CAIRO (Reuters) – Wearing white face paint, stripy top and bright red spectacle frames, Ahmed Naser stands in a street in Cairo distributing face masks and health advice to passing children. The 22-year-old engineering student has been entertaining youngsters ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Monday after major producers finally agreed their biggest-ever output cut, but gains were capped amid concern that it won’t be enough to head off oversupply with the coronavirus pandemic hammering demand. After four day... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Minimal oil price gains on Monday show record output cuts by giant producers will still leave them with a mountain to climb to restore market balance, industry watchers said, with the coronavirus pandemic decimating demand just as stocks ... More »
BAKU/DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC and allies led by Russia agreed on Sunday to a record cut in output to prop up oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic in an unprecedented deal with fellow oil nations, including the United States, that could curb global oil... More »
(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs said on Sunday that oil prices would continue to fall in the coming weeks, reasoning that a “historic yet insufficient” deal by major oil producers to cut output is unlikely to offset a coronavirus-led demand rout. The Organization of... More »
(Reuters) – An agreement by oil-producing nations on Sunday to cut output by a record amount may sustain a recent bounce in stocks, although stay-at-home restrictions and closures tied to the coronavirus pandemic still weigh on the global economy. OPEC and all... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Iraq’s oil minister said late on Sunday that the big oil cut deal reached at an OPEC+ meeting would help stabilize the market. Thamer al-Ghadhban said in a statement that the “massive oil cut deal will help lower oil inventories and boost pri... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Central Bank told euro zone finance ministers that the bloc may need fiscal measures worth up to 1.5 trillion euros ($1.6 trillion) this year to tackle the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, officials told Reuter... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday, after Saudi Arabia and Russia delayed a meeting to discuss output cuts that could help reduce global oversupply as the coronavirus pandemic pummels demand. Brent crude LCoc1 fell more than $3 when Asian markets ope... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – 1/LOOKING TO CHINA The world’s biggest economy won’t be open for business by Easter, as U.S. President Donald Trump had hoped, but the second biggest economy may come close. How China fares offers a guide to other countries when their corona... More »
BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – Rockets landed near a site connected with foreign oil firms and state-run companies in Iraq’s southern city of Basra early on Monday, without causing damage or casualties, oil and police sources said. The rockets, which police said were... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – United Arab Emirates agriculture technology start-up Pure Harvest Smart Farms has raised $20.6 million in fresh funding and secured commitments for a further $100 million, it said on Monday. Wafra International, an investment firm owned by th... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global benchmark oil prices traded as much as $3 a barrel lower as the market opened for Monday’s trading session, reflecting fears of oversupply after Saudi Arabia and Russia postponed to Thursday a meeting about a potential pact to cut p... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Deep oil output cuts by OPEC and other producing nations would not be enough to prevent a huge build in global crude inventories in the second quarter as measures to contain the coronavirus lead to “unprecedented” demand loss, the head of th... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Benchmark Brent crude oil futures climbed to as high as $34.91 a barrel on Friday on rising hopes of a new global deal to cut global crude supply. Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up 12.9%, or $3.9, at $33.83 a barrel by 1321 GMT. Brent soared... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway called on Friday for more money to help the Palestinian Territories get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there has only been one death and 161 reported cases of the coronavirus in the Palestinian Territories, the outbreak is expe... More »
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has ordered up to 9 billion riyals ($2.4 billion) to be disbursed to pay part of the wages of private-sector workers to deter companies from laying off staff, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday. Th... More »
DUBAI/LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – OPEC and allies are working on a deal for an unprecedented production cut equivalent to around 10% of global supply, an OPEC source said after U.S. President Donald Trump called on oil nations to stop the oil rout caused by the ... More »
(Reuters) – Google on Thursday published reports for 131 countries showing whether visits to shops, parks and workplaces dropped in March, when many governments issued stay-at-home orders to rein in the spread of COVID-19. Here is a list of countries in alphab... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) Disney+ content will be available for the first time in the Middle East and North Africa on regional pay television and online streaming service provider OSN from April 9. Dubai-headquartered OSN has signed a “long-te... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Monday that it would extend a suspension at all of its factories in Europe with the exception of Russia until further notice, with a restart expected no earlier than April 20. With the spread of the coronavi... More »
(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp on Friday said it would sell its stake in AnyVision, an Israeli facial recognition startup, and said it no longer would make minority investments in companies that sell the controversial technology. The decision marks a policy change... More »
(Reuters) – More countries imposed lockdown measures as coronavirus cases across the globe ballooned, led by a sharp rise in infections in Europe. Italy banned travel within the country, nearly one in three Americans were ordered to stay home and New Zealand w... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak rose by 149 to 1,433 on Friday, a health ministry official tweeted, adding that that total number of confirmed infections had increased by 1,237 to 19,644. Iran is one of the countries outsi... More »
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Shops closed across Turkey on Thursday to help halt the coronavirus spread, dimming the economy’s prospects and raising questions for hundreds of thousands of workers after Ankara pledged $15 billion in support and advised Turks to ... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on Friday postponing all events related to science, culture and art, as it seeks to contain a surge in coronavirus cases. The country’s death toll has reached four, Health Minister Fahrettin... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a live speech on state TV for the start of the Persian new year, said on Friday that U.S. sanctions has forced the country to become self-sufficient as he called on Iranians to preserve unity. ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would get involved in the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia at the appropriate time, saying low gasoline prices were good for U.S. consumers even as they were hurting the indust... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates on Thursday suspended all sporting events to prevent the spread of coronavirus, raising doubts about whether the Dubai World Cup horse race meeting would go ahead this month. Many professional and amateur sporting eve... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – A rush to sell global bonds in the past week has now rippled into the world of exchange-traded funds with some of the most actively traded seeing the most bulging gaps relative to the value of underlying holdings in years. Exchange-traded fu... More »
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israel’s shekel ILS= slid another 2.5% versus the dollar on Monday to a 15-month low to bring losses to more than 8% so far this month, while share prices continued to tumble in Tel Aviv in the wake of the global coronavirus outbreak. The ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. crude fell below $30 on Monday as emergency rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve and its global counterparts failed to tame markets and China’s factory output plunged at the sharpest pace in 30 years amid the spread of coronavirus. Bre... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan reported eight new cases of coronavirus on Monday, its biggest daily rise, though all of them involved people who had arrived from overseas. The total number of cases in Taiwan stood at 67. Among the latest cases were people returning... More »
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – A fire killed five people at a refining and petrochemicals complex in southern Malaysia owned by Petronas and Saudi Aramco, authorities said on Monday. It was the second fire in less than a year at the $27 billion Pengerang Integrated ... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil extended losses on Monday as an emergency rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve failed to soothe global financial markets panicked by the rapid spread of the coronavirus while a price war rages on between top producers. Brent crude fel... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel plans to use anti-terrorism tracking technology and a partial shutdown of its economy to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. Cyber tech monitoring would be deployed to ... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Muslims gathered in smaller-than-usual numbers at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Friday after religious authorities decided to keep Islam’s third holiest site open for prayers but enact health measures to prevent the spread of the coronav... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Sovereign wealth fund investment in venture capital deals slipped to its lowest level in six years in 2019, with the drop-off deepening in the months after WeWork’s planned share sale failed, data showed on Friday. Sovereign wealth-backed ve... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors pulled out of most asset classes, with stocks and bond funds seeing a combined $36 billion of outflows in the week to Wednesday, BofA said, amid fears of economic damage from the coronavirus epidemic. Stock markets have been sellin... More »
KASTANIES/LESBOS, Greece (Reuters) – A child died after being pulled from the seat when a boat capsized off the Greek island of Lesbos, officials said on Monday, the first reported fatality after the Turkish government opened its border last week to let migran... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Paramedics dressed in head-to-toe protective gear stood guard at dedicated polling stations where Israelis under quarantine from the coronavirus voted in Monday’s election. One by one, voters in face masks and gloves who have been isolate... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s chief medical officer said on Monday it was no longer possible to completely prevent people with the coronavirus from entering the country, citing concerns about outbreaks in Japan and South Korea. Australia, one of the first cou... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) said on Monday that it was suspending flights to China until April 24 and to Tehran until April 30 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Lufthansa said it was also adjusting its flights to northern Italy. It said Austrian Airl... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices jumped more than 4%, up from multi-year lows hit earlier on Monday, as hopes of a deeper cut in output by OPEC and stimulus from central banks countered worries about damage to demand from the coronavirus outbreak. Brent crude ... More »
(Reuters) – The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) said on Monday it has postponed its final qualification tournament for the Tokyo Olympics to June because of the coronavirus epidemic. The six-team event, originally scheduled for April 1-5 in Taiwan... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait’s Health Ministry announced 10 new cases of coronavirus in the country on Monday bringing the total number to 56, a ministry official said. The official, who was speaking during a news conference broadcast on state television, urged ci... More »
VIENNA (Reuters) – The Swiss government has filed a criminal complaint over the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s alleged use of a cryptography company as a front to spy on various governments’ secret communications, the Swiss attorney general’s office said o... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – A drama film shot in secret to evade government censorship that highlights the moral dilemmas faced by those caught in the web of Iran’s capital punishment machine won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear award on Saturday. “There Is No Ev... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s government appointed a new director of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews on Thursday, as the ruling nationalists face accusations of politicizing museums to reflect their view of history. POLIN, which opened its main ex... More »
BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – Fears of a coronavirus pandemic grew on Monday after sharp rises in new cases reported in Iran, Italy and South Korea but China relaxed restrictions on movements in several places including Beijing as its rates of new infections eased... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) no longer has a process for declaring a pandemic, but the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak remains an international emergency, a spokesman said on Monday. Fears of a coronavirus pandemic grew on Monday after ... More »
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Hannaa Jassem bends over a patient in a makeshift clinic on the edge of Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, one of a handful of women in an overwhelmingly male world of demonstrations and political confrontation. The 24-year-old works as a nurse in a ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait and Bahrain on Monday recorded their first new coronavirus cases, all involving people who had visited Iran, which has reported 43 cases of the disease, state media said. Kuwait detected the virus in three people among 700 who had been... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Beijing was not considering issuing travel advisories for countries such as South Korea and Japan that are reporting an increase in coronavirus cases. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Liji... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar will ask passengers arriving from Iran and South Korea to remain in home isolation or a quarantine facility for 14 days over fears of new coronavirus outbreak, Qatar Airways said in a statement on Monday. Source: https://www.reuters.com... More »
BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq has shut its Safwan border crossing with Kuwait to travellers and trade at Kuwait’s request, the local mayor told Reuters on Monday without providing a reason, amid fears over the spread of coronavirus. Kuwait said on Monday three ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait said on Monday three people, including a Saudi national, who returned from Iran were infected by the new coronavirus, state news agency KUNA reported. The three cases, the first in the Gulf state, were among the 700 people evacuated fr... More »
RIYADH (Reuters) – Failure to reach a global deal on where and how much to tax digital giants such as Google (GOOGL.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) or Facebook (FB.O) would result in many digital tax regimes emerging all over the world, France’s Finance Minister said on S... More »
RIYADH (Reuters) – Japanese finance minister Taro Aso criticized on Sunday a U.S. tax reform proposal that he said could undermine global efforts to agree new rules on taxing big tech companies. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) i... More »
RIYADH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Central bankers from the United States, Japan and the euro zone meeting in the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia this weekend had their own shifting sands to cross – those of elusive inflation. The problem facing all three is that pr... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Neanderthal skeleton unearthed in an Iraqi cave already famous for fossils of these extinct cousins of our species is providing fresh evidence that they buried their dead – and intriguing clues that flowers may have been used in such r... More »
(Reuters) – 1/CHINA ON SICK LEAVE A leap in coronavirus cases in Hubei gave markets pause, for all of 24 hours. Then attention shifted back to the global case-count and the rally resumed. But while investors are focused on containment, the world’s second-bigge... More »
(Reuters) – NMC Health (NMC.L) said on Monday its founder BR Shetty had resigned as the Emirati healthcare group’s joint non-executive chairman, leaving UK businessman H.J. Mark Tompkins as sole chairman. NMC, the United Arab Emirates’ largest private healthca... More »
(Reuters) – NMC Health (NMC.L) said on Monday its founder BR Shetty had resigned as joint non-executive chairman, months after the UAE healthcare group was thrown into turmoil by doubts over its finances. NMC is the largest private healthcare company in the Un... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Russian artist unveiled four giant paintings of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in central Istanbul on Saturday, saying he wanted to show the good ties between Ankara and Moscow despite differences over Syria and other issues. However ... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarian prosecutors have pressed new charges including unlawful possession of antiques of historical value against fugitive gambling tycoon Vasil Bozhkov, one of the country’s richest men, officials said on Thursday. Bozhkov, owner of sever... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices slipped lower on Monday as traders assessed China’s oil demand following the coronavirus outbreak and waited to see if major producers will cut output further to balance markets. Oil is off more than 20% from peaks struck in Ja... More »
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems Ltd (ESLT.TA) said on Monday it won contracts worth $136 million to provide customers in Asia-Pacific with airborne laser direct infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) systems. These systems are designed to prot... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey has reduced the range and the levels of fees and commissions that banks can charge clients, according to central bank and banking watchdog regulations announced on Monday. The measures will cut the various charges banks can charge f... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude prices fell on Monday to their lowest in more than a year, dragged down by worries about lower demand in China, the world’s largest oil importer, following a coronavirus outbreak there. There are signs fuel demand has plunged ... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s consumer price inflation rose a bit more than expected to 12.15% year-on-year in January, official data showed on Monday, climbing for the third consecutive month after a dramatic drop last year. A currency crisis in 2018 sent inf... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Sovereign wealth funds’ investment moves are becoming more closely aligned with the global asset management industry as they mature, and their growing size makes it harder for them to make contrarian bets, a report showed. But the move to mo... More »
(Reuters) – World number one Brooks Koepka said on Tuesday he thinks the Premier Golf League (PGL), a proposed series that could potentially overshadow the main tours, might actually happen after plans were announced last week. While Koepka acknowledged he sti... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Crude prices fell more than 2% to multi-month lows on Monday as the rising number of cases of the new coronavirus in China and city lockdowns there deepened concerns over oil demand. Brent crude LCOc1 fell by $1.28 a barrel, or 2.1%, to $59.4... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund estimates that Kuwait’s financing needs will amount to some $180 billion over the next six years given the Gulf state’s “modest” fiscal measures and expectations of lower oil prices. Kuwait said earlier this mo... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranians should not allow U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” approach to harm national unity ahead of parliamentary elections, President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech, lashing out at hardliners over mass disqualification of ca... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Oman’s energy minister Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhy told Reuters on Monday he fully supported Saudi Arabia’s readiness to react to any impact the new coronavirus could have on the oil market. “Oman fully supports the statement (and the spirit)... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. presidential contender Michael Bloomberg pledged on Sunday to “always have Israel’s back,” while separately joking he was the only Jewish candidate who does not want to turn the United States into a “kibbutz.” The joke, made during a speech on... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Renault’s (RENA.PA) engineering boss will meet his counterpart at Nissan (7201.T) in Japan this week, two sources close to Renault said, as the carmakers seek to revive projects crucial to an alliance left reeling by the Carlos Ghosn affair. ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany on Wednesday returned three art works to a descendant of a Jewish French collector who owned them until his death in 1941 in Nazi-occupied France. Two of the pictures came from a trove of works held by Cornelius Gurlitt, which was di... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran said on Monday that it had not closed the “door to negotiations” in efforts to resolve a dispute over its nuclear agreement with world powers that has escalated steadily since the United States withdrew from the deal in 2018. Foreign Min... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – As the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division departed for the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, their divisional commander gave a simple order. All personnel entering the region were told to leave smartphones a... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices rose slightly on Monday as investors shift their focus away from easing Mideast tensions to this week’s scheduled signing of an initial U.S.-China trade deal which could boost economic growth and demand. Brent crude LCOc1 was up 2... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Libya’s warring rival leaders will hold peace talks in Moscow on Monday alongside representatives from Russia and Turkey, Russian news agencies cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying. The talks come after a ceasefire in Libya, initiate... More »
LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) – An outbreak of pneumonia that has killed one person in China and infected 40 others appears to be linked to a single seafood market in the central city of Wuhan and has not spread beyond there so far, the World Health Organization sa... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices steadied on Thursday a day after tumbling on concerns raised by an Iranian missile strike on Iraqi bases hosting U.S. forces. Brent crude futures were down 5 cents at $65.40 a barrel by 0728 GMT after a 4.1% fall on Wednesday. They... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Transport app FlixMobility reported on Thursday a 37% increase in passenger numbers last year, as Germany’s best-funded tech startup claimed the mantle of the world’s biggest provider of intercity bus services. FlixMobility, which runs an Ub... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the government was considering several possible causes of a plane crash in Iran, which killed 176 citizens of 7 countries. The Ukraine International Airline jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Te... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – A Ukrainian airliner was on fire immediately before it crashed southwest of Tehran, killing all 176 on board, according to an initial report by Iranian investigators. The Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737-800, flying to Kiev and car... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Spoon-bending celebrity psychic Uri Geller, 73, has applied for a job in the British government in response to an advert for “misfits” and “weirdos”, saying no other candidate would possess his powers. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday the House would vote on a resolution intended to limit President Donald Trump’s military actions regarding Iran, stating that concerns about the administration’s strate... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell almost 1% on Tuesday, surrendering some recent gains as investors reconsidered the likelihood of immediate supply disruptions in the Middle East after the United States killed a top Iranian military commander last week. Bre... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) [ISRAI.UL] said on Thursday it signed with the Israeli government to build the country’s next communication satellite. The satellite, to be called Dror-1, is supposed to operate for 15 years, ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday postponed a trip to Ukraine so he could focus on the situation in Iraq after demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassy. Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups stormed the U.S... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday, but were holding near recent three-month highs amid expectations that the United States and China will soon agree on a trade deal, with President Donald Trump saying an agreement would be signed “very shortly”. Bren... More »
GENEVA (Reuters) – The secondary circuit of Iran’s Arak heavy water nuclear reactor will become operational on Monday, the country’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported. The starting of the secondary circuit will not violate restrictions placed on Iran’s n... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s IceCure Medical said on Sunday it received U.S. regulatory approval to expand the use of its cryoablation technology to treat benign and cancerous tumors in livers and kidneys, sending its share price up 30%. IceCure’s treatment ... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Weeks after U.S. authorities brought a spying case against three Saudi nationals for digging up dissidents’ personal data at Twitter, the company suspended tens of thousands of accounts that appear to be linked to one suspect’s compan... More »
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israeli defense electronics firm Elbit Systems said on Wednesday its nanosatellite, called Nanova, was successfully launched into space. Nanova was developed in collaboration with an unnamed U.S. company and is planned to be a part of a na... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia expects to sign more deals with the United Arab Emirates in the energy, health and education sectors during a visit to the country next month by President Joko Widodo, a ministry statement released on Monday said. The Indonesian g... More »
