Middle East

Singapore, Sept 23: Oil prices rose to their highest in two sessions on Monday amid concerns about oil supply disruptions from Saudi Arabia and elevated tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures increased to as much as $65.50 a barrel. The front-month contract was at $64.84, up 57 cents, or 0.9% at 0224 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $58.61 a barrel, up 52

Riyadh, Sept 22: Saudi Aramco has emerged from attacks on its oil facilities “stronger than ever,” Chief Executive Amin Nasser told employees in a message, adding that full oil production would resume by the end of this month. The Sept. 14 attacks on the Abqaiq and Khurais plants, some of the kingdom’s biggest, caused raging fires and significant damage that halved the crude output of the world’s

Riyadh, Sept 19: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday displayed remnants of what it described as Iranian drones and cruise missiles used in an attack on Saudi oil facilities, saying they were "undeniable" evidence of Iranian aggression. A total of 25 drones and missiles were launched at two oil plants in last weekend's strikes, including Iranian Delta Wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and "Ya Ali" cruise

Washington, Sept 18: The attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities have global consequences and the UN must play its part to address threats to international peace, a senior Trump administration official has said, as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left for Jeddah for talks with the top Saudi leadership. Saudi Arabia, a key American ally, leads a military coalition that has been battling the Iran

Dubai, Sept 15: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is blaming Iran for drone attacks Saturday against Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure. The attacks, attributed to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, sparked huge fires at a vulnerable chokepoint for global energy supplies. But in Saturday tweets, Pompeo said that "there is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen" and points the finger at Tehran

Riyadh, Sept 15: Saudi Arabia has temporarily halted production at two Aramco oil facilities that were attacked by Yemeni rebels, interrupting about half of the company's total output, the energy minister said on Saturday. The attacks "resulted in a temporary suspension of production at Abqaiq and Khurais plants," Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the energy minister said in a statement carried by the

Abqaiq/Khurais, Sept 14: A major Saudi Arabian oil processing facility and oilfield was drone-attacked on Saturday causing a huge fire at the site. The assault on Saudi Aramco's processing plant in Abqaiq and at the Khurais oil field caused huge fire but no casualty was reported, Gulf News reported. The Saudi Interior Ministry said that no one had claimed responsibility for the attack on the

Jerusalem, Sept 12: Saudi Arabia led a chorus of international condemnation on Wednesday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to annex the Jordan Valley. The Kingdom said there was “no peace without the return of the occupied Palestinian territories,” and called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers. “The Arab and Islamic worlds’ preoccupation with many local and

Baghdad, Sept 11: A walkway collapsed and set off a stampede in the holy city of Karbala on Tuesday as thousands of Shiite Muslims marked one of the most solemn holy days of the year. At least 31 people were killed and about 100 were injured, officials said. It was the deadliest stampede in recent history during Ashoura commemorations, when hundreds of thousands of people converge on the city

Dubai, Sept 9: Thushar Vellapally, President of a coalition partner of the BJP-led NDA in Kerala, who was arrested last month in the UAE in connection with a Rs 19 crore cheque default case, has been cleared of all charges in the case by a UAE court, the leader himself said here on Sunday. Vellapally, who unsuccessfully contested as the NDA candidate against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the