Anti-Immigration AfD Now The Most Popular Party In Key Western German State In A National Vote

Belarus Gets Partial US Sanctions Relief After Freeing More Political Prisoners In a rare development, Belarus - which forms a 'Union State' with Russia, has received partial US sanctions relief after it agreed to free 25 political prisoners.  President Trump's envoy, John Coale, revealed to reporters in the Belarusian capital Minsk: "We agreed to an interim deal, and as a show of goodwill Belarus will release 25 people and in exchange the United States will lift sanctions on two companies." Kremlin.ru/ White House The deal follows a much bigger amnesty for prisoners brokered...

Germany, France Hold Secret Talks On Continental Nuclear Shield In Pivot From US Has Europe really embarked on a nuclear reset, rethinking its US-led deterrent architecture? For the first time since the Cold War, major European capitals are openly debating the need for an independent nuclear deterrent - an emerging theme on clear display this week at the Munich Security Conference. We've reported before that the turning point came in March, when Washington temporarily halted battlefield intelligence sharing with Ukraine - a move that forced allies to confront the prospect that...

Deja Vu All Over Again: Futures Surge, Oil Tumbles On Iran Deal Optimism, Tech Rally US equity futures are up big this morning and making fresh all time highs, led by tech companies, while oil prices and bond yields fell sharply on optimism that the US and Iran are nearing a peace deal. As of 8:00am Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 1.7% while those for the S&P 500 gained 1%, with both gauges set to build on record highs. Iran is evaluating a new proposal from the US to end their near 10-week war, according to an Axios...