SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell on Monday as concerns over slowing economic growth weighed on markets.
Brent crude futures, which act as a benchmark for international oil prices, were at $71.59 per barrel at 0413 GMT, down 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $65.67 per barrel.
Reuters technical commodity analyst Wang Tao said Brent and WTI would likely come under pressure soon, testing support at $70.62 per barrel and $64.83 per barrel respectively.
“Disappointing industrial data out of China along with concerns over emerging market economies centered on Turkey weighed on commodities,” Edward Bell of Emirates NBD bank said in a note on Sunday.
In the United States, US energy companies last week kept the oil rig count unchanged at 869, according to the Baker Hughes energy services firm.
“The recent softening in benchmark prices should temper the pace of growth in US exploration and production activity, and lead to slower overall output growth,” Bell said.
Outside the United States, traders said US sanctions against Iran could soon impact prices.
The US government has introduced financial sanctions against Iran which, from November, will also target the country’s petroleum sector.
Iran produced around 3.65 million barrels per day of crude in July, according to a Reuters survey, making it the third biggest producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Oil prices edge down on worries over slowing economic growth
Oil prices edge down on worries over slowing economic growth
- ‘Disappointing industrial data out of China along with concerns over emerging market economies centered on Turkey weighed on commodities’
- Outside the United States, traders said US sanctions against Iran could soon impact prices
UK prime minister summons university leaders over pro-Palestinian protests
- Meeting to discuss antisemitism, ensuring Jewish students are safe
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is to summon the leaders of universities following pro-Palestinian protests that have taken place at campuses across the country.
The meeting will take place this week to discuss antisemitism on campuses and ensuring Jewish students are safe, Sunak told Britain’s Cabinet on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the prime minister said Sunak expected university leaders to take “robust action” in dealing with the protests, The Evening Standard reported.
“Our university campuses should be places of rigorous debate, but they should also be tolerant places where people of all communities, particularly Jewish students at this time, are treated with respect,” the spokesman said.
The “right to free speech does not include the right to harass people or incite violence,” he added.
The summons comes after British students set up pro-Palestinian protest encampments at Oxford and Cambridge campuses on Monday, in a show of solidarity with their American peers.
Cambridge University said its priority was the “safety of all staff and students” and that it was committed to freedom of speech.
“We will not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia and any other form of racial or religious hatred, or other unlawful activity,” a spokesperson said.
Pro-Palestinian protests have been taking place at US universities since April 17 and the protests have spread to Europe.
Police broke up student demonstrations in the Netherlands, Germany, and France on Tuesday as Israeli forces seized the main border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza.
UK marine agency reports two explosions in Gulf of Aden
- The Houthi militia that controls the most populous parts of Yemen and is aligned with Iran have staged attacks on ships in the waters off the country for months
AL-MUKALLA: The UK Maritime Trade Operations reported on Tuesday two explosions near a ship in the Gulf of Aden as international marine task forces in the Red Sea shot down drones fired by the Yemeni Houthi militia.
The skipper of a ship transiting the gulf notified the UK maritime agency of two explosions “in close proximity to” the ship 82 nautical miles south of Yemen’s southern city of Aden, and that the ship and crew were unharmed.
The incident prompted the UKMTO to encourage ships traveling in the Gulf of Aden to be cautious and to report “any suspicious activity.”
This comes as the US military and the EU naval operation in the Red Sea said they shot down Houthi drones in the previous 24 hours.
US Central Command announced in a statement on Tuesday that its forces destroyed on Monday one uncrewed aerial system fired by the Houthis from Yemeni territory under their control, targeting foreign commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea.
“It was determined the UAS presented an imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” USCENTCOM said.
The EU mission in the Red Sea, known as Eunavfor Aspides, said an Italian frigate shot down one drone on Monday while responding to a strike conducted by the Houthis from regions under their control in Yemen.
Until Tuesday afternoon, the Houthis had not claimed responsibility for new strikes on commercial or navy ships in the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden.
Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship, sunk another, and launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles against vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and, most recently, the Indian Ocean in support of the Palestinians against Israel’s war in Gaza.
On Friday, the Houthis said they will expand their campaign against Israel to the Mediterranean, targeting Israel-linked ships there and any place within range of their drones and missiles.
Meanwhile, the Houthis claimed on Monday to have uncovered an “espionage” network working for the US and Israel.
Houthi media broadcast images and videos of 10 individuals from the western province of Hodeidah who admitted to being recruited by Yemeni military officers at military locations under government control.
They claimed that these individuals were given the task of gathering information about the locations of missile and drone launchers, boats, weapons storage facilities, trenches, and movements of the Houthi forces, and that their information assisted US and UK strikes at those locations.
The Houthis accused Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, a former intelligence official and brother of Tareq Saleh, a member of the country’s presidential council, of running the dismantled network from a military base on the country’s western coast.
In 2022, a Houthi court in Sanaa sentenced Ammar Saleh to death in absentia for allegedly damaging Yemeni military missiles and air-defense systems while serving as the deputy director of the National Security Bureau.
Yemen’s Minister of Information Moammar Al-Eryani described the Houthi claims as “fabricated lies,” accusing them of torturing “innocent” people who appeared on the footage to convince them to admit to crimes they did not commit.
He added that the Houthis were using Israel’s war in Gaza to lay the groundwork for a new military operation against the Yemeni government.
“The terrorist Houthi militia’s scapegoating of innocent inhabitants of Tehama (Hodeidah), dictating them these lines as depicted in the false scenes it disseminated, and forcing them to make unfounded confessions through torture, pressure, and coercion,” Al-Eryani said on X.
Human Rights Watch says Israel attack on Lebanon rescuers was unlawful
- HRW’s Lebanon researcher Ramzi Kaiss: ‘Israeli forces used a US weapon to conduct a strike that killed seven civilian relief workers in Lebanon who were merely doing their jobs’
- Activists from the Gathering of Free University Students organized a demonstration in front of the American University of Beirut campus in support of Palestine and the people of Gaza
BEIRUT: Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said an Israeli strike in Lebanon that killed seven first responders was “an unlawful attack on civilians,” and urged Washington to suspend the sale of weapons to Israel.
“An Israeli strike on an emergency and relief center” in the southern village of Habbariyeh on March 27 “killed seven emergency and relief volunteers,” constituting an “unlawful attack on civilians that failed to take all necessary precautions,” HRW said in a statement.
It said the massacre was committed against “a civil society association that provides emergency services, ambulances, first-aid training, and primary care and relief services in Lebanon.”
Furthermore, HRW said it “did not find any evidence of the presence of military targets at the site that was targeted with the acknowledgment of the Israeli army, which did not take possible precautions to ensure that the target was military … which makes the raid illegal.”
Ramzi Kaiss, HRW’s Lebanon researcher, said: “Israeli forces used a US weapon to conduct a strike that killed seven civilian relief workers in Lebanon who were merely doing their jobs.”
He said the Israeli army used US-made ammunition to carry out the raid.
HRW said it “sent a letter containing the results of reviewing the photos and videos of the site before and after the raid, including a video of the remnants of the ammunition found at the site, and questions to the Israeli army and the US State Department on April 19, but did not receive any response.”
The rights group said it found a metal fragment at the site of the bombing with “MPR 500” written on it, confirming that it is from a 500-pound general-purpose bomb made by Israeli company Elbit Systems, and the fragments and fins are part of a joint direct attack munition set manufactured by American company Boeing.
HRW urged the US to “immediately suspend arms sales and military assistance to Israel given evidence that the Israeli military is using US weapons unlawfully.”
The organization asked Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry to “take immediate action by submitting a declaration to the International Criminal Court, allowing it to investigate crimes falling within its jurisdiction committed on Lebanese territory since October 2023, and prosecute the perpetrators.”
A group of activists from the Gathering of Free University Students organized a demonstration in front of the American University of Beirut campus in support of Palestine and the people of Gaza.
The participants raised a large banner supporting “resistance and boycott until the disintegration of the Israeli entity and the establishment of one Palestine.”
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince expected to visit Pakistan ‘any time’ during May — FM Dar
- The development comes after a flurry of high-level engagements between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks
- Both countries have been working closely to increase bilateral trade and investment in several diverse sectors
ISLAMABAD: Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, on Tuesday said the much-awaited visit of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Islamabad was on the cards and could materialize “any time” during the month of May.
The statement follows a series of high-level engagements between the two countries, including the visits of Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif to the Kingdom and a visit of Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan to Islamabad.
The visit by the Saudi Crown Prince would mark his first trip to Pakistan in the last five years. His previous visit took place in February 2019 during the tenure of former prime minister Imran Khan.
“That visit [of Saudi Crown Prince] is due, which will happen any time during May,” Dar told reporters at a media briefing in Islamabad. “We will receive the final dates from there [Saudi Arabia] and as a foreign ministry, we are in touch and his visit as of now is on the cards.”
The Saudi Crown Prince accepted PM Sharif’s invitation to visit Pakistan during their meeting in Ramadan, according to Dar.
“He [Saudi Crown Prince] said that he will visit Pakistan after the initial government-to-government (G2G) and business-to-business (B2B) meetings,” the Pakistani foreign minister said.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been working closely in recent weeks to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month reaffirming the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite an investment package of $5 billion.
PM Sharif discussed increasing bilateral trade and investment in his meeting with the Crown Prince during Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia on April 6-8, according to Dar.
It was followed by the visit of a Saudi ministerial delegation, led by FM Prince Faisal, to Islamabad on April 15-16, during which Pakistan presented the Saudi delegation with an investment menu that was “meticulously prepared after extensive efforts.”
Following Sharif’s talks with the Crown Prince and other top Saudi officials in Riyadh, a 50-member, high-level delegation, led by the Kingdom’s Assistant Minister of Investment Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday to explore investment opportunities in the South Asian country.
“The Saudi Assistant Investment Minister has brought prominent private Saudi companies for B2B meetings as government could only involve in major projects such as Reko Diq, petrochemicals and mining,” he said, adding that his government had aligned Pakistani companies for matchmaking.
“While bilateral trade volume will be bolstered through the private sectors of both sides, the government will facilitate this process as demonstrated by our recent efforts.”
Dar said Pakistan’s future looked “promising” due to the rapid progress made on the bilateral trade and investment agenda, on the directives of the Saudi Crown Prince.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense, and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as a top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
Hyo-Joo Kim relishing chance to play Aramco Team Series event in home country
- ‘Unique format of the event excites me,’ golfer says
- $1m pro-am competition is first for Ladies European Tour in South Korea
LONDON: South Korean golfer Hyo-Joo Kim says she is “excited” about playing in an Aramco Team Series event in her home country later this week.
The series is heading to Seoul for the second leg of a five-location global tour, as the Ladies European Tour makes its debut in South Korea, at the New Korea Country Club.
The event runs from Friday to Sunday and will see 36 teams — each comprising three professionals and one amateur — competing for the team title, before the professionals battle it out on the final day for the individual title and a share of the $1 million prize pot.
Kim said that playing in front of a home crowd would be a major source of motivation to clinch her first Aramco Team Series in her debut year.
“I’ve heard from those on tour how special Aramco Team Series events are and how they are set up like a major. As soon as I heard the series was heading to Korea for the first time there was no doubt that I would be competing,” she said.
“The unique format of the event excites me. I’ve never played in a tournament quite like it. I’m looking forward to competing with some of my fellow LPGA players here on Korean soil and exciting the passionate crowds.”
Kim will be joined by American Danielle Kang, who is on the hunt for her first win since 2022. The 2017 KPMG PGA Championship winner is no stranger to the city and has Korean heritage.
“I’m thrilled to be participating in the Aramco Team Series in Korea,” Kang said.
“I absolutely love the team aspect of this series and can’t wait to play alongside a great field of golfers from both the LPGA and LET. I am very thankful for this opportunity and excited to compete.”
