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Ukraine Separatists Say Referendums Support Independence

Pro-Russian groups said large majorities voted in favor of secession in referendums they organized in eastern Ukraine that were dismissed as illegitimate by the government in Kiev and its U.S. and European allies. In Donetsk, 90 percent of voters backed the breakaway plan, RIA Novosti reported late yesterday, citing Roman Liagin, head of the local election committee. In Luhansk, the other region voting, 94 percent to 98 percent supported autonomy with turnout at 75 percent, RIA said. Final results are due later today. The votes went ahead amid violent clashes between government troops and pro-Russian rebels. Ukraine’s acting president called them a “farce.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused by Kiev and its allies of stoking the separatist unrest. He hasn’t decided his position on the referendums, the Kommersant newspaper reported. The referendums are “inspired by Russia ’s leaders to completely destabilize Ukraine, undermine presidential elections and overthrow […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Climate change: We have no solution yet

It would be healthy — in the sense of promoting honesty — if every report warning of global warming and climate change (the two terms are interchangeable) came with the following disclaimer: Despite our belief that global warming poses catastrophic threats to many of the world’s 7 billion inhabitants, we acknowledge that we now lack the technologies to stop it. The purpose of our analysis and policy proposals is to create the political and economic conditions that foster the needed technologies. But there is no assurance that this will happen, and much time and money may be invested in futile and wasteful efforts. I am not optimistic. Our climate-change debates confuse more than they clarify. They follow a ritualistic script that is now playing out again. First came a downbeat report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international group of scientists set up by the United […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Prices End Lower

On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at $100.37 a barrel at 0517 GMT, up $0.11 in the Globex electronic session. June Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.01 to $108.05 a barrel. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on Thursday ignored Russian President ‘s call to postpone a referendum on secession scheduled for Sunday. Ukraine’s government also rejected Moscow’s demands to end its military offensive against separatists–setting the stage for further unrest. Despite the retreat in Brent prices from more than $110 there should be strong support for it in the recent trading range in the near term and the Ukraine crisis should help blunt any downward momentum, Eurasia Group director of global oil Greg Priddy said in a report. "The pace of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s tapering of asset purchases will be a major variable affecting oil market […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WTI Crude Falls With U.S. Stockpiles Near Record High

West Texas Intermediate crude dropped for a second day on speculation that near-record U.S. crude inventories will be ample to meet demand from refineries. Brent also declined. WTI fell 0.3 percent. U.S. oil supplies slipped 1.78 million barrels from a record 399.4 million last week, the Energy Information Administration said May 7. Futures climbed earlier today as Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Crimea for the first time since annexing the peninsula from Ukraine and the European Union considered expanding sanctions on his country. “The fundamentals are reasserting themselves as the week comes to an end,” said Gene McGillian , an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford , Connecticut . “Even though there was a supply drop last week, they remain close to 400 million barrels, which is more than ample.” WTI for June delivery decreased 27 cents to settle at $99.99 a barrel on the New York […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural-Gas Drops to Lowest Close in Three Weeks as Supply Picks Up Pace

Natural gas prices dropped to their lowest closing price in more than three weeks on signals that record supply may be surging in time to catch up with demand. Prices for the front-month June contract fell 4.1 cents, or 0.9%, to $4.531 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The losses piled on to Thursday’s decline–the biggest percentage loss in 10 weeks–to push gas to its lowest closing price since it landed at $4.53 on April 16. It lost 3% on the week, its worst week since mid-March. Traders have been reacting to the federal government’s Thursday report on gas storage levels, which showed larger-than-expected gains for the third straight week. Coal prices have also shown recent gains, a further sign to gas traders that power plants are switching back to coal and cutting the demand for natural gas, analysts said. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Exclusive: Iraq, in a Major Shift, Might Want Some U.S. Troops Back

The Iraqi government is actively seeking armed drones from the U.S. to combat al Qaeda in its increasingly violent Anbar province, and in a significant reversal, would welcome American military drone operators back into the country to target those militants on its behalf, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite government has for the last several months struggled to stem the violence in Iraq’s western reaches, particularly in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, site of some of the heaviest and bloodiest fighting of the decade-long Iraq War. Some of the instability in western Iraq is attributed to fighters arriving from Iraq’s war-torn neighbor, Syria. Iraq has long sought drones for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes and has begun to receive some from the U.S. in limited numbers. But the nature of the fight the Maliki government confronts in western Iraq is such that officials say […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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A Pulverized Prize Changes Hands, Peacefully, in Syria

The last busloads of insurgents left the battered Old City of Homs in central Syria on Friday, under a deal handing over the longtime bastion of rebellion to the government after nearly two years of blockade and bombardment. Residents trickled in to gaze in shock at blocks of bomb-bitten homes. Some wheeled bicycles or carried gawking children on their shoulders, while others wept and fled in grief from camera operators, in scenes captured on state television and in snapshots that flooded social media. Soldiers giving the victory sign planted government flags in a square at the edge of the district. Across the country, in Aleppo Province in the north, rebels allowed a convoy of trucks delivering humanitarian aid into villages they had long blockaded, fulfilling their end of the deal so that the government would allow the last fighters out of Homs. In carrying out the […]

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Chinese capital ranks 41 for livability as air pollution worsens

Beijing ranked the 41st out of 294 Chinese cities in terms of their livability due to worsening air pollution in and around the city, a latest research report said. The report, issued by the National Academy of Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was based on evaluations of nine factors including living conditions, city harmony and cultural competitiveness, said Saturday’s China Daily. Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Haikou, all located in southern coastal areas, ranked on the top of the list, the report said. Air pollution has been troubling China’s big cities. Last year, more than 100 cities saw an average of 29.9 smoggy days, a 52-year high. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, several of the ten worst cities in terms of monthly air quality last year were in Hebei Province surrounding Beijing. High housing price is another unfavorable factor […]

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China defends oil rig position in disputed waters

BEIJING, May 9 (UPI) –Chinese drilling operations near the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea are normal and within Beijing’s territorial waters, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Yi Xianliang, deputy director-general of ocean affairs at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, challenged claims from Vietnam that a drilling rig was operating in Vietnamese waters. PetroVietnam, the country’s state-owned energy company, said last weekend drilling rig HD-981, deployed by the China National Offshore Oil Corp. about 120 miles off the coast of Vietnam, was encroaching on its sovereignty . The Vietnamese government said it would take "all the proper and necessary measures" to protect its interests. Yi said Thursday said the Chinese government, however, was "deeply surprised" by Vietnam’s reaction. The rig, he said, was operating completely within Chinese territorial waters. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said during her regular press briefing Thursday the Chinese side was taking "provocative" actions […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Obama Scores Third Court Victory in Air Pollution Fight

The Obama administration scored a third legal victory in less than a month in its fight to cut air pollution as regulators prepare rules to reduce emissions from power plants. In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington said the Environmental Protection Agency was within its discretion to tighten standards on fine particulate matter, or soot, from coal power plants, refineries, manufacturers and vehicles. The court struck down a challenge by the National Association of Manufacturers , which said the rule overreached. The administration has now defeated challenges to pollution rules three times since mid-April, as the Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals tossed aside industry objections and gave the EPA broad leeway to set standards. “Time after time, courts have found that EPA’s clean air standards are solidly based in science and the law,” Peter Zalzal, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple