Taliban is on the verge of securing wheat, gas and oil in a deal with Moscow.

Claims that the UK will run out of arms and funds by the end of 2022 to assist the Ukrainian war effort.

This is also likely to be the case with other NATO nations.

Asked to comment about Taiwan.

Largely noise currently but granted that could change rather quickly.

Looking increasingly likely China and Russia are looking at fully decoupling from west.

From their perspective leaving western financial system in totality would make eminent sense. Have already been undertaking import substitution and finding alternative export/import markets.

History will remember with disdain the fact that western central banks believed that inflated asset prices created real wealth and were beneficial to economies.

So the US intends opening Lithium battery production facilities, however it only produces 1% annually of global lithium production. If it imports lithium for battery production it will increase cost of production significantly.

They still don't grasp onshoring reality.

So west decides to try and cap oil prices and then this happens.

Immediate Russian response was for Gazprom to say gas supplies to the NS1 pipeline will completely stopped due to equipment issues with no time frame on when it would restart the pipeline.

Then this

Oil supplied from the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project is not subject to the price cap on Russian oil the G7 finance ministers agreed to introduce.

Let's face it what's more probable, the evil genius theory or the cretinous imbecile reality?

There are rumours that the architect of this oil price cap was Yellen.

Today she stated such measures would prove a powerful tool to fight inflation.

Europe continuing to win.

German Factory Orders m/m July: -1.1% versus estimate -0.7% and previous -0.4%

German Factory Orders y/y July: -13.6% versus estimate -13.4% and previous -9.0%

It is becoming increasingly clear that Europe is becoming divided on western policies wrt the Ukraine war including military operations, sanctions and our very relationship with Putin himself.

EU countries have spent 280bn euros in the last year to try to shield consumers from ongoing energy price hikes.

No doubt via printed money.

US intelligence is claiming North Korea is supplying arms to Russia.

This is so they can have an excuse to try and place more sanctions on North Korea.

Gazprom has initiated production at the LNG plant at the Portovaya compressor station. The station which also pushes gas to Germany via NS1.

The plant has completed 72 hour comprehensive trials.

Seventh Eastern Economic Forum is underway in Vladivostok. The theme of the forum is

On the Path to a Multipolar World.

West continues to makes statements about China And Russia that have no basis in reality but are merely delusional thoughts which they believe are so because we are the west, so what we say will happen and they are in total denial about the reality unfolding.

Data from South Korea, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand showed that foreigners bought equities worth a net $7.6bn in August, biggest monthly net buying since Dec 2020.

This was on the basis that inflation is beginning to fall in these nations.

The UK is teetering on the edge of a balance of payments, currency and bond crisis, never mind a cost of living crisis. It can print all the money it likes to subside energy prices but in the process is hollowing out the nation.

West still doesn't realise that it completely depends on cheap energy.