Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 21 February 2015
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
What Sparked the Cambrian Explosion? (Scientific American) An evolutionary burst 540 million years ago filled the seas with an astonishing diversity of animals. The trigger behind that revolution is finally coming into focus – it was the rapid (in geologic time) increase in oxygen produced by the single celled creatures that had ruled the earth for more than 3 billion years enhanced by relatively small environmental changes on the planet.
Why The OPEC-Russia Freeze Doesn’t Matter (Seeking Alpha)
Production is not cut, just frozen at a high level.
Iran and Libya are not part of the agreement and could increase production.
Supply continues to be a lot higher than demand, thus no substantial oil price increase is in sight.
Oil majors are increasing production.
Supply glut is higher than in 2014 and higher than in the previous quarter
World Markets Update: The Bear Market Scenario Eases a Bit (Doug Short, Advisor Perspectives) DS is a regular contributor to GEI. The global market selloff of recent weeks showed a strong reversal over the past week. Our eight-index world watch list posted an aggregate gain of 4.51%, a welcome reversal of the -4.29% selloff the previous week. Even the worst performer, the S&P 500, posted a 2.79% advance. Japan’s Nikkei had the best week, up 6.79%.
U.S.
Nevada and South Carolina decide: Trump and Clinton cement front-runner status (The Telegraph) In the Democrat race, Hillary Clinton’s western “fire wall” came good. An army of casino workers, waiters and unionised workers delivered a clear win by five percentage points. In the Republican race, Donald Trump’s clear win – by more than 10 percentage points – will sow panic in some quarters. Can he be stopped? Not by Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the race after finishing fourth with less than 10% of the vote.
How America Is Putting Itself Back Together (The Atlantic) An encouraging collection of anecdotes. The authors recount what they discovered in a 3-year exploration of America. Starting with a flight to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2013, through a trip to Mississippi last fall, James and Deborah Fallows made extended visits to two dozen cities, and shorter stops in another two dozen, covering a total of 54,000 miles in their single-engine propeller airplane. The longest swing was from November 2014, when they left Washington for the West Coast – with stops in West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Arizona – until the following July, when they returned via Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, and Ohio.
EU
Europe migrant crisis: Razor wire fence failing in Hungary (BBC News) Police in Hungary say increasing numbers of migrants are breaching a razor wire fence built to stop them crossing the border from Serbia. In January, 550 people were caught getting through – up from 270 in December. More than 1,200 were caught in the first 20 days of February. Hungary caused controversy with the 4m (13ft) barrier, completed in September. Most of those detained in Hungary after breaking through are from Pakistan, Iran and Morocco. The article does not say how many are believed to have made it through the fences without getting caught.
UK
Greece’s outspoken ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis tells Britain to stand up to EU ‘farce’ (The Telegraph) Yanis Varoufakis argues Britain should focus on reforming the ‘deeply anti-democratic’ union, and it would be a mistake to leave. Mr Varoufakis said that while British voters “have every reason to be livid with the deeply anti-democratic” EU, it would be wrong to think a meaningful alliance with the US or China could be formed in its place. See next article.
EU referendum: An extraordinary 24 hours in politics – Cabinet divided moments after vote called (The Telegraph) Prime Minister announces EU referendum will be held on June 23 but senior ministers Michael Gove, John Whittingdale, Priti Patel, Theresa Villiers, Chris Grayling and Iain Duncan Smith all back Brexit. Will Cameron face an embarassing defeat at the polls?
Libya
At least 14 dead in clashes between army and Islamists in Libya’s Benghazi (Reuters) Heavy clashes in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi have left at least 14 people dead and 32 wounded, medical officials said on Saturday. Five years on from the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is plagued by instability, and Islamist militants have taken advantage of a security vacuum to expand their presence. A spokesman for the military forces loyal to Libya’s eastern government, Wanis Boukhamada, said fighting was mostly in the neighborhood of Boatni. The army has been battling Islamist groups in the city for months.
Syria
Syria’s Assad says he is ready for truce if ‘terrorists’ do not exploit it (Reuters) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Saturday he was ready for a ceasefire, on condition “terrorists” did not use a lull in fighting to their advantage and that countries backing insurgents halted support for them. His comments were made as the Syrian opposition said it had agreed to the “possibility” of a temporary truce, provided there were guarantees Damascus’s allies including Russia would cease fire, sieges were lifted and aid deliveries were allowed country-wide.
India
Water crisis fears in Delhi over Jat caste unrest (BBC News) The Indian capital Delhi is facing a severe water crisis due to violent protests relating to caste rights in the neighboring state of Haryana. Delhi government officials said the city only had water supplies until Sunday morning and announced closure of all schools on Monday. Protesters from the Jat community damaged equipment in the Munak canal, a major source of water to the city. At least nine people were killed as violence continued on Saturday. The demonstrators are unhappy about India’s caste quota system. They say it puts them at a disadvantage in government jobs and at state-run educational institutes. The Jats are currently listed as upper caste but the demonstrators want job quotas similar to those granted to lower castes.
Fiji
Tropical cyclone hits Fiji with record winds of 200 miles an hour (The Telegraph) A powerful cyclone with wind gusts of 200 miles an hour has begun tearing through the Pacific nation of Fiji, prompting a nationwide curfew as authorities urged people to prepare for a “terrible event“. The category five cyclone – believed to be the strongest ever recorded in the southern hemisphere – has already hit the outer islands of the South Pacific nation. Econintersect: The video below, while interesting, does not show anything close to the full blown storm. People have extreme difficulty standing in 100 mph winds, say nothing of 200 mph.
