Section: Egypt Independent (Egypt)
Ukraine, pro-Russian rebels agree new truce
Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels “agreed in principle” on a ceasefire in one separatist province and were working to conclude a broader truce on Tuesday that would end nearly eight months of bloodshed. The latest push for peace in the former Soviet country was being spearheaded by European negotiators alarmed at the unravelling of a...
Oil prices strike new lows, weighing on energy stocks
Crude oil prices sunk to fresh low points on Monday, dragging down the share prices of energy companies, while miners were hit by weak Chinese manufacturing data, traders said.”Oil sector stocks have driven the FTSE lower,” said market analyst Alastair McCaig from the IG trading group.Countering the downward trend, shares in German...
Saudis block OPEC output cut, sending oil price plunging
Saudi Arabia blocked calls on Thursday from poorer members of the OPEC oil exporter group for production cuts to arrest a slide in global prices, sending benchmark crude plunging to a fresh four-year low.Brent oil LCOc1 fell more than $6 to $71.25 a barrel after OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna left the group’s output ceiling unchanged...
Minister: Russia to lose some $40 bn a year due to sanctions
Russia is set to lose around $40 billion per year due to Western sanctions over Ukraine, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Monday.”We are losing around $40 billion per year due to geopolitical sanctions and we are losing some $90 to $100 billion per year due to oil prices falling 30 percent,” Siluanov said in a speech at an...
Protesters give Czech president red card to mark Velvet Revolution
Thousands of people protested Monday on the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution against Czech president Milos Zeman’s Russia-friendly foreign policy and a vulgar diatribe that sparked uproar.The demonstration marked the brutal suppression by communist police of a student march in Prague on November 17, 1989 that sparked the Velvet...
US, Japan and Australia vow to oppose Russian action in Crimea
The leaders of the United States, Japan and Australia lined up together against Russia on Sunday, vowing to oppose Russian incursions into Crimea during a rare trilateral meeting held at the G20 summit in Brisbane. President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said they would oppose...
Russia sees chance of deal at nuclear talks with Iran
A senior Russian diplomat said a deal could be reached this month between world powers and Tehran on curbing Iran’s nuclear programme if there is the will in Washington and Tehran.In Australia for a meeting of the G20 major and developing economies, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters six world powers and Iran had never...
Cameron says Russia sanctions could increase over Ukraine
Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine are unacceptable and could draw greater sanctions from the United States and European Union, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday.”I still hope that the Russians see some sense and recognise that they should allow Ukraine to develop as an independent and free country, free to make its...
Russian troops crossing into Ukraine, NATO says
Ukraine said on Wednesday it was redeploying troops in the east because of fears separatists will launch a new military offensive, despite Russia’s denials it has sent troops to reinforce the rebels.A ceasefire agreed by the pro-Russian rebels and government forces more than two months ago is now all but dead, and Western fears of a return...
Heavy artillery fire around Ukraine rebel city Donetsk
Heavy artillery fire on Wednesday rocked east Ukraine’s main rebel bastion of Donetsk in the fiercest fighting around the city in days, an AFP journalist said.The explosion of outgoing mortars being fired from near the centre towards government positions at the ruined airport could be heard from early in the morning, setting off car alarms,...
