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OPEC and Russia have postponed a Monday meeting to discuss oil output cuts until April 9, OPEC sources said on Saturday, as a dispute between Moscow and Saudi Arabia over who is to blame for plunging crude prices intensified. The delay came amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for …

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Saturday called on Russia and Saudi Arabia to reach a deal soon and end their oil price war to avoid deepening the oil price crisis. Mexico and others have seen the prices for their crude exports battered in recent weeks after the fallout …

Texas would agree to oil production curbs if U.S. President Donald Trump reached an agreement with international producers on cutbacks, a state energy regulator said on Friday in remarks that drew push back from fellow commissioners. Ryan Sitton, one of three members of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil …

The Saudi energy minister on Saturday rejected Russia’s remarks that the kingdom withdrew last month from a deal to cut output. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was responding to comments made by his Russian counterpart on Friday, according to a statement carried by Saudi state news agency SPA. “The Russian Minister …

Deep output cuts by OPEC and other oil producing nations will not prevent a huge build up of crude, the head of the IEA said on Friday, urging the world’s richest economies to discuss broader ways to stabilise oil markets. Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told …

President Vladimir Putin will meet the heads of Russia’s top oil companies for talks on Friday, the Kremlin said, describing the atmosphere on the global market as “unfavourable”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that the meeting would be held in the same format as one …

The world is about to run out of oil storage and U.S. shale producers are selling crude for almost nothing but they are still refusing to shut production, hoping to survive the storm, one of the world’s biggest oil traders said. The continuing production shows the challenges that Russia and …

The OPEC+ crude oil exporter group is debating cutting global supply by 10 million barrels per day (bpd), an OPEC source said on Friday, adding that any further cuts must include producers from outside the alliance. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had brokered a deal that could …

Israeli police threw up metal barricades and roadblocks on Friday to enforce a lockdown of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish town badly affected by coronavirus. Emergency regulations approved by the cabinet late Thursday declared Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, a “restricted zone” due to its high rate of infections. The new designation …

Recent negotiations involving leaders from major oil-producing nations and the United States will prove irrelevant for oil prices, which are low because of depressed demand, the chief executive of Brazil’s Petrobras said on Thursday evening. During an online event hosted by Brazilian brokerage XP, Petrobras CEO Roberto Castello Branco said …

The United States does not know formal details of Saudi Arabian and Russian plans to reduce oil supply yet and will not ask U.S. domestic oil producers to chip in with their own cuts, a senior administration official told Reuters on Thursday. President Donald Trump said in a tweet earlier …

Twitter took down thousands of accounts linked to Egypt, Honduras, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Serbia on Thursday for either taking directions from the governments or promoting pro-government content. Twitter and other social media companies are under pressure to clean up misinformation and hateful content on their platforms, while abuse related …

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has invited U.S. oil executives to the White House to discuss ways to help the industry “ravaged” by slumping energy demand during the coronavirus outbreak and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Trump also said he had talked recently with the leaders …

Turkish academics, journalists and rights groups are demanding that a planned release of tens of thousands of prisoners to stem the spread of the coronavirus should not exclude inmates whose only crime, they say, has been to challenge the authorities. President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party proposed a bill on Tuesday …

Israel on Wednesday linked any assistance it might offer for the Gaza Strip’s efforts against coronavirus to progress in its attempt to recover two Israeli soldiers lost during the 2014 war in the Palestinian enclave. Blockaded and impoverished, Islamist Hamas-ruled Gaza has reported 12 coronavirus cases and authorities worry that …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that although, the entire world is working together to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic,  the Israeli occupation and its extremist settlers step up their attacks against the Palestinians, storming their cities, towns, …

The Trump administration plans to lease out space for energy companies to store oil in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, after a previous effort to buy millions of barrels for the emergency stockpile was canceled over a lack of funding, according to two people briefed on the matter. The new …

When America has recovered from the coronavirus crisis and people are back to work, Rep. Adam B. Schiff thinks Congress should consider a 9/11-style independent commission to examine why the nation was so unprepared for the pandemic. By David Ignatius Schiff, a California Democrat, told me in an interview Monday that his …

Top U.S. officials have for now put aside a proposal for an alliance with Saudi Arabia to manage the global oil market, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter, an idea one of them said came from White House national security advisers. That the concept was even considered …

By Hiba Kilany Last Christmas, December 2019 (Salento – Italy) It was the season of sharing. We went out to Chinese 1$ shops to buy the oh-so-lame-gift-bags. We greeted every person we bumped through in the streets: we hugged the old relatives, and carried the young ones [below 6 kilos], …

The Group of 20 major economies said on Tuesday that they would present a coronavirus action plan in two weeks to address the debt vulnerabilities of the poorest countries and deliver financial aid to emerging economies. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors discussed in a videoconference how the International …

Iran said on Tuesday its natural gas exports to Turkey have stopped after an attack on a pipeline inside the neighbouring country, an Iranian official told state TV. “This morning, terrorists attacked a natural gas pipeline inside Turkey near Iran’s Bazargan border with Turkey …Flow of gas has been halted,” …

Oil prices firmed on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to talks aimed at stabilising energy markets, with benchmarks climbing off 18-year lows hit as the coronavirus outbreak cut fuel demand worldwide. Brent crude LCOc1 was up by 61 cents, or 2.7%, at $23.37 …

Trade ministers from the Group of 20 major economies on Monday agreed to step up cooperation and coordination to ensure the continued flow of vital medical supplies and equipment and other essentials in the face of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. In a joint statement, the ministers said they would take …

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a phone call on Monday to have their top energy officials meet to discuss slumping global oil markets, the Kremlin said, as Trump called Russia’s price war with Saudi Arabia “crazy.” The agreement marks a new twist in global …

The Heritage Foundation sees the US as the winner in the current situation in Syria, with conflict between Turkey, Russia and Syria.  They conclude, “That leaves the U.S. sitting in not-the-worst position of all the players. We still have some small teams in Syria conducting anti-ISIS operations, but no one …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen carried out several air strikes on Monday on the capital Sanaa, witnesses said. A number of sensitive sites including the presidential palace compound, a military school and an air base close to Sanaa airport were hit, and loud explosions were heard …

An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tested positive for coronavirus but initial findings indicate she had not posed an infection risk to the 70-year-old leader, officials said on Monday. As a routine precaution, they said Netanyahu was scheduled to undergo a coronavirus test by Tuesday. A previous …

An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tested positive for coronavirus, officials said on Monday, but it was not immediately clear if the 70-year-old leader had been exposed or his work affected. “We will take action in accordance with Health Ministry directives,” an official said, announcing the diagnosis …

Pope Francis on Sunday backed a call by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a global ceasefire so the world can focus on fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at his weekly blessing, delivered from the official papal library instead of St. Peter’s Square because of the lockdown in Italy, Francis …

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri threatened on Saturday to suspend his support for Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government if it did not act to bring home expatriates stranded abroad during the coronavirus pandemic. Berri is one of Lebanon’s most powerful figures and named the finance minister and others in a …

Ballistic missiles were intercepted on Saturday in the sky above Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh and the southern city of Jazan, state media reported, citing its own sources and the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Residents in Riyadh reported multiple blasts around 2320 (2020 GMT), followed by emergency vehicle sirens in …

Two intelligence officers at Iran’s consulate in Turkey instigated the killing last November of an Iranian dissident in Istanbul who criticized the Islamic Republic’s political and military leaders, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters. The accusation is likely to strain ties between Turkey and Iran, two regional powers which had …

The heads of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on Friday underscored the need to provide debt relief to poorer countries hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and said official bilateral creditors would have to play a major role. The IMF and the World Bank have both launched emergency programs …

President Trump has turned to a French virologist with a history of criticizing climate science to offer the world hope amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Last week, Trump tweeted that the combination of two medicines could dramatically alter the often deadly course of COVID-19. “HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have …

The Coronavirus-hysteria has gone viral. Global media outlets report on nothing else but the consequences of what the World Health Organisation (WHO) stamped a pandemic weeks ago. In unprecedented moves people are told (forced) to stay home under lockdowns. Economies are being shut down, while the future consequences are largely …

A Saudi Arabian energy ministry official said on Friday there had been no contact between the Saudi and Russian energy ministers over any increase in the number of OPEC+ countries, nor any discussion of a joint agreement to balance oil markets. The comments come after a senior Russian official said …

Israel will deploy its army to assist police on street patrols to enforce a lockdown against the coronavirus epidemic, the military said on Friday. About 500 troops will join police squadrons from Sunday to help “in patrolling, isolating and securing certain areas, blocking routes and additional similar assignments”, the military …

A new OPEC+ deal to balance oil markets might be possible if other countries join in, Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund said, adding that countries should also cooperate to cushion the economic fallout from coronavirus. A pact between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other …

Israel appeared headed for a unity government on Friday after opposition leader Benny Gantz moved towards an agreement with Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu, disappointing voters who had hoped to bring down the right-wing premier. Gantz was elected parliamentary speaker on Thursday with support from Netanyahu’s Likud and allied parties, leaving …

Yemen’s warring parties welcomed a U.N. call for an immediate truce on Thursday as the country entered its sixth year of a conflict that has unleashed a humanitarian crisis, rendering it more vulnerable to any coronavirus outbreak. A Saudi-led military coalition said late on Wednesday that it backed the Yemeni …

The Group of 20 major economies will do “whatever it takes” to overcome the coronavirus crisis and said on Thursday they are injecting $5 trillion into the global economy though national measures as part of their efforts to lessen its impact. After an extraordinary summit by video-link, the G20 leaders …

The U.S. military has decided it will stop providing some of the more granular data about coronavirus infections within its ranks out of concern that the information might be used by adversaries as the virus spreads. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper outlined the plan in an interview with Reuters, saying …

Iran has started an intercity travel ban, an Iranian official said in a televised news conference on Thursday, a day after Iran’s government spokesman warned the country might face a second outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Officials have complained that many Iranians ignored appeals to stay at home and cancel …