Global Macro/Markets
- Central bank gold-buying reaches half-century high– Financial Times
- OPEC oil output drops in January on Saudi cut, outages and sanctions – Reuters
Americas
- Family Behind OxyContin Maker Made Billions, Say Court Papers – Wall Street Journal
- Sarah Sanders: God ’wanted Donald Trump to become president’ – The Hill (same God who gives kid’s terminal cancer?)
- U.S. Far Right Figures Flew to Russia to Party with Oligarchs and Fascists – Hill Reporter
- With sanctions lifted, Trump transition member gets board position on Russian oligarch’s company – Salon
- Mitch McConnell Admits He’s Against High Voter Turnout Because He Suspects People Will Vote for Democrats – GQ
Europe/Middle East
- Eurozone economic growth fails to recover in late 2018 – Financial Times
- Like the Fyre festival, Brexit was sold on lies and will be a disaster – The Times
- The backstop isn’t just about trade. Is that so hard to understand, Britain? – The Guardian
- Why winning and losing are irrelevant in Syria and Afghanistan – Washington Post
- European powers launch mechanism for trade with Iran – Reuters
Asia/Sub-continent
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- China Protesters Scuffle With Security as Trade-War Talks Begin– Bloomberg
- China’s manufacturing activity contracted for the second-straight month in January – China underground
- Japan will try to hack its citizens’ routers and webcams in the name of cybersecurity – Fast Company
- White House map showing Taiwan as separate from China sparks surprise – SCMP
Australia/New Zealand
- Morrison defends $36m for two ads before election as ‘entirely appropriate’ – The Guardian
- Nearly half of Australians don’t think private health insurance is ‘essential’ – The Guardian
- ‘Disturbing’: government intervenes in Melbourne Uni publishing turmoil – The Age
- PM pleads with former Liberal members to rejoin party – 9News
- BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto back Uluru Statement as politician questions interest in Indigenous lands – ABC
- Latest Reserve Bank monthly figures show mortgage credit growth remains above 6%, while non-bank lending has surged in the past month in NZ – Interest.co.nz
Other
- Highlights from J.P. Morgan’s latest global blockchain and cryptocurrencies report – theblockcrypto.com
- Modern Weather Forecasts Are Stunningly Accurate – The Atlantic
- Loss of newspapers contributes to political polarization – Associated Press
- What happened to our electricity system in the heat? Coal and gas plants failed – The Guardian
- Massive Starfish Die-Off Is Tied To Global Warming | Since 2013, sea star wasting disease has killed so many starfish along the Pacific Coast that scientists say it’s the largest disease epidemic ever observed in wild marine animals – NPR