Oil prices extend gains on Iran worries

Oil prices rose further Wednesday on the political instability in major crude producer Iran and the possibility of a US intervention, which also helped push safe-haven gold to a new record high while weighing on the dollar.Wall Street’s main stock indices fell despite US retail sales posting a higher-than-expected 0.6 percent increase in November and several major US banks beating earnings expectations.”Things are looking a little softer at the moment, reflecting a heightened sense of uncertainty in the air,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.”Some of that uncertainty revolves around the path of monetary policy after this morning’s economic data worked against the notion of needing to cut rates again soon,” he noted.Recent data has indicated the US economy continues to hum, the labour market has not seen a major degradation and inflation is holding at a moderate level above the US Federal Reserve’s target.The Fed has tipped it would probably wait to make further cuts in interest rates, and most investors expect it will likely hold off for several months.O’Hare also pointed to traders waiting for a possible US Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday on the legality of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.A ruling against the government would prove a temporary setback to its economic and fiscal plans, though officials have said that tariffs can be reimposed by other means.Meanwhile, China said its trade last year reached a “new historical high”, surpassing 45 trillion yuan ($6.4 trillion) for the first time.Global demand for Chinese goods has held firm despite a slump in exports to the United States after Trump hiked tariffs.Other trade partners more than filled the gap, increasing Chinese exports overall by 5.5 percent in 2025.”We expect this resilience to continue through 2026,” said Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics.Much attention among traders remained on Iran, with Tehran warning it was capable of responding to any US attack, as Washington appeared to be pulling personnel out of a base that Iran targeted in a strike last year.”Traders are closely watching the political unrest in Iran and possible US intervention, which could threaten disruption to the country’s… oil production,” said Helge Andre Martinsen, senior energy analyst at DNB Carnegie.In European stocks trading London set a fresh all-time high thanks to gains in mining stocks, but Frankfurt and Paris slid lower. Asian stock markets mostly gained.Tokyo shares jumped by 1.5 percent while the yen slumped to its lowest value since mid-2024 amid media reports that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi planned to hold an election as soon as February 8.Takaichi’s cabinet — riding high in opinion polls — has approved a record 122.3-trillion-yen ($768 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026.She has vowed to get parliamentary approval as soon as possible to address inflation and shore up the world’s fourth-largest economy.”We are seeing a shift in sentiment that could see European and Asian equities gain ground on their US counterparts,” said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.On the corporate front, British energy giant BP revealed a write-down of up to $5 billion linked to its energy transition efforts that will be reflected in the company’s upcoming annual results.Its share price traded lower most of the day but closed the day with a gain of 1.5 percent.- Key figures at around 1630 GMT -Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.8 percent at $65.96 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $61.35 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 49,124.17 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.7 percent at 6,917.81New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.1 percent at 23,440.38London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,184.35 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,330.97 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 25,286.24 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.5 percent at 54,341.23 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 26,999.81 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 4,126.09 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1656 from $1.1643 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3448 from $1.3426Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.25 yen from 159.15 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.66 pence from 86.71 penceburs-rl/cw

Denmark, Greenland in crunch White House talks as Trump ups pressure

Denmark and Greenland’s top diplomats held high-stakes talks at the White House on Wednesday, with President Donald Trump warning it was “vital” for the United States to take control of the Arctic island.Shortly before the meeting with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Denmark announced it was immediately boosting its military presence in strategic Greenland.Footage from CNN showed Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt arriving at the White House campus, while AFP journalists saw Rubio and Vance heading into the talks.Trump’s escalating threats over Greenland — a vast and sparsely populated autonomous territory belonging to NATO ally Denmark — have deeply shaken transatlantic relations.The 79-year-old Republican insisted ahead of the talks that NATO should support the US effort to take control of Greenland, saying it was crucial for his planned Golden Dome air and missile defense system.”NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable,” he wrote on his Truth Social network.”IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!” added Trump.Vance, who slammed Denmark as a “bad ally” during a visit to Greenland last year, is known for a hard edge, which was on display when he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last February.”If the US continues with, ‘We have to have Greenland at all cost,’ it could be a very short meeting,” said Penny Naas, a senior vice president at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington think tank.Trump has derided recent Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as amounting to “two dogsleds.” Denmark says it has invested almost $14 billion in Arctic security.Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen sought to further ease US concerns on Thursday, telling AFP his country was boosting its military presence in Greenland and was in talks with NATO allies.The Danish defense ministry then announced that it would do so “from today,” hosting a military exercise and sending in “aircraft, vessels and soldiers.”Swedish officers were joining the exercise at Denmark’s request, Stockholm said.- ‘Big problem’ -Denmark’s Rasmussen said ahead of the meeting that he was hoping to “clear up certain misunderstandings.” But it remains to be seen if there is a chance of de-escalating the situation.Greenland’s leader said Tuesday that the island prefers to remain part of Denmark, prompting Trump to say “that’s going to be a big problem for him.”Shortly after the White House talks, a senior delegation from the US Congress — mostly Democrats, but with one Republican — will visit Copenhagen to offer solidarity.Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland — and on what he views as the US backyard as a whole — since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro.The White House has said that military action against Greenland remains on the table.Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an attack on a NATO ally would end the alliance that has been the bedrock of Western security since World War II.It is a founding member of NATO and its military joined the United States in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the latter to much criticism. An agreement with Denmark currently allows the United States to station as many soldiers as it wants on Greenland. It also has a “space base” at Pituffik in northern Greenland.Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen meanwhile said ahead of the Washington talks that “Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”But Trump has been insistent that he wants to acquire Greenland wholesale, repeatedly insisting on what he calls the threat of a takeover by Russia or China. The two rival powers have both stepped up activity in the Arctic, where ice is melting due to climate change, but neither claims Greenland, which is home to 57,000 people.

Mitchell hits ton as New Zealand down India to level ODI series

Daryl Mitchell struck an unbeaten 131 to lead New Zealand to a series-levelling seven-wicket win over India in the second one-day international on Wednesday.Chasing 285 for victory, Mitchell’s eighth ODI ton and a 162-run stand with Will Young (87) for the third wicket helped New Zealand reach their target with 15 balls to spare in Rajkot.Mitchell’s knock trumped an unbeaten 112 by KL Rahul in India’s 284-7 and forced the three-match series into a decider on Sunday in Indore.Mitchell walked in to bat with New Zealand on 46-2 and along with Young helped the Black Caps take control.Young fell to Kuldeep Yadav in the 38th over but Mitchell stood firm to bring up his hundred.He hit 11 fours and two sixes in his 117-ball innings and with Glenn Phillips, who made 32 not out, put together an unbeaten stand of 78.Indian bowlers enjoyed early success when Harshit Rana bowled Devon Conway, who made 16, and fellow quick Prasidh Krishna had Henry Nicholls inside-edge a delivery onto his stumps for 10.But Mitchell, who was dropped on 80, and Young struck regular boundaries as New Zealand completed their highest-ever ODI chase in India.Earlier, India skipper Shubman Gill made 56 before a brief collapse and a 73-run fifth-wicket partnership between Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja.Rahul raised his eighth ODI ton in 87 balls with a six off Kyle Jamieson.India started strongly courtesy of Gill and Rohit Sharma, who scored 24, as the opening pair put on 70 runs.Rohit failed to capitalise on his start and fell to Kristian Clarke, before pace spearhead Jamieson sent back Gill.Clarke kept up the charge with his medium-pace bowling to dismiss Shreyas Iyer for eight and the in-form Virat Kohli for 23.The 37-year-old Kohli, who returned to the top of the ODI batting rankings on Wednesday, walked back to stunned silence after he played on as India slipped from 99-1 to 118-4.Rahul then took centre stage to rebuild the innings along with Jadeja, who made 27.The series will be followed by five T20s, ahead of the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka between February 7 and March 8.

Syrian army tells civilians to stay away from Kurdish positions east of Aleppo

Syria’s army told civilians to stay away from Kurdish military positions east of second city Aleppo on Wednesday, after it moved reinforcements to the area following deadly clashes last week.The deployment comes as Syria’s Islamist-led government seeks to extend its authority across the country, but progress has stalled on integrating the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration and forces into the central government under a deal reached in March.The Syrian military said in a statement it urges “our civilian population to stay away” from all Kurdish military positions east of Aleppo, adding that “a humanitarian corridor will be opened towards the city of Aleppo” on Thursday morning until the afternoon.The army had closed several roads in the eastern Aleppo province “for security reasons”.The United States, which for years has supported Kurdish fighters but also backs Syria’s new authorities, urged all parties to “avoid actions that could further escalate tensions” in a statement by the US military’s Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper.Syrian state television on Tuesday published an army statement with a map declaring a large area east of Aleppo city a “closed military zone” and said “all armed groups in this area must withdraw to the east of the Euphrates” River.The area, controlled by Kurdish forces, extends from near Deir Hafer, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Aleppo, to the Euphrates about 30 kilometres further east, as well as towards the south.State news agency SANA published images on Wednesday showing military reinforcements en route from the coastal province of Latakia, while a military source on the ground, requesting anonymity, said reinforcements were arriving from both Latakia and the Damascus region.Both sides reported limited skirmishes overnight. Kurdish forces in a statement accused government troops of bombing a post office, a bakery and other civilian facilities in Deir Hafer, warning of “a wider confrontation and its serious repercussions on civilians, infrastructure, and vital facilities”.An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of Deir Hafer reported hearing intermittent artillery shelling on Wednesday, which the military source said was due to government targeting of positions belonging to the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.- ‘Declaration of war’ -The SDF controls swathes of the country’s oil-rich north and northeast, much of which it captured during Syria’s civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group.On Monday, Syria accused the SDF of sending reinforcements to Deir Hafer and said it would send its own personnel there in response.Kurdish forces on Tuesday denied any build-up of their personnel and accused the government of attacking the town, while state television said SDF sniper fire there killed one person.Cooper urged “a durable diplomatic resolution through dialogue”.Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration, said that government forces were “preparing themselves for another attack”.”The real intention is a full-scale attack” against Kurdish-held areas, she told an online press conference, accusing the government of having made a “declaration of war” and breaking the March agreement on integrating Kurdish forces.Syria’s government took full control of Aleppo city over the weekend after capturing its Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh neighbourhoods and evacuating fighters there to Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast.Both sides traded blame over who started the violence last week that killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands.- PKK, Turkey -On Tuesday in Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country’s northeast, thousands of people demonstrated against the Aleppo violence, with some burning pictures of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, an AFP correspondent said.Turkey has long been hostile to the SDF, seeing it as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a major threat along its southern border. Last year, the PKK announced an end to its long-running armed struggle against the Turkish state and began destroying its weapons, but Ankara has insisted that the move includes armed Kurdish groups in Syria.On Tuesday, the PKK called the “attack on the Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo” an attempt to sabotage peace efforts between it and Ankara.A day earlier, Ankara’s ruling party levelled the same accusation against Kurdish fighters.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 45 civilians killed in the Aleppo violence, as well as 60 soldiers and fighters from both sides.Aleppo civil defence official Faysal Mohammad said Tuesday that 50 bodies had been recovered from the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods after the fighting.bur-strs/lar/lg/nad/jfx

Groenland: début d’une rencontre sous haute tension à la Maison Blanche

Une délégation du Danemark et du Groenland est arrivée mercredi à la Maison Blanche pour une réunion à haute tension, après que Donald Trump a une nouvelle fois exprimé sa volonté d’acquérir le territoire arctique.La chaîne CNN a publié sur X les images du ministre danois des Affaires étrangères, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, et de son homologue groenlandaise Vivian Motzfeldt arrivant pour leur rencontre avec le vice-président américain JD Vance et le chef de la diplomatie Marco Rubio.Le président américain ne participe pas lui-même à la réunion mais il en a planté le décor, en écrivant sur son réseau Truth Social: les Etats-Unis “ont besoin du Groenland pour des raisons de sécurité nationale. Il est vital pour le Dôme d’Or que nous construisons”.C’est la première fois qu’il fait un lien entre ce gigantesque projet américain de bouclier qui doit permettre l’interception de missiles, et la possession du Groenland, un territoire autonome danois.La Première ministre danoise Mette Frederiksen avait estimé début janvier qu’une attaque américaine sur le Groenland serait “la fin de tout” et en particulier de l’Otan, dont les Etats-Unis et le Danemark sont membres.- “D’une manière ou d’une autre” -Pour tenter d’amadouer Washington, le Danemark a promis qu’il allait “renforcer sa présence militaire” au Groenland, dès mercredi, et dialoguer avec l’Otan pour accroître la présence alliée dans l’Arctique.La Suède a de son côté annoncé mercredi envoyer du personnel militaire au Groenland pour des exercices, à la demande de Copenhague.Mais le président américain juge que seul un rattachement pur et simple du territoire aux Etats-Unis garantira sa sécurité face aux appétits de la Chine et de la Russie.”On défend ce qu’on possède, on ne défend pas ce qu’on a en location”, avait-il lancé récemment.Depuis son retour au pouvoir, Donald Trump évoque régulièrement la prise de contrôle de cette immense île arctique, stratégique mais peu peuplée. Il a durci le ton récemment, assurant qu’il s’en emparerait “d’une manière ou d’une autre”. Le vice-président JD Vance, qui accueille la rencontre dans ses bureaux, est sur la même ligne dure.Pendant une visite au printemps au Groenland, où il n’avait pas été invité, il avait qualifié le Danemark de “mauvais allié”, lui reprochant la faiblesse de son engagement pour la sécurité arctique.M. Løkke a dit espérer lever “certains malentendus” au cours de la rencontre, alors que le Danemark et le Groenland rejettent toute idée de rattachement de l’île aux Etats-Unis.Face à ces menaces, les Européens soutiennent Copenhague: le président français Emmanuel Macron a jugé qu’une violation de la souveraineté du Danemark entraînerait “des conséquences en cascade inédite”.La présidente de la Commission européenne Ursula von der Leyen a affirmé que les habitants du territoire autonome “peuvent compter sur nous”.- “Crise géopolitique” -Selon Penny Naas, chercheuse au German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS), un centre d’études sur les relations transatlantiques, la réunion tournera court si les Américains campent sur leur exigence d’obtenir le Groenland coûte que coûte.Mais, “s’il y a une légère nuance, cela pourrait mener à une conversation différente”, estime-t-elle.”Si nous devons choisir entre les Etats-Unis et le Danemark là, maintenant, nous choisissons le Danemark”, a dit mardi le chef du gouvernement groenlandais, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, à l’occasion d’un déplacement à Copenhague.”Le Groenland n’appartiendra pas aux Etats-Unis. Le Groenland ne sera pas dirigé par les Etats-Unis. Le Groenland ne fera pas partie des Etats-Unis”, a-t-il martelé. Le Danemark, membre de l’Otan, rappelle avoir investi près de 90 milliards de couronnes (12 milliards d’euros) pour renforcer sa présence militaire dans l’Arctique.Mais Donald Trump tourne volontiers ces efforts en ridicule. Il a encore affirmé mercredi qu’il “ne suffisait pas de deux traîneaux à chiens” pour défendre le territoire.

South Africa ramps up vaccinations as foot-and-mouth hits herdsWed, 14 Jan 2026 16:30:11 GMT

South Africa on Wednesday rolled out a 10‑year drive to vaccinate nearly 20 million cattle as a fast‑spreading foot‑and‑mouth outbreak hits herds and squeezes key export markets.The highly contagious viral infection, also known as FMD, is not dangerous to humans but particularly affects ruminant livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats.It causes fever, blisters in …

South Africa ramps up vaccinations as foot-and-mouth hits herdsWed, 14 Jan 2026 16:30:11 GMT Read More »