In the coming week the German Constitutional Court will sit to decide if the ESM is compliant with the German constitution and polls show that 54% of Germans are hoping that it is not.
A no vote would severely cripple the European "make it up as you go along" bailout and leave Europe's peripheral nations with little recourse, and Spain with even less cash as it faces a wall of bond maturities in both October and 2013. (Zero Hedge).
Whilst the Wall Street Journal is reporting that 76% of Greeks believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, while 86% aren't satisfied with the coalition government's performance. The Golden Dawn, which was elected to the parliament for the first time during the last elections, would receive 12% of ballots and move up from being the fifth-largest to the third largest party.
China holds more gold than any other nation in the world, except the United States (and that is only what the US government tells you) and is well on the way to being afforded GLOBAL RESERVE CURRENCY status, it has imported 458 tons from Hong Kong so far this year which compares to the ECB's total holding of 501 tons. China last announced its gold holding in April 2009 at 1054 tons and previous reports have set a target of 10,000 tons by 2019.
Finally, Al Jazeera reports on the likely effects of this year's drought and the failure of the corn harvest.
