The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries predicted higher demand for its oil in 2018 on Wednesday and said its production-cutting deal with rival producers was getting rid of a glut, pointing to a tighter market that could move into a deficit next year. In a monthly report, OPEC said th
Three suicide bombers blew themselves up near the police headquarters in central Damascus on Wednesday, Syrian state media said, in the second such attack to hit the capital this month. Terror group ISIS later claimed that attack. The blasts killed one person and injured six others, state television
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy demanded on Wednesday that the Catalan regional government clarify if it considered itself independent or not following a speech by Catalan President Carles Puigdemont on Tuesday night. This requirement is a necessary step before triggering Article 155 of the con
The United Nations human rights office accused on Wednesday security forces in Myanmar of not only violently driving away Muslim Rohingya from their homes in Rakhine state, but of also implementing “clearance operations” to prevent their return. The security forces have torched homes, crops and vill
US President Donald Trump asked Congress on Tuesday for a loan of $4.9 billion to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico as it struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico’s central government and various municipalities and other local governments are suffering unsustainabl
Two US strategic bombers flew over the Korean peninsula on Wednesday in a show of force by Washington against Pyongyang’s aggressive nuclear drive. A South Korean Defense Ministry official said, requesting anonymity because of department rules, said the bombers simulated missile strikes off the peni
Crisis talks will be held in Spain on Wednesday after Catalan leaders suspended a declaration of independence on Tuesday in favor of dialogue with Madrid. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will chair an emergency cabinet meeting a day after Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont signed a suspended declaration
Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew on Tuesday from a court-ordered re-run of the presidential election, saying the vote would not be free or fair and leaving President Uhuru Kenyatta as the only candidate. The election re-run is scheduled for Oct. 26. According to Reuters, Kenyatt
Saudi Arabia plans to award a construction contract for its first nuclear reactors by the end of 2018, a senior government official said on Tuesday. “With sponsorship from the highest levels in the state, the contract will be signed by the end of 2018,” Maher al Odan, the chief atomic en
Campaigning for the lower house election kicked off in Japan on Tuesday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeking to fend off a challenge from the Tokyo governor. Up for grabs are 465 seats in the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament. The October 22 election pits Abe’s Liberal Democrat
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced on Tuesday that his country’s military operations in rebel-held Idlib in neighboring Syria are aimed at curbing the flow of refugees towards it. “The reason for our activities is to prepare the groundwork and prevent a potential migrant wave into our
The first dialogue session between the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah got underway in Cairo on Tuesday. Head of the Fatah delegation at the Palestinian reconciliation talks Azzam al-Ahmed said that the key issue that was agreed upon for the dialogue agenda was enabling the government to
More than 11,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees have arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar on Monday in a new surge, said the United Nations refugee agency citing Bangladesh border guards. “We’re back in a situation of full alert as far as influxes are concerned. It is a big increase to see 11,00
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim urged on Tuesday an end to the dispute with the United States over the recent suspension of visa services between the two countries. The US suspension of visa services in Turkey punishes ordinary citizens and the problem must be resolved immediately, he demande
A Russian military jet crashed on Tuesday while taking off Syria’s Hmeimim base, Russian news agencies said. The crew members of the Sukhoi jet were killed in the incident, said a military spokesman. “The Su-24 plane rolled off the runway and broke up while accelerating for takeoff… The
Kabul- The International Committee of the Red Cross will “drastically” reduce operations in war-torn Afghanistan after seven of its employees were killed in attacks this year, the aid group said on Monday. The announcement underlines the deteriorating security for aid groups in Afghanist
Two people were killed on Tuesday when gunmen opened fire at a university in the Kenyan coastal Kwale county, police and a witness said. The victims were identified as two female staff members of the Technical University of Mombasa. Several students, a driver and two policemen were also injured in t
Tunisia’s defense ministry said Monday that at least eight migrants have drowned after their boat sank following a collision with a Tunisian navy vessel in the Mediterranean Sea. Defense Ministry Spokesman Belhassen Oueslati said eight bodies were found and 38 people rescued after the unidentified b
The Iraqi government announced in a statement on Monday new measures against the government in the Iraqi Kurdistan region in wake of last month’s independence referendum. In a sign that the crisis is escalating between the two sides, Iraq’s government committee for national security, which includes
The Philippines military said on Monday that a Filipino doctor wanted over a foiled terrorist plot in New York previously treated pro-ISIS gunmen in the mountains of the country’s south. Russell Salic, 37, had links to the Maute group, which since May had been occupying parts of Marawi city in a bid
