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As the world shifts its attention to the G-20 summit in Osaka, a small but dedicated group of protesters in Hong Kong have delivered petitions to the consulates of G-20 members asking the countries to defy China at their meeting this week and insist on discussing the anti-extradition bill protests that have rocked Hong Kong over the past few weeks.

Beijing said last week that it wouldn’t permit the issue to be raised at the meeting. Yet, that hasn’t stopped demonstrators wearing shirts bearing slogans like “Liberate Hong Kong”. The group started their march at the US consulate in Hong Kong, where they delivered a letter asking for American support.

Per the FT, the letter delivered to the American consulate pleaded for the “urgent intervention” of President Trump to persuade authorities in Hong Kong to withdraw the extradition bill. In the letter, the demonstrators also solicited international support for an investigation into the use of tear gas to break up protests.

“We would greatly appreciate an intervention, in the hope of a complete withdrawal of the extradition bill and an independent, open investigation on the possible use of excessive violence by the Police Force against us,” according to the letter.

Notably, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that he expected the protests would be among the issues Trump would President Xi Jinping when they meet at the G20 in Japan, though bringing up Hong Kong might risk angering Xi at a time when the two leaders are desperate to come up with another trade deal.

But marching to the various consulates isn’t the only strategy being employed by the demonstrators to get the attention of foreign leaders at the summit. According to Bloomberg, Hong Kong activists have raised $858,000 in just nine hours in a bid to plaster global newspapers with ads demanding the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill ahead of the G-20 summit.

Legislation to protest the extradition bill will run in the New York Times and the Financial Times. Other publications, including the Washington Post, the Australian and the Japan Times had been contacted.

The ad will read “Save Hong Kong at G20” and include the text of the letter being handed out to consulates.

So far, Beijing has left protesters mostly alone though many worry about their digital footprints being used against them. But after this international embarrassment, the party leaders in Beijing might be prompted to act.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/31PAMJX Tyler Durden

Most of Europe will be blanketed by an oppressive heatwave as the continent suffers unreasonable warmth this week, with officials across the European Union announcing severe warnings against dehydration and heatstroke. The heat wave will be centered from Spain into France and Germany.

AccuWeather said a storm stalling over the Atlantic Ocean and high pressure over central and eastern Europe will push hot desert air from Africa northward across Europe. This setup has triggered dangerous heat wave warnings across western and central Europe for the remainder of the week.

From Madrid to Paris, Belgium, Frankfurt, and Berlin, these metropolitan areas are likely to see a multi-day heat wave, with daily temperatures around 90F-100F.

High humidity in some areas could make it feel like 116F, experts warned. “El infierno [hell] is coming,” tweeted meteorologist Silvia Laplana in Spain.

El infierno is coming. pic.twitter.com/j0iGEYF0ge

— Silvia Laplana (@slaplana_tve) June 24, 2019

Officials in France have set up “cool rooms” in government buildings, opened community pools for extended hours, and installed water fountains across the city to prepare for the heat wave this week, reported The Guardian.

“I’m worried about people who are downplaying this, who are continuing to exercise as usual or stay out in the sun,” the health minister, Agnès Buzyn, said. “This affects all of us, nobody is a superman when it comes to dealing with the extreme heat we’re going to see on Thursday and Friday,” she told a press conference.

Emmanuel Demaël of Météo-France said the heat wave is so unprecedented that “we haven’t seen this since 1947.”

Record monthly and all-time highs are likely to be set across France this week, Demaël said, and overnight temperatures could stay above 70F.

In Italy, “the most intense heatwave in a decade” started on Monday, with local governments preparing their hospitals for a surge in heat-related illnesses. Highs of 99F to 104F are forecast across Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan, and Turin, with several Italian cities expected to hit new record highs for June.

MeteoSwiss issued a “severe danger” warning across Switzerland as temperatures could rise to 99F from Tuesday until Thursday.

Warnung des Bundes: #Hitzewarnung der höchsten Stufe 4 für die Region Basel und das Zentralwallis. Für gewisse Bevölkerungsgruppen können die hohen Temperaturen ein Gesundheitsrisiko darstellen, warnt das @BAG_OFSP_UFSP. #Hitzewelle wird voraussichtlich bis Sonntag andauern. pic.twitter.com/tkQxwrF8RD

— MeteoSchweiz (@meteoschweiz) June 24, 2019

Last year’s heatwave led to increased mortality rates, lower crop yields, the shutdown of nuclear power plants, wildfires, water shortages, and power grid outages, could be a lot worse this year due to the unprecedented heat.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2WZYgbG Tyler Durden

Authored by Tom Luongo,

Italy is in serious trouble financially. This is virtually common knowledge at this point. What isn’t common knowledge is its Euroskeptic government led by Lega’s Matteo Salvini and Five Star Movement’s Luigi Di Maio are preparing an assault on the foundation of the European Union itself to save Italy.

And that assault comes with the most innocuous name. Mini-BOT. Mini-BOTs were originally the idea of former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to assist Greece get out of the stranglehold placed on it by the euro.

What is a mini-BOT? It is a small denomination (mini) Bill of Treasury (BOT) that can be issued by, in this case, the Italian government to act as a domestic currency for settling government debts, paying taxes, etc.

It would be a parallel currency which could circulate freely domestically at a discount to the euro which would work as a medium of exchange to reflect the reality of the Italian economy better than the euro does.

The euro’s value is dominated by Germany’s economy. And, in short, by being so the euro overvalues Italy’s labor pool and undervalues Germany’s. Gresham’s Law states under-valued money is hoarded and over-valued spent. In Italy the euro is hoarded. In Germany it is spent. This is why Germany runs such a massive trade surplus against the other members of the euro-zone.

Italy (and Greece, Portugal, Spain and others) need a currency that can circulate to properly support domestic trade.

By mispricing Italian labor via the euro it keeps the goods produced in Italy uncompetitive on the world market. Italy’s central bank can only issue euro-denominated debt which trades at rates far lower than it should, enhancing Germany’s position.

The Italian economy, like Greece’s, is also strangled by the cost of servicing its national debt denominated in euros. This keeps the demand for money within the economy high for debt servicing purposes and its circulation low.

Low circulation equals low trade and a sluggish economy. The EU’s budget rules favor paying off creditors first and tending to the Italian economy second. The ‘austerity’ imposed on euro-zone members, because of this mispricing of both the debt and the euro itself, becomes doubly harsh when the euro rises, sucking the life out of the debtor nation.

As the currency rises, the value of the debt rises versus the labor it is a claim against also rises. Then the country’s creditors need a bailout, which they get. The debt gets ‘restructured’ to put the debtor on an even-longer dated hamster wheel of repayment and some of it gets paid off in the form of national assets now trading at a fraction of its real value.

The mini-BOT seeks to reverse this process by allowing the Italian treasury to issue them as interest-bearing small bills which can be used to purchase goods and services in the Italian market but which will also be redeemable to pay for government services and taxes.

Doing this bypasses the euro completely and these will trade at a discount to the euro, thereby setting a proper exchange rate for Italy’s economy relative to Europe’s as a whole and increasing money velocity.

This is what Salvini and Di Maio are in favor of and what they will likely introduce soon.

And it is imperative that you understand what this means for the European Union. It is an existential threat to the current Germany-dominated political order. The main purpose of the euro was do to exactly what we have seen since its introduction, create a structural advantage for German industry through which Germany’s political class can dominate the EU itself. It was specifically designed to roll up the wealth of the continent in this way, bankrupt countries less competitive than Germany and keep them that way trapped within this single currency regime.

Laying aside my myriad and sundry libertarian and Austrian economics-based objections to this system of debt-based fiat currency, the current structure of the euro is even more monstrous than that of the individual currencies themselves. But, the Mini-BOT is a stop-gap measure on the road back to monetary and fiscal sanity. Not perfect, but the right first step.

Italy’s sovereignty-focused government, an outgrowth of the desperation of the Italian people, understand this dynamic at a deep level. It is why Salvini and Di Maio have attacked Brussels on the issue of the budget rules, tax cuts and infrastructure spending while soft-pedaling to the Italian people their radical agenda, which is to force a reorganization of power in Brussels or, failing that, take Italy out of the euro completely.

I have been arguing for over two years now since Matteo Salvini came onto the scene as a major player in Italian politics that his best path for success is to always and consistently put Brussels into the position of the bad guy.

Breach a budget rule here, detain some human traffickers there.

Each time the EU responds in the most predictable way, Salvini gains popularity and his arguments against Brussels’ unwillingness to listen gain credence.

And what scares Brussels the most is not what they say do – an increase in Italy’s debt, unsustainable spending, etc. Italy is nearly unsalvageable under a euro-only currency regime. No, what EU leadership fears the most is that this parallel domestic currency system of the mini-BOT actually works.

Because once it does it will show the rest of Europe just how corrupt and vindictive EU leadership is. As if Brexit talks haven’t exposed this fundamental truth to them already. And once that happens, the future of the EU itself comes into sincere doubt.

From what I understand, through anecdotal evidence, Salvini and Di Maio are going to move quickly on the mini-BOT, not just as a threat but as a real thing.

And their problems now lie with who I call the Troika of Technocrats who hold the positions to block their plans – President Sergei Mattarella, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Finance Minister Giovanni Tria.

These are all the epitome of the Italian Swamp. They work for the old guard political order in Italy who, like most of the political establishment in the U.K., work for Brussels.

They will try to take down the Italian government before the mini-BOT becomes more than a discussion in parliament. Conte already threatened to resign over this issue. You’ll notice he didn’t do so.

And that to me is a huge tell. Conte bluffed Salvini and lost. Because with Di Maio in charge of Five Star and the poll numbers where they are, the Troika could all easily be removed if they take down the government (see my article linked above for the tactical situation).

If Salvini did it, it would hurt him. But, again, Salvini is way too sharp an operator to fall for that trap. So it will have to come from President Mattarella and Prime Minister Conte, if it comes at all.

They have to move quickly to get the Mini-BOT in place. Europe’s finances are unraveling quickly. The ECB is looking at lowering rates again once Mario Draghi exits the stage to leave the mess for his replacement.

Deutsche Bank is looking to spin off a small portion of its bad assets into a Bad Bank while Germany’s economy continues cratering and a hard Brexit is looking more and more likely.

None of these things are euro positive and none of them help the EU in its fight to keep Italy in the fold.

Italy will need the mini-BOT once this huge move into sovereign debt is over. It is rapidly becoming the most over-crowded trade in history with nearly $12 trillion in debt now carrying a negative return.

For now, Draghi and the rest of the would-be oligarchs in Brussels are in denial about what Salvini and Di Maio are planning. They won’t be once the power struggle for Italy’s government takes center stage in September when the budget is proposed, Brussels tries to impose fines and Salvini starts selling mini-BOTs.

You shouldn’t have to wonder how the markets are going to respond to that.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2RAcX3R Tyler Durden

Surrounding residents in a central German town may have thought they were experiencing an earthquake, or perhaps a major gas explosion. A blast so powerful in the middle of a corn field near Limburg-Ahlbach did register as a minor earthquake, according to the BBC, but it was actually caused when a WWII bomb “self-detonated” in a rare phenomenon. 

The explosion of the estimated 550-pound bomb left a massive crater which local police measured at 33 feet wide and 13 feet deep, viewable from airplanes overhead. Nearby residents were jolted awake at about 4 a.m. Sunday from the sudden blast, which in the beginning was considered a “mystery” according to local reports.

Mass confusion surrounded the small earthquake-triggering blast as police began to investigate, according to CNN:

Was it a World War II bomb? At first, officials weren’t sure. But after a day studying the crater, they said it “almost certainly” was a 550-pound dud.

“With the former railway depot, we were quite a bomb target at the end of the Second World War,” city spokesman Johannes Laubach told the German news website Hessenschau. “We can be glad that the farmer was not in the field.”

Residents reported hearing a “strong explosion” in the early Sunday hours followed by “a quake.”

Investigators concluded the giant bomb had likely been dropped from a plane during WWII over seven decades ago. As it was left unexploded upon impact, it would have lodged below the ground’s surface. 

For decades police said there had been “no definitive indication” that a suspected unexploded bomb was present in the cornfield. 

Such unexploded bombs and mines are found somewhat frequently across Germany, with bomb disposal units periodically having to shut down entire city blocks to do controlled detonations.

However, unique in this case is that the bomb detonated by itself, per the BBC:

Officials say it is not unheard of for detonators to decompose to the extent that the bomb goes off by itself.

Residents said a nearby railway depot had become a target for Allied bombing in the dying days of the war, and unexploded bombs had been found in the area in the past.

Earlier this year a historic district of Frankfurt was evacuated when divers discovered an 250-kilogram US Air Force bomb which had been dropped on German forces during WWII at the bottom of the Main River. 

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2IKLsSz Tyler Durden

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk,

The Green Party is on the rise in Europe. Ramifications are immense, starting with the deindustrialization of Germany…

Germany’s Green party killed nuclear power. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, once a strong supporter of nuclear energy, reversed course in a nod to the Greens. It did her party, nor Germany, any good.

Diesel is dead, and rightfully so, but Germany is not prepared for it. The Greens are also after coal, GMOs, and in general big business.

These Green events coupled with a false sense of invincibility are at the center of the Demise of Deutschland and its vaunted export machine.

Germany’s once seemingly untouchable national champions – from VW and Deutsche Bank to Bayer and Wirecard – have been gripped by scandal and crisis. Business rivals are asking each other how much worse it can get for Deutschland AG.

Wolfsburg-based car maker Volkswagen is trying to move on from its 2015 diesel emissions scandal but, alongside its German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler, it could be hit with further fines by EU regulators over claims they colluded to block the development of clean air technology.

Then there’s Bavaria-based payments giant Wirecard, which has this year been hit with claims of fraud and accounting irregularities (the company has denied the allegations). And Leverkusen-based Bayer, the German chemical behemoth which acquired Monsanto for $63bn (£49.5bn) last year and now faces thousands of lawsuits over claims that Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup causes cancer.

But it is not just scandal-hit firms that are being dragged down. Last month Thyssenkrupp, the German lift company, said it would slash 6,000 jobs after abandoning plans for a merger with Tata Steel. Last week Cologne-based Lufthansa, Europe’s biggest airline, and Munich-based chipmaker Siltronic both issued profit warnings, the former squeezed by competition from low-cost rivals and rising fuel costs, and the latter hit by the US crackdown on exports to China, Germany’s major export destination.

“The issue for German companies is the over-reliance on exports which is great when global trade works [but] nowadays trade is questioned, the currency doesn’t offer incremental benefits and technological trends move away from German core skills,” says Arndt Ellinghorst, an analyst at Evercore who used to work for Volkswagen.

Green Politics

Via Eurointelligence. My additions in [ ].

The party [CDU/CSU] is torn between its traditional support for industry and the recognition that it needs to become greener. The Greens are now polling at the same level as the CDU/CSU, and even pulled ahead in some polls. CDU/CSU are no longer guaranteed to nominate the next chancellor. This new situation is beginning to have a big impact on the internal debate.

The argument is this time not between the two parties, but within the CDU. Angela Merkel and CSU-chief Horst Söder are calling for an end to coal-fired power stations by 2030 – as opposed to the previously agreed target of 2038, also the official recommendation of the coal commission. The commission was a classic stitch-up job to protect the interests of industry, and widely greeted with dismay. This has contributed to the dramatic rise in support for the Greens since February when the results were announced.

It reminds us of the most common argument against electric cars in Germany: it cannot happen because German car makers are simply not ready to mass-produce them. What those who argue in this way have not yet woken up to is that their underlying assumptions about German industrial production are going to be challenged as part of the climate policy as well. What they have not realized yet is that the targets are very easy to achieve – through less production at home.

The CDU would have been prepared for a coalition with the Greens as junior partner – as Merkel was in 2017. With the Greens as equal, let alone senior partner, this is a completely different situation. Climate targets will be to Germany what Brexit is to the UK.

Five Events

1. Merkel foolishly did in nuclear to appease the Greens

2. The German Car industry lied about diesel. The Greens stepped in and killed it.

3. The Greens will kill coal.

4. Brexit will hurt German exports no matter what happens now.

5. Trump tariffs on German cars are likely to be the topper.

Deindustrialization of Germany

The Greens are going to force the deindustrialization of Germany.

• They do not want coal

• They do not want nuclear

• They do not want diesel

• The do not want Round-Up

• They do not want GMOs

• They do not want Google, Amazon, or any other large organizations

• They do want low-skill immigration

Green Irony

The Green victory leading to the demise of nuclear forced more use of dirtier coal. Now the Greens are after coal.

Killing coal as a method of producing electricity in Germany will do two things.

1. Force up costs
2. Shift electrical production from German coal to even dirtier coal in nearby countries.

Latest INSA Poll

Rise of the Greens

Earlier today I commented on the Rise of the Greens and how Merkel’s Coalition Partner, SPD, Vanishes Into Irrelevance.

The Greens will win. Expect a Pyrrhic victory. They will not save the planet.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2ZLEWAx Tyler Durden

Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini called a NGO migrant transportation vessel a “pirate ship,” and suggested that Germany and The Netherlands should split the 43 passengers who were picked up off the coast of Libya, according to Newsweek. 

“Does the European Union want to solve the Sea Watch problem? Easy,” Salvini wrote on Facebook, “Dutch ship, German NGO: Half of the immigrants in Amsterdam, the other half in Berlin. And seize the pirate ship.“

A group of 10 migrants who were among the original contingent of those currently aboard Sea-Watch 3 were allowed to disembark at Lampedusa by Italy for medical reasons back on June 12. Three unaccompanied minors, the youngest of them just 12, remain onboard.

Salvini argues that his country has taken in too many of the migrants picked up by rescue boats, and that only a fraction are genuinely fleeing war. He had already once refused entry to Sea-Watch 3, only to have the decision overturned by the ECHR in May. Sea-Watch 3 landed at Lampedusa with the 65 migrants it had rescued from a rubber dinghy in the waters off Libya before the ship was impounded for three weeks. It was then released back to the NGO by Italian authorities. –Newsweek

According to the European Commission, 27,800 refugees have been resettled across Europe between 2015 and 2017 through various EU assistance programs. From 2018 to today, another 32,071 have been resettled – with a target of 50,000 by October of this year. The programs allow people to make the journey into Europe without making the perilous journey byland and sea, as tens of thousands of people have died after boarding ramshackle boats in an attempt to cross the Mediterranean. 

Italy’s frustration over accepting a flood of migrants is undoubtedly responsible in large part for the election of Salvini – a hard-line nationalist who has taken aggressive measures to stem the tide of migrant boats docking in Italian ports. Salvini has repeatedly called on other European nations to shoulder the burden. 

According to European Commission spokeswoman Tove Ernst, officials are watching the Sea Watch situation closely. 

“For the Commission, this situation shows once again that predictable and sustainable solutions are urgently needed in the Mediterranean,” Ernst told Newsweek, adding that the Commission had encouraged EU member states to “agree on temporary arrangements following disembarkation.” 

“We renew our call on all Member States to facilitate and speed up this crucial work,” Ernst added. “In the meantime, until such arrangements are in place, we also call on Member States to bear the humanitarian imperative in mind and contribute to a swift resolution. Whilst we welcome that Italy has proceeded with the evacuation of a number of persons from Sea-Watch 3 for medical reasons, a solution for the remaining people on board is still needed.” 

Sea Watch is exhausted

Newsweek also reports that those aboard Sea-Watch 3 are “struggling in difficult conditions,” while the organization posted a video on Twitter Monday showing a man named Hermann, who says he escaped torture in a Libyan prison and that the group is exhausted. 

“We cannot hold and longer. We are like in a prison because we are deprived of everything. We cannot do anything. We cannot even walk, go a bit further, because the boat is small and we are plenty. There is no space anymore,” he says. 

Seven days ago Hermann addressed the Europeans to call on their solidarity. So far the situation worsened for the 42 people still stuck on the #SeaWatch 3. Having escaped the Libyan torture prisons, the EU deprives them of their basic human rights for 12 days now. pic.twitter.com/8qDZjQYbJk

— Sea-Watch International (@seawatch_intl) June 24, 2019

Perhaps Hillary Clinton’s famous quote on killing Libyan leader Mummar Gaddafi is incomplete: 

“We came, we saw, he died, and then a flood of migrants poured into Europe through a destabilized Libya.” 

Ghadaffi, of course, promised to stop all of this for a mere €5 billion a year. 

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2RyfvzJ Tyler Durden

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit.news,

The United Nations has demanded that western countries take back captured ISIS terrorists who are currently imprisoned in Syria and Iraq.

According to U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, the ISIS fighters and their family members, which number around 55,000, “should face fair prosecution or be freed.”

States “must assume responsibility for their nationals” even if they have committed unspeakable atrocities while engaging in jihad, according to Bachelet.

A debate about whether to allow so-called ‘ISIS bride’ Shamima Begum to re-enter the UK raged earlier this year.

While the media largely helped Begum spin the narrative that she made a harmless mistake and was a victim herself, her true activities and beliefs were appalling.

It was revealed that Begum literally stitched bombs into suicide vests to ensure they exploded when taken off during her time alongside ISIS jihadists in Syria.

Begum was also a member of the “hisba” enforcement group, which handed out brutal punishments to those found flouting ISIS laws on how to dress and behave. She also pointed an automatic weapon at women in Syria for “wearing brightly colored shoes”.

Begum also said during interviews that seeing decapitated heads in trash cans didn’t faze her because the victims were “enemies of Islam”.

Should such individuals really be allowed to return to the west? Yes, according to the UN.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2ZLJreu Tyler Durden