Greek Finance Minister Resigns Just Days After Appointment; Cyprus Officially Requests Bailout

Bad Omen Monday..  Like, two-headed crow flying backwards, ten feet above your head shrieking "NOOOO!," bad..  Zero Hedge.  Whole Post:

This has to be a record:

•GREEK FINANCE MINISTER RAPANOS RESIGNS; PRIME MINISTER ACCEPTS


This is the same guy who was appointed last week, and who fainted after seeking the official Greek numbers. In fact we are not sure he ever got an official appointment. And elsewhere:


•CYPRUS REQUESTS EU AID


•CYPRUS SEEKS EXTERNAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM EURO AREA: China just said NEIN


Prepare the bath salt firehose.


Repanos: we hardly knew thee. Courtesy of William Banzai:

Welcome, Cyprus!  If you haven't been paying attention, you're in for some "excitement!"

Iran Halts Oil Sales To Greece? That's Sure To Stabilize Things!

Iran Halts Greek Oil Shipments After Bills Left Unpaid – UPDATE [REPORT]  G Captain.  Excerpts:




Iran stopped shipping oil to Greece and may halt supplies to Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN, RDSA, RDSB) over unpaid bills, Iran media said Friday, as the impact of sanctions widens. The news suggests a decline in Iranian oil exports last month may accelerate as banking sanctions add to an upcoming European ban on Tehran oil. That could lead to upward pressure on oil prices, which have recently surged to a four-year high.



The Mehr news agency said that, due to unpaid bills, Iran stopped deliveries to Greek refiners Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE.AT) and Motor Oil (MOH.AT). Greece has long been the European Union country relying the most on Iranian oil–sometimes for as much as a third of its supplies.
And:
Iran halts oil sales to two major Greek firms Tehran Times.  Excerpts:

The Islamic Republic of Iran has terminated oil sales to two major Greek firms over their failure to pay for their crude purchases from Tehran, Press TV reports.



Iran’s decision to bar Hellenic Petroleum and Motor Oil Hellas from purchasing Iranian crude came after they defaulted on their purchases from Tehran.


The interruption of oil flow from Iran is expected to further deepen the financial crisis in Greece.


Oil prices have shot up in recent months in the wake of Iran’s decision to halt its crude exports to certain European countries in response to the European Union (EU) oil embargo on Tehran.


Iran has already cut oil exports to France and Britain in retaliation for the Western-led sanctions imposed on its oil industry.

Interesting.  The EU/West imposes sanctions on Iran, hurting(?) it's economy.  Iran refuses sales of oil to the weakest of EU members(Remember--If one goes, that starts the dominoes!), kickstarting Greece's economic death-spiral.  And the whole world takes a few more steps to financial meltdown and all-out war.  Neat, huh?

And the geo-political Circle of Life is complete.  Until the next crisis manifests, drawing close The Inevitable, that is..