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As Banks in Greece Reopen, New Sales Taxes Add to Confusion

Photo A National Bank employee opens the door of a branch in Athens on Monday morning. Greek banks had been closed for three weeks. Credit Milos Bicanski/Getty Images ATHENS — Greek banks opened their doors on Monday for the first time in three weeks. But with strict limits still in place on the flow of money, the battered economy was far from returning to normal. As Athens scrambles to meet creditors’ demands in exchange for continuing to negotiate a proposed bailout package worth up to 86 billion euros, or about $93 billion, Monday was shaping up as the beginning of what could be a long economic slog. Even though Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany called over the weekend for a swift resumption of the bailout negotiations, the talks could take months. The Athens stock exchange, which stopped trading on June 29, remained closed on Monday, with no word of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Greece submits bill needed to start rescue talks

A frayed Greek national flag flutters among antennas atop a building in central Athens, Greece July 20, 2015. The Greek government submitted legislation to parliament on Tuesday required by its international lenders to start talks on a multi-billion euro rescue package. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has until Wednesday night to get those measures adopted in the assembly. A first set of reforms triggered a rebellion in his party last week and passed only thanks to votes from pro-EU opposition parties. The second bill, though less divisive, will still be a test his weakened majority. It puts into Greek law new European Union rules on propping up failed banks, decreed after the 2008 financial crisis and aimed at shielding taxpayers from the risk of having to bail out troubled lenders. The so-called bank recovery and resolution directive (BRRD) imposes losses on shareholders and creditors of ailing lenders, in a process […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Russia ETF Retreats for Second Day as Oil Decline Dims Outlook

The biggest exchange-traded fund tracking Russian stocks fell for a second day in New York amid concern that a recovery in oil prices is faltering, weighing on growth in the world’s largest energy exporter and halting a rally in the country’s assets. The Market Vectors Russia ETF slid 1.7 percent to $17.73 on Monday. Energy companies, which make up about 40 percent of the fund, tumbled as Brent crude extended losses in the wake of a third weekly retreat. A Bloomberg index of the most-traded Russian stocks on U.S. exchanges declined for a fourth day in five. Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has lost momentum amid speculation a global glut will be prolonged as U.S. drillers return rigs to fields and Iran seeks to regain market share. While U.S. and European sanctions had already been squeezing Russia’s $2 trillion economy, the outlook worsened as oil, the country’s top […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Sea Ice Might Be More Resilient Than Thought

Arctic sea ice is so sensitive to changing temperatures that a single cool summer briefly reversed the decline in the ice cap around the North Pole, says a new study released Monday. Using new satellite data, researchers at University College London reported in Nature Geoscience on Monday that the total volume of sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere was well above average in the autumn of 2013, traditionally the end of the annual melt season, after an unusually cool summer when temperatures dropped to levels not seen since the 1990s. “We now know it can recover by a significant amount if the melting season is cut short,” said the study’s lead author Rachel Tilling, a researcher who studies satellite observations of the Arctic. “The sea ice might be a little more resilient than we thought.” A steady decline in the extent of Arctic sea ice since the late 1970s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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All that record-breaking rain in California still isn’t enough to dent the drought

West Coast weather was turned upside down this weekend when Southern California saw more rain in one day than it saw in all of January — one of the region’s wettest months on average. But even with the historic summer rainfall, California’s multi-year drought will likely endure past its next rainy season for much of the state. The anomalous summer rains came to California thanks to Hurricane Dolores, which surged to a powerful category 4 last week. Since then, the remnant storm has tracked north parallel to to the coast, pumping tropical moisture into the Southwest U.S. On Saturday, 1.03 inches of rain fell in San Diego, setting a new record for wettest day in July and pushing the month to the wettest July on record. An additional 0.66 inches fell Sunday, and as of Monday morning, the monthly rainfall total was an incredible 1.7 inches. The previous wettest […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Climate Scientist Warns Sea Levels Are Rising Faster Than We Thought

Half the world’s population lives within 60 km of the ocean. Limiting climate change to 2°C is not going to protect us from devastating sea level rise, a new report has found. According to the research, freshwater from land-based ice sheets melting into the oceans is inducing feedback that is accelerating the melting of ice shelves — a loop that indicates sea level rise will continue and could be devastating at much lower temperature changes than previously thought. The study, authored by well-known climate scientist James Hansen and 16 other researchers , will be published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics this week. The research explains that there is an “amplifying feedback” as polar ice melts, because as more freshwater enters the ocean, it traps warmer sea water, which melts more ice. The effect is not included in the current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) modeling but “extensive data […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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El Nino intensifying, could rival strongest in recorded history

The present El Nino event, on the cusp of attaining “strong” intensity, has a chance to become the most powerful on record. The event — defined by the expanding, deepening pool of warmer-than-normal ocean water in the tropical Pacific — has steadily grown stronger since the spring. The presence of a strong El Nino almost ensures that 2015 will become the warmest on record for Earth and will have ripple effects on weather patterns all over the world. A strong El Nino event would likely lead to enhanced rainfall in California this fall and winter, a quieter than normal Atlantic hurricane season , a warmer than normal winter over large parts of the U.S., and a very active hurricane and typhoon season in the Pacific. [ A strong El Niño could flourish by fall: Five ways it could affect our weather ] Some of these El Nino-related effects have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil edges lower as Saudi crude exports fall, U.S. cuts drill rigs

An oil well is seen near Denver, Colorado February 2, 2015. Oil prices edged lower on Monday as data showed Saudi Arabian exports fell to the lowest in five months despite record output, while a resurgence in U.S. drilling activity seen earlier this month seemed to fizzle out. Both international and U.S. crude futures posted their third consecutive weekly losses last week on expectations of increased exports from Iran following a deal to ease sanctions against the OPEC producer. Brent September crude was 12 cents lower at $56.98 a barrel by 0316 GMT. The benchmark had fallen nearly 3 percent last week and more than 10 percent for the month. U.S. crude futures, also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), was down 17 cents at $50.72 on Monday, after falling more than 3 percent last week and more than 14 percent in July. The August contract expires on Tuesday. […]

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Obama sends Iran deal to wary Congress, Israel urges rejection

President Barack Obama’s administration sent a nuclear agreement with Tehran to Congress on Sunday and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged U.S. lawmakers to reject a deal he said would only feed an "Iranian terror machine". In a first concrete sign of European determination to quickly rebuild economic and political ties with Iran after a 12-year standoff, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel arrived in Tehran with an economic delegation. Other European powers were expected to follow. Obama has promised to exercise his veto if Congress rejects the deal, which curbs Iran’s nuclear program while allowing an easing of economic sanctions. Overriding it would require a two-thirds majority of both the House of Representatives and Senate, so the administration is working to win over enough of Obama’s fellow Democrats to offset strong Republican opposition. In an unusual move, Obama took three Democratic congressman golfing with him: Joe Courtney of Connecticut, […]

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No alternative for Iran nuclear deal, Kerry says

Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in a round of interviews that aired Sunday defended the deal they negotiated with Iran , saying that it leaves the Middle East safer and that there is no viable alternative. “The real fear of that region should be that you don’t have the deal,” Kerry said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The agreement finalized last week in Vienna faces heavy criticism from Republicans in Congress, which could vote to reject it. On Sunday, the administration officially presented the agreement to lawmakers, who will have 60 days to review it. Kerry’s remarks were taped Friday, part of five interviews he and Moniz did in tandem for the Sunday talk shows. The interviews were part of an aggressive campaign by the Obama administration to defend the deal announced last week , in which Iran agreed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple