Qatar in the summer of last year, when a crisis was contrived around this small state. Incidentally, experts note that the American society has not, for some reason, reacted with indignation towards open attempts to interfere in its internal politics, despite the fact that these particular Arabic nations forced Rex Tillerson from his post, while, at the same time, the topic of Russia's alleged involvement in the 2016 elections is still front page news.

It is worth noting at this stage that during the political crisis that started a year ago and pitted Doha against its Arabic neighbors in the Persian Gulf, Tillerson went to great lengths to de-escalate the situation in the region, and prevent the attack against Qatar and its occupation. According to reports by the US media, he made numerous phone calls to convince Saudi Arabia and the UAE to abstain from deploying their military against Qatar. In addition, Rex Tillerson, as the US Secretary of State, actively encouraged the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis to engage in negotiations with his Saudi Arabian counterpart in order to convince the Saudis to reconsider their military operation against Doha, and to demonstrate Washington's displeasure at their actions.
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Chess

Russia 'can't beat US in trade war' but could hurt Washington in many other ways


RT
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:02 UTC
Vladimir Putin meets Xi Jinping
© Reuters
After Prime Minister Medvedev accused the US of declaring a trade war with its latest sanctions against Russia, experts weigh up how much damage each country might inflict on the other and what Moscow can do to dodge the blows.

Labeled "draconian" by both sides, the White House sanctions over Russia's alleged involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals in the UK in March will be applied in two steps. On August 22, an initial restriction on exports of security-sensitive goods will come into force and, unless Russia assures the US that it has stopped using chemical weapons (which it denies in the first instance), more severe restrictions will be introduced 90 days later. These include a potential moratorium on national carrier flights to the United States and an almost complete import ban.

Dmitry Medvedev on Friday promised a "political and economic reaction," but what can Russia do?

Comment: The US may run into problems with their new sanctions as a "weapon":

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Bizarro Earth

Cables from secret CIA black site read like Haspel's torture journal

Jessica Corbett
Mint Press News
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 12:43 UTC
Critics say this "detailed account" of the CIA director's role "in horrendous acts of torture" further confirms "that she is totally unfit to lead the agency."
Haspel
© CIA via APThis March 21, 2017, photo provided by the CIA, shows CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel. Haspel, who joined the CIA in 1985, has been chief of station at CIA outposts abroad.
Government cables reported in the New York Times on Friday "read like torture journaling," critics said after reviewing the "loud noise, sleep deprivation, forced nudity, wall-slamming, and waterboarding" that CIA interrogators used on an al-Qaida suspect in 2002 at a secret prison run by Gina Haspel, whom the Senate confirmed as agency chief in May despite widespread outrage over her torturous record.

Comment:

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Info

Iranian FM Zarif says no meetings planned with US at UNGA because 'Americans lack honesty'


RT
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 12:28 UTC
Mohammad Javad Zarif
© Hector Retamal / AFP
Iran's foreign minister said he will not meet US officials at the UN General Assembly because they "lack honesty." The two nations are in a diplomatic row following the US' withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and new sanctions.

"No, no such meeting is planned," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Tasnim News Agency on Saturday, when asked whether talks are planned with his US counterpart, Mike Pompeo or other US officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

"About the recent offer by Trump, our official position has been announced both by the president [Rouhani] and myself. The Americans lack honesty," Zarif was quoted as saying by Tasnim.

Comment: With the EU refusing to follow Washington's dictate over Iran, the world might be witnessing a waning superpower: Latest US sanctions suggest a declining world superpower

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Bad Guys

Eva Bartlett: Decision to bring White Helmets to Canada 'dangerous and criminal'


RT
Sat, 11 Aug 2018 12:17 UTC
White Helmets
© Alaa Faqir / Reuters
Did Canadians get to vote on whether or not to bring potential terrorists or supporters of terrorists to Canada? No. Will Canadians get a say in where these potentially dangerous men will be settled? Highly unlikely.

Ninety-eight members of the White Helmets, and a few hundred of their families, were evacuated by Israel and allies to Jordan late in evening of July 21. They will seemingly be shipped off to a few Western nations for resettlement: Canada, the UK, and Germany. So far, Canada has pledged to take 50 White Helmets and around 200 family members.

Wrongly dubbed the "Syrian Civil Defense" (the actual Syrian Civil Defense has existed since 1953), the White Helmets narrative is flawed in every conceivable manner.

Comment: Also see: Terrorism, Immigration and Racism in Canada: The Backlash has Begun

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Doberman

Trump is not in control of administration and latest sanctions against Russia show it

F. Michael Maloof
RT
Fri, 10 Aug 2018 12:06 UTC
White house
© Fotolia/ Steve Heap
US President Donald Trump is not in control of his own administration, as evidenced by the latest round of sanctions imposed against Russia for the alleged involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals in the UK in March.

The sanctions came the same day that US Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced on a trip to Moscow that he had handed over a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin from Trump calling for better relations between the two countries.

For that reason, the timing appears to be suspect, suggesting strongly that Trump has his own foreign policy while the Trump administration, comprised mainly of bureaucrats referred to as the Deep State, have their own. Right now, they appear to be in control, not President Trump, over his own administration, and it is having the adverse effect of further alienating Washington and Moscow.

The neocons, led by National Security Advisor John Bolton, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, comprise the Trump "war cabinet" ostensibly aimed at directing a harder line toward Syria, North Korea, Iran but also Russia.

Comment: Certainly, Trump is not in control of his own administration, which really works for the Deep State. But then, which US president ever was? See also:

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