Blogotariat

The Cuban authorities would have to reach an agreement with Washington if they want to avoid a humanitarian crisis, US President Donald Trump has warned.

Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order to impose tariffs on goods from any countries that sell oil to Cuba, further strengthening an embargo against the Caribbean nation which dates back to the 1960s.

The latest interest rate futures pricing has Australia’s official cash rate sitting at 4.17% by the end of 2026. Thus, financial markets are tipping at least two and possibly three 25 bp interest rate hikes by the end of this year. If these forecasts came to fruition, variable mortgage rates would climb to around 6%

The post Auction market shrugs off imminent rate hikes appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Together, 45 global livestock companies produce more greenhouse gases than all but eight countries. Plus, crimes against nature are big business that rely on criminal networks, corrupt officials and eager customers, and global warming marches on.

Peter Sainsbury

Environment: Agricultural emissions are roasting the planet

Not all Jews are equal; some are more equal than others. Jewish by birth and a card-carrying Israeli, Veronica Sherman sees Zionists as a cult, a dangerous pyramid scheme. 

If a group of Jewish backpackers from Melbourne met a group of Israeli backpackers in a hostel in Thailand, the Melbourne backpackers would be all excited to meet “fellow Jews” and feel they have a connection. A bit like meeting a relative while travelling.

The United Nations is at risk of running out of cash as unpaid dues and funding shortfalls by member states threaten to disrupt key operations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned.

Donald Trump’s pronouncements about his so-called “Board of Peace” seem far removed from daily reality in the Gaza Strip, where residents are preoccupied with securing water, bread and warmth.

Yet Trump’s choice of members such as former UK prime minister Tony Blair has reopened old questions about the meaning and limits of peace, and whether it is possible to discuss it apart from justice.

In assessing the new world situation, we should start here in the U.S. At this moment, the epicenter of the struggle is Minneapolis. What’s happening there poses a fundamental question that is germane to the changing world situation, the global class struggle and the struggle for world socialist revolution. The same conditions, the repression and the angry mass response of the people are spreading and will continue to spread throughout the country.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said she “will be very smart” by the end of her term thanks to her reading habits.

Kallas made the remark at a press conference on Thursday after a journalist offered to give her a book on Kurdish history by Masoud Barzani, the first president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

Science in the Arctic — and Greenland — is on the frontline of pressing challenges facing humanity, like climate change and genetics. Some researchers worry international collaboration is at risk.

Decades of successful scientific collaboration could be at risk if political relations between Europe and the US continue to fray over trade and defense issues.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stated that the principle of self-determination does not apply to the people of Crimea and Donbass, drawing sharp condemnation from Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this week accused the UN Secretariat of “playing into the hands” of Kiev and failing to act with impartiality, citing what he called glaringly different stances on self-determination for Crimea and Greenland.

Nobody wants US dollars. But they want Bitcoin even less. This is a pretty stark break from the narrative we’ve been sold about BTC being “digital gold” or some kind of alternative “reserve currency” that can’t be debased. Indeed, markets are consumed by a global fiat debasement trade at the moment, yet BTC keeps falling.

The post Is this the end for Bitcoin? appeared first on MacroBusiness.

BNEF says a more needs to be done, and quickly, for Australia to meet its renewable targets. Storage looks good, but wind and solar comes up short. Bowen is batting on.

The post Will Australia reach its renewable targets on time? It will need a lot more wind and solar appeared first on Renew Economy.