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The 1970s were so much more crazy than we remember.

Remember the time a Soviet-funded Palestinian terrorist group led by Carlos the Jackal kidnapped all the OPEC oil ministers in the middle of Vienna and flew to Algeria?
The weirdest thing is this may have been an attempt by the USSR to intervene in the oil market to support crude prices.
It certainly gives you some perspective on why Saudi oil minister Sheikh Yamani, who Carlos promised to murder during the crisis, didn't think twice before crashing the oil market in 1985 and in so doing helping to bring about the end of the USSR.
That's quite some revenge.
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More from @davidfickling see all

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David Fickling
@davidfickling
Today I wrote about the relationship between the Wuhan #coronovirus
outbreak, China's push to feed itself, urbanization, globalisation, and the role of trust in society.

The article is at the link. Here's the thread version:

bloomberg.com/amp/opinion/ar…
Epidemics are a side-effect of urbanization. Until we started living in cities about 5,000 years ago, we simply lived far apart for most diseases to spread to vast populations.
One of the first recorded ones was the Plague of Athens in about 430BC, which ended that city's ambitions to be a major regional power

It was described by the great historian Thucydides, who was himself infected.
Read 23 tweets
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David Fickling
@davidfickling
An rambling, soul-searching letter by Siemens's CEO defending his decision to go through with an #Adani coal rail contract is almost more troubling than the decision itself:

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
You really should read the letter itself to get a full sense of how strange it is: press.siemens.com/global/en/news…

It's almost twice as long as "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", and almost as filled with stream-of-consciousness yearning, regret, assertion and indecision.
What's so strange about this is that Siemens is one of a handful of companies that *built* the fossil-fired electricity industry.

Along with GE and Mitsubishi, its coal and gas turbines powered the 20th century.
Read 16 tweets
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David Fickling
@davidfickling
Australia is likely to be a wrecker on global climate change policy in the 2020s and I don't see that much hope of it changing.

A quick thread on why:
Here's the leader of Australia's opposition yesterday, amidst historic bushfires, refusing to link what's happening to government policy on coal:
If people want to know why Australia's government is trying to skate past this crisis, it's because the opposition is giving them political cover.

Sure, Albanese has *talked* more about the bushfires, but he's not offering anything very different on policy, which is what counts.
Read 22 tweets

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Chief Wolfhound
@DeMelaatse
Time for a THREAD on Benghazi The Facts. PART 3

The day after the attack, Ansar al-Sharia appeared to confirm both assessments when it issued a statement saying The [Ansar al-Shariah] Brigade didn't participate as a sole entity; rather, it was a spontaneous popular uprising in
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OluSamuelToday
@OlusamuelToday
#Remember
In Deuteronomy 8, Moses gave a very powerful speech. It was actually a Message. Moses told the children of Israel, and us by extension, in verse 2 to 'remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee'. #Remember
The greatest crime anyone of us will commit is to forget. We must #Remember all the way we were brought through because if we don't, we will misbehave and if we misbehave, we will suffer the consequences.
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Anas Alhajji
@anasalhajji
Thread: It is NOT only about #oil, Mr President
1. By threatening to pull US troops from Middle East because US oil production is ⬆️ & Middle East's oil is no longer needed, President Trump is contradicting himself on one hand & bringing a death sentence to US tight oil growth.
2. If it is about #oil only, those countries can crash the market for a long period and reduce US oil production by more than 3 mb/d, making the US more dependent on the Middle East again.
3. But #Trump is missing the point: He needs Middle eastern oil more than ever because of crude quality issues. It is no longer about quantity, Mr. President!
Read 8 tweets
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Fereshteh Sadeghi
@fresh_sadegh
All the forces killed in #terrorist attack on military parade in SW city of #Ahvaz are from #IRGC forces, at least 7 guards injured. 2 terrorists neutralized and 2 on the run. #Iran
This video shows moments following terrorist attack against military parade in #Ahvaz. #Iran tn.ai/1833698
According to Fars news agency 1 terrorist has been injured, another arrested following clashes with Iranian security forces in #Ahvaz, SW of #Iran.
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David Gaffen
@davidgaffen
WEDNESDAY MORNING: Once again. Too much to explain, so best to sum up.

First off, #OPEC and its rapidly disintegrating deal, and Trump's part in that as well. #OOTT #Iran
As is known, #Trump went out again on oil prices this morning - a week before the #OPEC deal that ratchets up, again, the tensions on whether #OPEC will do anything (which they're likely to do).
But figures we have show Saudi Arabia/Russia are already abandoning - or at least pulling away from - the deal. #OPEC #OOTT

13 Jun - RTRS - RUSSIA'S OIL PRODUCTION STOOD AT 11,1 MLN BARRELS PER DAY FROM JUNE 1-12, HIGHER THAN A QUOTA SET BY OPEC+ OIL CUT DEAL - TWO SOURCES
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