Author: Steven Sahiounie

Germany and France are opposing efforts by the EU to close a loophole that allows luxury cars and other high-end goods to reach Russia via Belarus, Politico reported on Thursday, citing diplomats.

SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose for a second consecutive session on Thursday amid growing expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September, but the upside was capped by higher US inventories and an OPEC+ plan to increase supply, according to Reuters.

Russia’s oil revenues surged by almost 50% last month compared to a year ago, as crude prices soared and the country continued to adapt to Western sanctions, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Moscow’s income from crude sales rose despite international pressure and forecasts of a deficit. Oil-related taxes climbed to 632.5 billion rubles ($7.1 billion) in May, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Russian Finance Ministry data. Total oil and gas profits grew by 39% to 793.7 billion rubles ($8.9 billion), following progressively increasing prices on Russia’s flagship Urals crude, the country’s key export blend, data showed. The ministry calculated May…

Future advances in AI technology could destroy or catastrophically harm humanity, a researcher told the NYT

Inflation across the Eurozone is likely “to stay above the target well into next year,” the regulator has said

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco has slashed July’s official selling price for the flagship Arab Light crude it sells to Asia, according to an official statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on countries supplying arms to Israel to end their “complicity in its crimes”. Prodding the international community – whom he said hasn’t done enough to end the Gaza “massacre” – Erdogan also urged all “conscientious and responsible parties to take the wheel” to help reach an immediate ceasefire. Erdogan has previously called Israel a “terror state” and its military campaign against Gaza “the most treacherous attacks in human history” with “unlimited” support from the West. Source: AlJazeera

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s sukuk and debt capital market has grown significantly since 2019, surpassing SR30 billion ($7.9 billion), according to the Kingdom’s Capital Market Authority. The regulatory body has announced that the market has witnessed an annual growth rate of 7.9 percent, with unlisted issuances showing a particularly robust yearly growth rate of 9.6 percent. The unlisted sukuk and debt capital market has expanded from SR72 billion in 2019 to approximately SR105 billion by the end of 2023. The total size of the corporate sukuk and debt capital market reached SR125 billion by the end of 2023, compared to SR95…

Antonio Guterres joined in the condemnation of the attack on a UN-run school that killed at least 40 people. “It’s just another horrific example of the price that civilians are paying, that Palestinian men, women and children who are just trying to survive [are paying],” Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. “Of course, he condemns this attack. There will need to be accountability for everything that has happened in Gaza.” Israel’s military confirmed its fighter jets targeted an UNRWA school in the area, claiming they were targeting a Hamas compound. “You can listen to what others are saying and you could…

A Vienna-based privacy campaign group filed complaints in 11 European countries against Meta on Thursday, saying the global tech giant’s planned privacy policy change would allow “unlawful” use of personal data for artificial intelligence technology.