16 h. ago Discounts widen on Russian ESPO blend crude oil to China, sources say

Discounts widen on Russian ESPO blend crude oil to China, sources say  Reuters

Politics

3 d. ago How sanctioned Russian oil flows freely via a tiny Pacific island nation

Dozens of oil tankers suspected of smuggling contraband crude for Russia and Iran have been using a beachside office in the tropical South Pacific to cover their tracks, an analysis of sanctions data has revealed. Nestled next to a pizza shop in the far-flung Cook Islands is the modest headquarters of one of the fastest-growing shipping registries in the world. Without ever setting foot in the palm-fringed microstate, foreign shipowners can pay Maritime Cook Islands to sail under its...

Politics

5 d. ago Kazakhstan tells Ukraine to stop Black Sea oil terminal attacks

Kazakhstan told Ukraine on Sunday to stop attacking the Black Sea terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which handles more than 1 per cent of global oil, after a major drone attack halted exports and seriously damaged loading infrastructure. The CPC, which includes Russian, Kazakh and US shareholders, said it had halted operations after a mooring at its Russian terminal on the Black Sea was significantly damaged by a Ukrainian naval drone attack. Ukraine this year mounted wave after...

Events

6 d. ago Russian drone strike kills 1 near Kyiv amid flurry of peace talks

A Russian drone attack has killed one person and wounded 11 on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, the regional governor said on Sunday. Mykola Kalashnyk, the Kyiv regional governor, reported “another enemy drone attack” and said rescuers were evacuating residents of a high-rise building and firefighting was ongoing. “Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack on Vyshgorod, one person was killed and 11 were wounded. Among them is one child,” Kalashnyk wrote on social media. The latest...

Events

6 d. ago Ukraine naval drones strike Russian oil tankers in Black Sea off Turkish coast

Ukraine used domestically produced Sea Baby naval drones to strike two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, an official from Ukraine’s security services said on Saturday. The two oil tankers, Kairos and Virat – said to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that evade sanctions – were struck in quick succession off Turkey’s Black Sea coast late Friday afternoon. The strikes prompted rescue operations by the Turkish coastguard and other teams. Crew members on board both vessels were reported to be...

Events

2 w. ago Israeli strike on Palestinian camp in Lebanon kills 13, deadliest since ceasefire

An Israeli air strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed 13 people and wounded several others, state media and government officials said. It was the deadliest strike on Lebanon since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war a year ago. The drone strike hit a car in the car park of a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, the state-run National News Agency said. The Lebanese Health Ministry said 13 people were killed...

Events

2 w. ago Russian Oil Prices Sink as India and China Cut Purchases Ahead of U.S. Sanctions Deadline

Russian Oil Prices Sink as India and China Cut Purchases Ahead of U.S. Sanctions Deadline  The Moscow Times

Events

2 w. ago India second largest importer of Russian crude oil in October; China ranks first

India second largest importer of Russian crude oil in October; China ranks first - when will impact of Trump’s sanctions be seen?  The Times of India

Politics

3 w. ago Russian Oil Takes New China Blow After Trump Sanctions: Report

Russian Oil Takes New China Blow After Trump Sanctions: Report  Newsweek

Politics

3 w. ago Civilians or terrorists? Israeli drone strike kills 2 Lebanese brothers

Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed three people and wounded several more on Saturday, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with Israel announcing one of the attacks had hit arms smugglers from a group affiliated with Hezbollah. The National News Agency reported that two brothers from the town of Shebaa were hit while driving on a road on the slopes of Mount Hermon in southeastern Lebanon, “causing their SUV to catch fire and resulting in their deaths”. The Israeli military confirmed that...

Events

4 w. ago Trump grants Hungary’s Orban, a Putin ally, exemption from oil sanctions

US President Donald Trump handed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban an exemption from sanctions to keep buying Russian oil on Friday, as the right-wing allies held a chummy White House meeting. As Orban and Trump heaped praise on each other, the Hungarian nationalist said it would take a “miracle” for Ukraine to beat Moscow, underscoring the gulf between him and other European leaders on the war. Trump, meanwhile, wholeheartedly backed Orban on the touchstone issue of migration, saying that...

Politics

4 w. ago Mass graves, blood stains: satellite images point to horrors in seized Sudan city

Satellite images analysed on Wednesday appear to show mass burials being conducted in El-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized it, further raising concerns about the scale of the violence that descended on the city. The images of El-Fasher come as the two-year war grinds on in Sudan despite growing international outrage, with local media and the United Nations reporting a drone strike targeting a funeral in another city called El-Obeid, killing at...

Events