Category: zerohedge

US Power Grid Vulnerable To “Devastating” Attack, NERC Finds

Just as tensions between the US and North Korea are finally beginning to cool (while animosity between the US and Russia intensifies), a recent industry report argues the US government isn’t doing nearly enough to safeguard the US electric grid from a potentially devastating attack.

In its report, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) revealed that much of the US electricity grid is vulnerable to attack – and neither the industry or the government are doing anything about it. NERC is the organization responsible for overseeing the US’s massive electric grid, which is subdivided into eight regional entities.

Though the report didn’t include a “comprehensive” assessment of the myriad physical threats to the US’s energy infrastructure, worries that North Korean could execute a massive electromagnetic pulse (or EMP) attack have been intensifying as the prospect of a nuclear showdown with the restive communist state looms large (Kim Jong Un’s recent actions aside). The research was also inspired by a series of gun attacks on transformers, including a rifle attack on a transformer in Utah that occurred in September 2016, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

EMP

Many organizations, including recently the National Academy of Sciences, have warned of the catastrophic consequences should a malicious actor – be it a state or a terrorist organization – manage to take down the US energy grid.

“There is widespread belief that bulk power critical assets are vulnerable to physical attack, that such an attack potentially could have catastrophic consequences, and that the risks of such attacks are growing,” according to the report. “But the exact nature of such potential attacks and the capability of perpetrators to successfully execute them are uncertain.”
…

“Although the electric power sector seems to be moving in the overall direction of greater physical security for critical assets, many measures have yet to be implemented and the process of corporate realignment around physical security is still underway,” according to the report, which omitted a comprehensive overview of all the pressing threats due to national security concerns.

“The September 2016 rifle attack on a 69 kV transformer substation in Utah—which reportedly left 13,000 rural customers without power for up to eight hours—showed that similar incidents could occur almost anywhere on the grid,” the report warns.

To be sure, the Edison Electric Institute has highlighted the fact that it would be nearly impossible to completely secure the grid (the costs would be immeasurable). However, the US could be doing a lot more than it’s doing.

Electric

A massive attack on the US energy grid could leave large swaths of the country without power without weeks or months. The end result would resemble Puerto Rico following last year’s devastating hurricane season – but on a much larger and deadlier scale.

In this scenario, hundreds of thousands – if not millions of Americans – could die.

“While to date there have been only minor attacks on the power system in the United States, large-scale physical destruction of key parts of the power system by terrorists is a real danger,” the academy warned. “Some physical attacks could cause disruption in system operations that last for weeks or months.”

But unfortunately for the US citizens whose security is predicated on a functioning power grid, the power industry and US government have failed to organize a cohesive response to these threats. Because of the industry’s utter lack of preparation, even crude attacks could have devastating consequences.

And while this month’s volatility in equity markets was deeply unsettling for millions of Americans, imagine what would happen to markets if the entire Atlantic seaboard lost power in an instant.

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Boobs & Board Meetings: Tokyo ‘Hooters’ Now Offers Rental Work-Spaces

While it is well known that ‘space’ in Tokyo is hard to come by, with locals resorting to coffin-like capsules to sleep, it seems the ever-efficient Japanese have managed to combine two of life’s more important factors – boobs and business.

As SoraNews24 reports, one of Tokyo’s better known ‘Hooters’ bars now offers rental workspaces for mobile workers (and they’re free for students).

Walk into just about any Starbucks in the Tokyo area on a weekday afternoon, and you’re likely to see at least one mobile professional with a laptop who’s simultaneously hard at work and sipping on a relaxing cup of coffee. But what if you don’t like coffee, or even delicious Japan-exclusive Frappuccinos? What if you prefer, say, breasts?

Then you’ll be happy to know that as of this month, you can also telecommute from the Hooters branch in Tokyo’s Ginza neighborhood. The restaurant chain, which professedly chaste regulars insist serves really tasty chicken wings, has teamed up with Spacee, a Japanese company which partners with Tokyo eateries to offer rentable work areas during the restaurants’ downtime.

In touting the service, Spacee boasts that “Working in a different environment from an ordinary office can boost productivity, and well as promote the development of new ideas.” Several of those ideas are likely to be breast-related, but that might not really be a problem, considering that breasts are practically their own subsector of the Japanese economy.

Spacee users under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a guardian, though, so we might see some Tokyo fathers suddenly taking an active interest in their children’s education by volunteering to take them to Hooters to cram for upcoming tests.

Sadly, with Japan’s wedding and birth rates plunging, young people stopping having sex, and many men turning to robots for ‘companionship’, we wonder if the idea of breasts at the board meeting will catch on… still the next time we are in Japan, we are willing to give it a try.

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Russia Has 14 Questions On “Fabricated” Skripal Case

Submitted by The Duran

Russia’s embassy in London has sent a list of questions, 14 to be specific, to the British Foreign Ministry on the poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal – which include a demand to clarify whether samples of the nerve agent “Novichok” have ever been developed in the UK.

The Russian embassy’s statement calls the incident that started the recent diplomatic row a “fabricated case against Russia.”

The questions published by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official website have been translated below:

  1. Why has Russia been denied the right of consular access to the two Russian citizens, who came to harm on British territory?
  2. What specific antidotes and in what form were the victims injected with? How did such antidotes come into the possession of British doctors at the scene of the incident?
  3. On what grounds was France involved in technical cooperation in the investigation of the incident, in which Russian citizens were injured?
  4. Did the UK notify the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) of France’s involvement in the investigation of the Salisbury incident?
  5. What does France have to do with the incident, involving two Russian citizens in the UK?
  6. What rules of UK procedural legislation allow for the involvement of a foreign state in an internal investigation?
  7. What evidence was handed over to France to be studied and for the investigation to be conducted?
  8. Were the French experts present during the sampling of biomaterial from Sergey and Yulia Skripal?
  9. Was the study of biomaterials from Sergey and Yulia Skripal conducted by the French experts and, if so, in which specific laboratories?
  10. Does the UK have the materials involved in the investigation carried out by France?
  11. Have the results of the French investigation been presented to the OPCW Technical Secretariat?
  12. Based on what attributes was the alleged “Russian origin” of the substance used in Salisbury established?
  13. Does the UK have control samples of the chemical warfare agent, which British representatives refer to as “Novichok”?
  14. Have the samples of a chemical warfare agent of the same type as “Novichok” (in accordance to British terminology) or its analogues been developed in the UK?

The Duran’s Alexander Mercouris added some necessary points to the growing mystery and confusion of the Skripal poisoning:

These theories have included claims that Sergey and Yulia Skripal were (1) sprayed with the supposedly deadly chemical by a passer-by; (2) sprayed with the supposedly deadly chemical by an aerial drone; (3) contaminated by the supposedly deadly chemical which was brought from Russia in Yulia Skripal’s suitcase where it had been hidden by some third party; and (4) were poisoned by having the supposedly deadly chemical somehow inserted into Sergey Skripal’s car.

The British and other critics of Russia have recently taken to citing as ‘proof’ of Russian guilt the fact that the Russians have supposedly been proposing various theories about who might have poisoned Sergey and Yulia Skripal.

The British – who unlike the Russians have control of the crime scene and samples of the poison – have however been at least as busy proposing various theories about how Sergey and Yulia Skripal were poisoned.

In both cases the fact that the Russian media and the British media – though not it should be stressed the Russian or British governments – have been busy engaging in their respective speculations about who who and how Sergey and Yulia Skripal were poisoned is not proof of guilt.

Rather it suggests ignorance, which if anything (especially in Russia’s case) is an indicator of innocence.

As I have said on many occasions, it is the guilty who so far from engaging in a variety of different speculations tend to come up with a single alternative narrative to explain away the facts, which they then pass off as the truth in order to provide themselves with an alibi.

As to the present theory – that Sergey and Yulia Skripal came into contact with the chemical agent on their front door – note the following:

(1) The British police have not said whether the chemical agent was smeared on the outside of the door or on the inside of the door.

If it was smeared on the outside of the door, then it was an extremely reckless act which might have easily poisoned a delivery person to the house such as a postman.

If it was smeared on the inside of the door, then whilst it might have been placed there by a burglar, the greater probability must be that it was placed there by a visitor.

If so then it is likely that either Sergey or Yulia Skripal or possibly both of them have some knowledge of the identity of this person.  That might make the fact that Yulia Skripal is said to be recovering and is now conscious a matter of great importance for the solution of this mystery.

(2) If Sergey and Yulia Skripal really were poisoned with the chemical agent by coming into contact with it because it was smeared on their front door, then that would mean that the chemical agent took 7 hours to take effect.

Russian ambassador to Britain Alexander Yakovenko has claimed that the British authorities have told him that Sergey and Yulia Skripal were poisoned by nerve agent A-234, a Novichok type agent which is supposedly “as toxic as VX, as resistant to treatment as soman, and more difficult to detect and easier to manufacture than VX”.

I am not a chemist or a chemical weapons expert, but such a slow acting poison seems at variance with the descriptions of A-234 and VX which I have read.

(3) The suggestion that Sergey and Yulia Skripal were poisoned by coming into contact with the chemical agent on their front door must for the moment be treated as no more than a theory.  It does however appear to confirm the presence of the chemical agent in the house.

If the latest theory that Sergey and Yulia Skripal were poisoned by coming into contact with a chemical agent smeared on their front door begs many questions, then the news that Yulia Skripal is apparently recovering well from the effect of her poisoning, and is now conscious and speaking and is no longer in intensive care, though extremely welcome, in some ways adds further to the mystery.

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Laura Ingraham Takes Week Off Air As Advertisers Flee Amid David Hogg Feud

Fox News host Laura Ingraham is talking a week off the air after 18 advertisers dumped her for calling Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg a whiner. The ordeal began after 17-year-old Hogg publicly complained several times about having been rejected from four UC colleges (UCLA, UCSD, UCSB and UC Irvine) despite his 4.2 GPA. 

Ingraham tweeted a Daily Wire article detailing Hogg’s dismay, in which she called him a whiner – but said it was “totally predictable given acceptance rates.”

Hogg then took aim at Ingraham’s advertisers.

Despite an apology from Ingraham, which Hogg did not accept, he then instead encouraged his followers to tweet at brands which advertise on her show – resulting in a groundswell of advertisers pulling their support of the Fox host’s show.

Hogg said he does not accept her apology. “She’s only apologizing after a third of her advertisers pulled out, and I think it’s really disgusting that she basically tried promoting her show after ‘apologizing’ to me. I think it’s wrong and if she really wants to do something, she can cover things like inner city violence and the real issues that we have in America. I know she’s a talk show host, but she also has a responsibility to show both sides of a story,” he said during an interview on CNN’s New Day. –Yahoo

While Hogg’s supporters have cheered young David wielding his newfound power in the wake of his 17 dead classmates and teachers, others such as The Hill’s Joe Concha say it’s setting a dangerous precedent. 

So what is this boycott about exactly? Ingraham immaturely mocking a public figure in the form of Hogg around some schools that rejected him? Or is it about Ingraham’s career as a conservative talk radio and television opinion host overall?  

Either way, we’ve entered some dangerous territory here, if boycotts like this one succeed. And not many are speaking out against said danger for two reasons: 

1) Fear of reprisal for criticizing Hogg, who has the benefit of being protected from any criticism while being free to level it. 

2) Fear of being seen as “the person attacking a mass-school-shooting survivor,” regardless of whether there’s a basis for such criticism or not. –The Hill

Concha even commended Hogg on his “professionalism and lucidity” after the Parkland shooting.

He may be 17 but should be treated like an adult after entering the arena and becoming a prominent voice in what has become the biggest story of the year thus far…

…Hogg has played loose with more than a few facts and has leveled the same kind of personal attacks on which he’s basing this boycott. And, through it all, almost all anchors and reporters have allowed him to go unchallenged out of that same fear of being seen as monsters for going after “the kid with the just cause.”

There are exceptions to those not willing to challenge Hogg, starting first and foremost with conservative writer/commentator and podcast/radio host Ben Shapiro. “I look forward to Hogg’s apologies to Republicans (‘sick f***ers’), Dana Loesch (she was ‘hypocritical and disgusting’ for criticizing Broward Sheriff Scott Israel), and Marco Rubio (he said Rubio was bribed by the NRA to give away children’s lives),” Shapiro wrote in the online publication he founded, The Daily Wire.

“You may not like what Ingraham said. You may disagree with it. I did. But it isn’t remotely CLOSE to the level of viciousness with which Hogg has attacked people who disagree with him,” Shapiro added. 

Conservative Parkland survivor Kyle Kashuv echoed Shapiro’s sentiment:

“The media took interest in [Hogg] to push an agenda… They’ve propped people up and have turned them into shields. I am not doubting anyone’s sincerity, but people have certainly been hiding behind my classmates to push an agenda.”

“And therein lies the rub,” Concha writes. “As stated, Hogg should be treated as an adult. It’s the arena he chose to enter and had every right to do so, given his abilities and what he experienced. But if a boycott succeeds here, it sets the kind of precedent that will forever change what the First Amendment is supposed to stand for.”

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So What Blows Up Next: Investor Psychology Shifts To The Dark Side

Authored by John Rubino via DollarCollapse.com,

Facebook is an epic growth story. It now has an astounding 2 billion active users and a stock that – from an already richly-valued level – rose by 53% in the previous year. In February its market cap peaked at $560 billion, a number that exceeds the GDP of many countries. Over 90 percent of Wall Street analysts covering it rated it a “buy.”

Everyone knew that it had data privacy issues but no one cared in the face of that massive subscriber growth.

Then, like flicking a light switch, everyone began to care after all. A data scandal that was simple enough for investors and politicians to understand broke out, and now high-profile users like Elon Musk (who deleted his Tesla and SpaceX Facebook accounts), big investors, and of course spotlight-seeking politicians around the world are all reacting.

Facebook’s market cap is down by $100 billion in the past week.

Before this month, investors were looking for the next Facebook. They still are, but with a completely different set of criteria. Where previously they were seeking companies with soaring popularity and addictive products, now they’re looking for malfeasance and other potential landmines. Does Google have data privacy issues that will come back to bite it? Has Amazon antagonized the president enough to be slapped with a national sales tax? Did Apple over-price its latest phone to the point that customers don’t want it?

Virtually no one outside of a tiny, long-suffering group of short sellers had been asking these questions. Now everyone is.

And that, in a nutshell, is how markets morph from bull to bear. It’s not about fundamentals, but about which fundamentals are seen to matter. And generally it takes a high-profile object lesson to shift investor psychology from one extreme to the other. During the 2000s housing bubble, for instance, stock prices held up even as mortgage defaults were surging. Then Lehman Brothers collapsed and all anyone wanted to know was “which bank is next.” From CNN in 2008:

Lehman Brothers collapse stuns global markets

NEW YORK — Global markets were reeling Monday after a historic day on Wall Street that saw two famous names become the latest victims of the credit crunch.

The leading U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and brokerage Merrill Lynch was the subject of a $50 billion buyout by Bank of America.

The fate of other big name financial institutions remained in doubt and stock prices plunged in Asia, Europe and the United States. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 504 points down, or about 4.4 percent. The Nasdaq composite lost 3.6 percent, its worst single-session percentage decline since March 24, 2003. It left the tech-fueled average at its lowest point since March 17 of this year.

In Europe, FTSE index in London declined 3.92 percent while the Paris CAC 40 was down 3.78 percent. It was the worst day for the index since the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. Major Asian indexes were closed but India’s Sensex fell 5.4 percent, Taiwan’s benchmark dropped 4.1, Australia’s key index dropped 2 percent and Singapore fell 2.9. Check markets

The turmoil at Merrill Lynch and Lehman is bound to mean job losses in the already hard-hit financial services industry, but so far neither company has indicated how many will be cut. “This crisis is clearly deeper than anybody had imagined only a short time ago,” Peter Stein, an associate editor at the Wall Street Journal in Asia, told CNN.

Of course the only way the markets could have been “stunned” in September 2008 is if they were willfully blind in August 2008.

Now fast forward to the current bull market, in which FANG companies put up massive growth numbers that convinced the world that growth would overcome all obstacles. But those companies (as big, fast-growing companies tend to do) have apparently cut some serious corners, and suddenly the consequences of those mistakes are what matter.

Now the question is whether a “Lehman moment” is coming that pushes the market’s mood from “anxiously watching” to full-on panic. That’s unknowable before-hand, but the potential candidates are numerous. Tesla, for instance, is an easy target, since it’s running out of cash just as its bonds are tanking, which means its next financing is going to be brutal (full disclosure: Members of the DollarCollapse staff are short this and several other Big Tech stocks).

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“I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It” – Russia Declares ‘Unusual’ Missile Drill, Just Miles From Sweden

Rather than exercising caution after the nerve gas attack in the United Kingdom and a tidal wave of Russian diplomatic expulsions from Washington, Eurozone, and other countries, Moscow is upping the ante which has surprised the Eurozone and the West on Thursday. Besides the tit-for-tat expulsions of Russian and American diplomats, President Vladimir Putin has chosen to flex his war muscles next week with an unusual missile exercise in international waters, but close enough to Sweden and Latvia that it will shut down commercial airspace.

The Russian cruiser Marshal Ustinov, assigned to the 43rd Missile Ship Division of the Russian Northern Fleet, has been deployed to the Baltic Sea for a live firing exercise in international waters near Sweden and Latvia on April 06 through 08, TASS reported, citing the Russian Navy’s press release.

According to Sweden’s Aftonbladet, the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration received a Russian telegram on Tuesday alerting officials that “rocket test firings in the southern part of the Baltic Sea” will take place in proximity to Karlskrona, Sweden. The test area is known as “Russia 1”, from April 4 at 6:00 to 6 April at 18:00.

“Russia has announced that they are planning some sort of launch next week. It is an area of international water but in Swedish airspace, “says Sofia Bergström, communications officer at the Civil Aviation Administration.

During the missile exercise, the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration will refer to the D-area, as “Dangerous Area,” and all air traffic and civilian aircraft will be rerouted during the exercise.

“The rocket launches mean that air traffic will be led around this area and it will mean delays for civil aviation,” says Sara Eriksson, Press Manager at Transportstyrelsen. 

Aftonbladet indicates that “Russia has not practiced this far west on the Baltic Sea in the past.”

“I have never before seen another nation carry out bouts in the Swedish FIR except during a coexercise with Sweden. Clearly outside the normal,” tweets Defense Commander Wiseman, Lieutenant Colonel Carl Bergqvist, on Twitter (Translated from Swedish by Microsoft via Bing).

“This is very rare,” a source within the Swedish Armed Forces told Expressen.

A curator for various social media channels monitoring Russian military exercises tweeted: “Bloody hell. Russian navy just reserved missile firings area for 4-6 April up to 18000m in intl waters real close to Sweden. How provocative you can go?”

A political editor for BILD raised an interesting point, “Two days after Germany issued the final permit to realize NordStream2, the Russian Army flexes its muscles exactly above the planned course of the pipeline. Missile tests to take place from April 4 to April 6. A clear sign to Denmark and #Sweden.#PutinAtWar.”

Sweden’s public service radio broadcaster said, “Russian missiles will be tested in international waters unusually close to Sweden next week. Air traffic near Öland and Bornholm will have to be redirected.

“I’ve never seen anything like it” said flight traffic chief Jörgen Andersson to @MatsEriksson7.”

Relations between Washington and Moscow have plunged to lows not seen since the gloomy days of the Cold War — following the nerve gas attack in the United Kingdom. In response to the West’s anti-Russian campaign along with a barrage of Russian diplomat expulsions, President Vladimir Putin has ordered a new wave of war drills across the Russian Federation.

Western elites/media who have conditioned the American people with 24/7 anti-Russian propaganda could eventually get their wish of the Cold War 2.0 turning hot, as Moscow will be forced to deploy an even greater deterrence pushing the region toward a point of no return.

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Gold And 2018: A Perfect Storm?

Submitted by Alex Deluce of Gold Telegraph

Gold prices hit a five-week high of $1,351.20 per ounce last Monday amidst reports of escalating threat of a trade war between the US and China, forcing investors rush to the safe haven gold. The gold prices also rallied on the back of Goldman Sachs analysts turning bullish on the yellow metal for the first time in over five years. The price increase was also fuelled by the appointment of John Bolton as the new national security adviser by Donald Trump, as the new adviser is considered a foreign policy “hawk”, accentuating geopolitical tensions.

The recent upsurge in gold prices is also attributed to the United States’ expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats for a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain. Though the precious metal is always considered as the “go-to asset class” during times of political upheaval, it will be interesting to see whether the recent precipitous slide in the stock market will further fuel the surge in gold prices.

Four fundamental attributes of gold in a portfolio

Before we dwell deep into the relationship between stock prices and the yellow metal, let us consider how gold is positioning itself as a must-have in anyone’s portfolio, including large institutional investors.

First gold can be considered as a true and effective diversifier, particularly during times when other asset classes witness heightened volatility. Though other asset classes such as broad commodities, real estate, hedge funds were claimed to be a true diversifier, they failed to pass the test during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, as prices in all these asset classes dropped in tandem with stocks and other risky assets. However, gold has been consistently proved to be a real diversifier both during times of economic expansion and contraction:

Second, gold has been providing consistent returns over an extended period of time. The yellow metal’s price increased by an average of 10 percent per year since 1971. 

Gold’s performance would be more pronounced during volatile times. For instance, during the recent stock market sell-off on February 5th, the yellow metal rallied strongly and posted higher returns than the short term treasuries:

Gold’s effectiveness in times of uncertainty was evident last month when the yellow metal turned out to be one of the best-performing asset classes year-to-date, outperforming even treasuries and corporate bonds:

Third, gold offers immense liquidity as it is traded in large global markets. According to World Gold Council Report, the precious metal clocks anywhere between $150 billion and $220 billion worth of trades per day through spot and derivative contracts over-the-counter. As gold offers both size and liquidity, the yellow metal figures among the strategic holding for large buy-and-hold institutional investors:

Fourthly, gold buttresses portfolio performance through enhanced risk-adjusted returns. Data points for the 10-year period from 2006 reveal, by adding even 2% in gold, one could have achieved enhanced returns with reduced volatility, resulting in higher risk-adjusted returns. The following graph highlights how someone having higher risk in his portfolio can achieve enhanced risk-adjusted portfolio returns by allocating a higher portion to gold, as the yellow metal offset the risk from other asset classes.

Why Gold Now?

Gold posted record gain of 30 percent in 2010 and since then the price of gold just showed some technical rebounds, with its price hovering in the tight range of $1,050 to $1,350 over the past few years.

On February 5th, stock markets witnessed one of the most substantial drops in recent years, while gold rallied strongly on that day. This scenario revived strong view that gold can deliver strong returns and reduce portfolio risk when the prices of other asset classes drop precipitously. It is felt in the present backdrop of a strong correction in the stock market, rising inflation, geopolitical unrest and the likely end to the low-interest rate regime; gold would turn out to be the go-to-asset class to preserve wealth.

Amidst the recent geopolitical unrest emanating from US-China trade war and expulsion of Russian diplomats, there are lots of headwinds pointing towards gold. Historical data reveal gold’s correlation to stocks typically becomes more negative during market pullbacks. The “pet rock” turned out to be more effective as a hedge when a market correction has been broader as witnessed during Black Monday, the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and the European Sovereign Debt crisis:

Gold has also proved to be a hedge against inflation. It has been shown that over a long period, gold returns have outpaced the US Consumer Price Index. As is evident from the following chart, in years when inflation has been higher than 3%, on average gold prices have increased by over 14%.

Gold demand has grown considerably during the recent past thanks to economic development witnessed in emerging markets, especially China and India and advent of exchange-traded products offering lower cost of ownership of gold. Investors’ attitude towards gold changed after the 2008-2009 financial crisis, as they started showing increasing interest in gold as risk management tool. Various central banks, led by emerging markets too have expanded foreign reserves, resulting in increased net gold demand.

Echoing positive sentiment, the World Gold Council in its 2017 Annual Review forecast four themes would drive gold demand in 2018. The four identified factors are:

  1. strong growth in global economy,
  2. rising interest rates,
  3. frothy asset prices, and
  4. market transparency such as the launching of LME precious by London Metal Exchange facilitating the efficient transaction in London wholesale market.

During the post-crisis era, investors have been uttering “Tina” implying “There is no alternative” to investing in equities since bond yields have offered limited yield or income. However, following gradual interest rate hike by the Fed, the three-month Treasury bill yield rose to 1.66%, just trailing the current US equity dividend yield of 1.88%. Similarly, for the first time since late 2008, the 3-month Libor rate rose last month above the dividend yield and is surging.

As the stock market turning more volatile and geopolitical tensions escalating each day, global investors would look at gold as an able ally to their preserve wealth. Hence, 2018 could turn out to be the “perfect storm” for gold.

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Drone Footage Reveals Stunning Size Of Palestinian “Great Return March” Protests Just Before “Bloodbath” Ensued

We previously reported the deadly encounter along the Israeli-Gaza border on Friday afternoon during a series of massive protests which took place near the security fence surrounding the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip. By the day’s end an astounding casualty toll hit world headlines after Israel used live bullets to quell what it called “rioting”: the BBC reports 16 Palestinians dead and over 400 wounded by live Israeli fire. 

And hundreds of others were reported wounded by rubber bullets, tear gas canisters, and in the general ensuing chaos. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have admitted to using live ammunition – and not just the rubber bullets more commonly used to disperse protests – claiming that marchers entered a declared “a closed military zone” and threatened Israeli security positions.

At that point the IDF said it commenced “firing towards the main instigators” to disperse the “rioting” crowd that including stone throwing and the hurling of petrol bombs toward Israeli positions. Among those killed by Israeli live fire was a 16-year old boy, according to Palestinian health officials.

There were an estimated 17,000 Palestinians in five locations along the border fence. Image source: Times of Israel.

New footage continues to emerge of what Gazans dubbed “Great Return March” protests which were originally envisioned to span six weeks – though it’s unclear how Friday’s events and Israel’s ongoing crackdown, which activists are calling a massacre, will affect Gazans’ and Palestinians’ ability to organize. UN Security Council members met in New York to call for an investigation into the violence.

Drone footage of the early part of Friday’s march shows a massive column of Palestinian protesters moving toward the border. According the BBC, citing the IDF, there were about 17,000 Palestinians in five locations along the border fence. Some Israeli sources have cited 20,000 marchers. 

New drone footage shows the extent to Friday’s “Great Return March” in Gaza:

Further footage published online by Palestinian activists circulated widely late Friday and early Saturday, and appear to show instances of Palestinians shot down in cold blood. 

These included scenes of protesters running through open fields without any identifiable weapons, and one instance of a man shot while praying (warning: mature content):

Israeli media, including the Israeli daily Haaretz, has confirmed instances of Palestinians being shot in the back while running away from the Israeli security zone.

In a now deleted tweet posted Friday, the official IDF twitter account admitted Israeli forces shot live rounds toward Israelis along the border fence. The tweet stated, “Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed.”

Likely, the rising death toll throughout the day and immediate international media attention covering the voilence caused the IDF to delete the statement. 

During the State Department’s daily press briefing on Thursday – a day before the border violence – spokesperson Heather Nauert was asked about the possibility of a “bloodbath” unfolding based on widely circulating reports that Israel would deploy snipers in response to the planned protests.

Nauert objected to the word choice of the possibility of a “bloodbath” – though ironically that is exactly what happened the following day.

Nauert said, “I certainly hope you’re wrong. We don’t like to hear excessive language in conjunction with an area that is so sensitive… Overall Israel has a right to defend itself… we hope things remain calm.”

* * *

Friday’s demonstrations mark the beginning of the Palestinians’ return to all of Palestine, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh declared in a speech at the scene of the mass protests in the Gaza Strip.

“We are here to declare today that our people will not agree to keep the right of return only as a slogan,” he said and added that the March of Return was also aimed at sending a message to US President Donald Trump to the effect that the Palestinians will not give up their right to Jerusalem and “Palestine.”

Previously Palestinians have also demanded, along with sovereignty in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Old City, a “right of return” to Israel for Palestinian refugees who left or were forced out of Israel when it was established. The Palestinians demand this right not only for those of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are still alive — a figure estimated in the low tens of thousands — but also for their descendants, who number in the millions.

Khaled al-Batsh, the leader of the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad group, which is also among the planners of the protest, said tents would be located 500 meters from the border, just outside the buffer zone between Gaza and Israel. The protest comes amid rising tensions as the United States prepares to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

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Russia’s Game-Changing Weapons That Were Not Mentioned In Putin’s Speech

Authored by Arkady Savitsky via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Not all of Russia’s game-changing weapons were mentioned in the president’s landmark speech that the mainstream media keep writing so much about. The president’s address simply could not include all the numerous breakthroughs in military technology Russia has achieved recently.

Some cutting-edge systems exist but are not yet operational.  A few are already part of the Russian arsenal, although in rather small numbers. But that’s just a start. Many achievements have flown under the media’s radar and deserve more exposure. The information available from public sources is worth discussing to get an idea of where things seem to be headed. 

The military added Kh-32 air-to-surface missiles in 2016 to advance the operational capabilities of the Tu-22M3 Backfire. The weapon was created on the basis of radical updates to the Kh-22.  After being launched, the Kh-32 climbs up to the stratosphere, reaching an altitude of 40 km (130,000 ft) for the midcourse phase of its flight. As it nears its target, it goes into a steep dive. The attack is too fast and the missile too maneuverable for the enemy to mount an air defense.

The approach can be flown at an altitude as low as five m, going undetected by a ship’s defense systems until a distance of about 10 km.  This leaves a reaction window of roughly 10 seconds before this extremely agile target is hit.  It doesn’t have a chance. This deadly weapon is a threat to any ground target.

The weapon boasts an inertial navigation system and a seeker head. It needs no navigation satellites for guidance and is impossible to jam. Its primary mission is to knock out aircraft carriers and large surface ships, as well as ground-based assets.

The Kh-32 has a range of roughly 1,000 km (620 mi) and a speed of over 5,400 kilometers per hour (1,500 meters per second). Its 500-kilogram (1,102 lb.) warhead can be either nuclear or conventional.  

The US doesn’t have anything comparable to the Kh-32, nor does it have an effective system to protect its assets from it. Even the speed and altitude of the famous Aegis (SM-6) are useless against this new weapon. The Kh-32 does not breach the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, as its trajectory does not envisage going into orbit. And this is not the only breakthrough worth talking about.

On March 15, Russian Defense Chief Sergey Shoigu made quite a splash when he claimed that mass production of combat robots would begin this year.  The military had 160 unmanned aerial drones a few years ago, but today operates about 1,800 of them. The trials of the robots designed for land operations are almost complete. Robotic mine-clearing vehicles have also been successfully developed.

Combat, transport, and artillery-reconnaissance variants of the Nerekhta robot exist. The system consists of a compact, light-tracked chassis, and a hull for mounting special equipment. It is used to take on armored weapons.  The robot can also be used for transportation and reconnaissance. The Nerekhta can operate alongside drones. The suite of weapons can include a Kord or Kalashnikov machine gun, an AG-30M automatic grenade launcher and an anti-tank missile system.

The biomorphic (four-legged) 400-kg Lynx robot will be equipped with a machine gun and anti-tank guided missiles, and can operate in urban and industrial areas, on asphalt, marble, wood, sand, and unpaved roads. Almost no terrain would be off-limits, even ice, grass, snow, or shallow waters. The Lynx can travel up to 15 km/h on flat terrain, and 10 km/h on uneven surfaces.

Russia uses robotic security guards to keep its strategic sites safe, including ICBM silos.  These vehicles, armed with a machine gun and an automatic grenade launcher (both with a kill range of about 400 meters), can detect targets at night while remaining invisible and moving around the perimeter of the site. Since 2017, strategic nuclear missile sites have been guarded with the Mobile Robotics Complex (MRC), designed to detect and destroy stationary and moving targets. There are many more robots at different stages of development that are close to becoming operational. The robotization of the Russian armed forces is one clear trend and it’s not the only one. 

Five Udaloy Project 1155 destroyers are being refurbished to be armed with Kalibr long-range cruise missiles, providing them with anti-ship as well as deep land strike capability.  The prestigious Russian newspaper Izvestia has just reported on the installation of weapon systems on the ships, which has already started and will be completed by 2022.  The program will greatly increase the Navy’s strike power and power projection capability.

Russia’s radar-invisible bombs are already in service, striking terrorist targets in Syria. The Drel (Drill) gliding bomb cartridge delivers 15 self-guided killing elements, each weighing about 20 kilograms. The weapon does not breach the international convention banning the use of cluster bombs. With no engine, the bomb can glide for dozens of miles.  It boasts an operational range of more than 30 km after separating from the carrier. A single sub-munition can take out up to ten tanks – almost twice as many as its closest competitor, the US AGM-154. It can detect targets while producing no infrared emissions. The Drel’s friend-or-foe identification system prevents it from striking the wrong targets.

This year, the Army-2018 exhibition will see a light aircraft powered by a hydrogen-air engine.  The forum is slated to be held August 21-26. The concept behind this engine is known as “Electric Aircraft,” which uses fuel cells as a power source to produce electrical energy without the combustion process. The fuel used is hydrogen, which is transformed into electricity. Such a plane could stay in the air for a very long time and would be very inexpensive. No other country has managed to make such an aircraft operational. It could be used for a multitude of various missions by the military and other security agencies.

Since Moscow launched its operation in Syria, the most frequently asked question among military wonks and pundits has been “Does Russia really have superior military technology?”  And the answer often heard was, “No, it does not, it is unsophisticated and is clearly lagging behind.”  More and more evidence has emerged recently to illustrate that Russia is actually the leader in military technology and more information arrives almost every day confirming this fact.

Can the cutting-edge breakthroughs, which are such a feather in the military’s hat, that are being produced by the defense sector of the economy be isolated from the remaining sectors?  Impossible nowadays, especially given how much is being done to transfer the achievements of the defense industry over to the civilian sectors of the economy. The West’s sanctions have helpfully expedited the process of replacing Western technology with “made-in-Russia” solutions. Military technologies targeted for the civilian sector will inevitably invigorate Russia’s economy.

The West wanted to turn Russia into a backward country on its knees. This was a strategic mistake that instead encouraged it to stand tall and lead the way in the state-of-the-art technology race, forcing the US and its allies to lag behind.

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France To Send Military Forces To Syria As Trump Prepares To Withdraw; Turkey Furious

On the same day that Trump made his unexpected announcement that US troops would be “coming out of Syria very soon,” French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly pledged to send a French military force into northern Syria in support of US-backed Kurdish forces near Afrin – now under Turkish control.

News of Macron’s promise to Kurdish officials in a closed door meeting was met with a swift and harsh response from Turkey: “If it’s accurate, the statement on mediation between Turkey and SDF amounts to crossing the line,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. “Those who yesterday hosted terrorists at the highest level once again should know this is only an expression of enmity against Turkey,” Erdogan added, essentially calling France a ‘state sponsor’ of terror. 


Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Jan 2018. Image source: AFP via Getty images.

Though the French Presidency did not immediately confirm the news Thursday, reports circulated widely after Macron met with a delegation of Syrian Kurdish officials on Thursday representing the self-declared autonomous region of Rojava, of which the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) are the prime defense forces on the ground.

Turkey’s Erdogan has repeatedly denounced the YPG as a terrorist extension of the PKK, and after successfully capturing the largely Syrian Kurdish Afrin canton following a bloody two-month cross border operation, has vowed to continue pushing deeper into Syrian territory toward Manbij and Tal Rifaat. Early this week Erdogan put the US on notice while addressing a crowd in the Black Sea province of Trabzonin: “the U.S. needs to transfer the control of Manbij to its real owners from the terrorist organization as soon as possible,” Erdogan brazenly declared, while adding, “of course we will not point gun to our allies, but we will not forgive terrorists.”

Such an expansion would undoubtedly put Turkish troops and Turkey’s proxy FSA forces face to face with US-backed forces – as Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are present in both places. Days after Erdogan’s speech on Sunday, Turkish forces began clashing with SDF fighters in Tal Rifaat, in the northern Aleppo countryside – thus it appears the Turkish president is making good on his promise. 

Kurdish regional media, Kurdistan24 described Thursday’s meeting at the the Élysée as follows: 

A delegation representing the Kurdish, Arab, and Christian components of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) held talks with the French Presidency on Thursday to discuss the situation in the country’s north…

Accompanied by his special chief of staff, Admiral Roger, Macron announced that he would send French Special Forces to Manbij in coordination with the US, another report by Le Parisien said.

An unidentified number of French troops will be deployed “very quickly,” Macron assured the Rojava delegation, according to a Kurdish representative who attended the meeting.

Multiple reports identified the initial deployment of French troops to northern Syria as special forces – though it’s likely that French special forces who are already present in the region or in Syria itself would simply be relocated to take a more direct advisory role alongside the Kurdish YPG and SDF. 

In statements reported by Reuters, Macron appeared to confirm the headlines of French deployment, however, stopped short of outright confirming direct military deployment: 

“The president … paid tribute to the sacrifices and the determining role of the SDF in the fight against Daesh,” Macron’s office said in a statement.

“He assured the SDF of France’s support for the stabilization of the security zone in the north-east of Syria, within the framework of an inclusive and balanced governance, to prevent any resurgence of Islamic State.”

Macron has been seen as less hawkish regarding France’s Syria policy, which recently led former president Francois Hollande to level the accusation of Macron’s abandoning the Syrian Kurds. 

Meanwhile, Turkey’s National Security Council on Wednesday repeated Erdogan’s prior threats that Ankara would “take action” to eradicate all Syrian Kurdish groups from northern Syria. 

With Trump pledging to withdraw all US troops from Syria “very soon” it appears that France and other coalition allies are declaring their willingness to step in and replace US occupying forces in Syria.

On Friday Trump confirmed to senior aides that US forces will be exiting Syria.  In statements carried by Reuters, Trump said, “Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon, very soon, we’re coming out. We’re going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be.”

Trump’s initial announcement of US troop withdrawal came the same day two US coalition soldiers were reported killed in Syria (overnight Thursday). According to early reports, confirmed by the Pentagon, an American & British soldier were killed by an improvised explosive device in Manbij where US personnel are stationed. 

With this news and with Turkey’s latest bellicose rhetoric aimed at France, Macron is likely already second-guessing his willingness to jump straight into northern Syria’s quagmire of actors just as the US may be in the process of exiting.

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