Exactly one week ago, when BofA's Michael Hartnett explained what global capital markets need to rebound from their recent doldrums, he laid out what he sees are the world's two biggest problems:

• Problem 1: US economy in "bad Goldilocks", i.e. US economy not hot/strong enough to lift global GDP & EPS; but not cold/bad enough to induce global coordinated response
• Problem 2: global policy-maker rhetoric in recent days shows "coordinated innocence" not stimulus, all blaming global economy for weak domestic economies ("Overseas factors are to blame"...Japan PM Abe; "drag on U.S. economy from greater-than-expected-slowdown in China & other EM economies"...FOMC minutes; "increasing concerns about the prospects for the global economy"...ECB Draghi; "the change in China's growth rate can be attributed in part to weak performance of the global economy"...PBoC)

That recaps the problems; as to what the markets need he said the following:

"We remain sellers into strength in coming weeks/months of risk assets at least until a coordinated and aggressive global policy response (e.g. Shanghai Accord) begins to reverse the deterioration in global profit expectations and credit conditions."

The New York Times has a two-part piece about the U.S. war on Libya and especially Hillary Clinton's role as the then Secretary of State in it. Adhering to the NYT's editorial line, the overall picture of Clinton is painted in sympathetic colors even when it describes the disaster she created.

Overall it is a whitewash of history based on the lies that the "humanitarian intervention" was perceived necessary because Ghaddafi was about to "kill civilians". It is not unexpected that the NYT would write such nonsense. The NYT editors had themselves endorsed the war and the paper lauded the immediate result. It is guilty of inciting the war just as much as Clinton is.

But the story of the "humanitarian intervention" for the Libyan people in March 2011 is hogwash.

The Russian ceasefire monitoring center near Latakia says it is verifying reports of an attack on the Kurdish town Tell Abyad in northern Syria carried out by militants coming from Turkey. The reports came overnight and claim that the forces coming from Turkey are using heavy artillery, according to Lt. Gen. Sergey Kuralenko, who heads the center for Syrian reconciliation. "This information was verified through multiple channels, including representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), [a rebel alliance that includes Kurds, Arabs and other ethnic groups and operates in the region]," he said.

Russia has requested clarification from the US-run counterpart of the center based in Amman, citing its influence on Turkey, a member of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State terrorist group, the general said. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet cited military sources as denying that the Turkish military were involved in any cross-border shelling on Sunday.

Leading world powers have brokered a shaky ceasefire in some parts of Syria, which is expected to be observed by all parties except hardcore Islamist fighters of IS and Nusra Front.

Turkey is currently leading a crackdown on Kurdish militias from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it considers a terrorist organization. While the crackdown is focused on predominantly Kurdish regions in south-eastern Turkey, the clashes occasionally spill across the border into regions of Syria and Iraq held by Kurds.

Kurdish militias in Iraq and Syria are one of the few forces that successfully opposed the spread of Islamic State and have been supported by the US. Ankara criticized Washington's attitude, saying America should chose between the Kurds and the Turks.

A twin suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State killed 70 people in a Shia district of Baghdad on Sunday in the deadliest attack inside the capital this year, as militants launched an assault on its western outskirts.


Police sources said the suicide bombers were riding motorcycles and blew themselves up in a crowded mobile phone market in Sadr City, wounding more than 100 people in addition to the dead.

A witness saw pools of blood on the ground with slippers, shoes and mobile phones at the site of the blasts, which was sealed off to prevent further attacks.

In a statement circulated online, Islamic State said it was responsible for the blasts: "Our swords will not cease to cut off the heads of the rejectionist polytheists, wherever they are," it said, using derogatory terms for Shia Muslims.

Iraqi forces backed by airstrikes from a US-led coalition have driven Islamic State back in the western Anbar province recently and are preparing for an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul.

At least 40 people were killed and 70 others injured in two bombings in southcentral Somalia on Sunday, media reported.

According to the CNN network, the incident took place in the town of Baidoa. One of the attacks was carried out by a suicide bomber at a restaurant, while the other one was a car bomb explosion near a pharmacy.

The al-Shabaab militant group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Friday, al-Shabaab reportedly carried out a car bomb explosion followed by gunfire in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing an unknown number of people.

Al-Shabaab is al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, fighting to overthrow the country's internationally recognized government.

Al-Masdar News has published a brief but compelling article highlighting the Syrian army's achievements since Russia entered the conflict back in September. The Russians have only been in Syria for five months, but they've completely changed the course of the war:

Exactly 5 months ago, on 30 September 2015, the Russian airforce began its bombardment on ISIS fighters and various Islamist rebel groups across Syria. Subsequently, government forces have been able to gain considerable ground in especially the provinces of Lattakia, Daraa and Aleppo. The latter governorate quickly witnessed a change of momentum and upper hand as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched three different offensives in separate directions from the provincial capital itself.

The future of Syria is still uncertain, but one thing is absolutely clear: Russia has saved the Syrian people from western-backed slaughter. Moscow's ability to prevent a US-imposed "no fly zone" over Syria quite literally saved the entire country: As a Russian diplomat revealed, western powers predicted that a "no fly zone" would allow ISIS to take Damascus by October. And you can bet they weren't planning on doing anything about it.

Ireland's largest opposition party, Fianna Fáil, will respect a "political ceasefire" to allow Fine Gael's Enda Kenny to continue as Taoiseach, sources inside the party said on Sunday night after most of the votes had been counted in the most indecisive Irish general election for decades.

Fianna Fáil will not enter a coalition with its rival but will avoid bringing down a minority Fine Gael-led administration in the short to medium term, the Guardian has learned, after an election that has produced no possibility of any coalition holding a majority.

This would allow Kenny to remain as prime minister for the centenary commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising and for Fine Gael to govern for at least a year, thus avoiding another election in the next few weeks or months.


The Dáil will meet on 10 March to elect a new Taoiseach but no new government, not even an minority one, is expected to be formed until the end of the month.

In return Fianna Fáil would reform the Irish parliament, allocating more powers for members of the Dáil, or TDs, to scrutinise government legislation and crucially allowing the opposition to have some input into the shape of this year's budget.

The Pentagon is pointing fingers in advance because it is unhappy with having the brakes put on some of the things it wanted to do in Syria, Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air force Lieutenant Colonel, told RT.

RT: The relationship between Russia and the US has often been very strained but recently we have heard positive steps being taken on both sides. Why is the American media still trying to vilify Russia?

Karen Kwiatkowski: I think there is an atmosphere of malaise to some extent in the American public, so stories that are sort of fear-mongering are stories that are picked up quite a bit. And I think you can see this from looking at what our candidates for president are all saying. They are very militaristic-leaning in terms of their rhetoric and I think that's what people in America want to hear, there is an audience for it. And the real driver though is that the Pentagon needs and wants Russia to be the next big enemy that they are arming against it, budgeting against it, that they are targeting.

Certainly, we have talked for a long time about China and China plays an important role as the enemy of choice for the US military. But Russia is ideal in part, because we don't import a lot of things from Russia, in part because we don't have the debt relationship with Russia that we do with China. So, Russia makes for a very convenient enemy for the Pentagon in terms of its mission, its budgeting and its intelligence organization.

The Syrian army, following a request from the Russian center on reconciliation, did not return fire after Damascus was shelled Saturday from the regions of Ghuta and Jobar, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Sunday.

According to the statement, the Syrian capital of Damascus was shelled six times on Saturday morning from the regions of eastern Ghuta and Jobar, where the so-called "moderate opposition" is stationed.

"The Syrian government troops did not return fire, upon the request of the Russian center on reconciliation," the statement read.

A ceasefire between Syrian government and rebel forces that entered its second day is largely holding, the head of Russia's ceasefire monitoring center at the Hmeymim airbase in Latakia said Sunday.

Twitter's decision to censor the trending #WhichHillary hashtag is the latest example of the corporate media's collusion with Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton has used every dirty trick in the book in order to steal votes and delegates from Bernie Sanders. But this is just the tip of the soulless, power-hungry, blood-drenched iceberg that is Hillary Clinton (Okay, we understand we're stretching our imagery here, but work with us).


The latest Hillary scandal reveals the rot in our political system: The corporate media has chosen its candidate, and it will do everything it can to ensure she is victorious.

First, some background:

Black Lives Matter activist Ashley Williams interrupted Hillary Clinton on Wednesday night at a lavish private fundraiser in South Carolina. The young woman accused the presidential candidate of hypocrisy for supporting "tough on crime" laws that led to mass incarceration of black Americans.