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Oil prices slumped on Monday after OPEC+ countries announced a production hike despite oversupply concerns and growing fears that US President Donald Trump’s trade war could weaken demand.Stock markets were mostly down in holiday-thinned trading ahead of central bank decisions later in the week, while shares in film companies fell after Trump announced tariffs on movies made outside the United States.Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other members of the oil cartel announced over the weekend an output increase of 411,000 barrels a day for June, a month after a similar move had already caused prices to fall.The price of crude has also been sliding because of fears of a global economic slowdown on the back of Trump’s tariff onslaught.The OPEC+ move “confirms a stark turnaround away from the production cuts that have persisted since 2022″, said a Deutsche Bank research note.Oil prices fell almost four percent before paring back some losses. Brent, the international benchmark, briefly fell below $60 per barrel for the first time since 2020.Analysts were still trying to pinpoint the oil cartel’s motivation.”The weekend news wasn’t a shocker but the reasons behind the move remain uncertain,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.”The official communication says the group is bringing barrels back to the market because ‘fundamentals are healthy and inventories are low’,” Ozkardeskaya said.”Yet global growth expectations have been crumbling due to a heated trade war between the US and the rest of the world, and rising output only worsens oversupply concerns. So the real reason must be something else,” she added.She said some argued that the Saudis were “punishing” OPEC members who had not complied fully with the previous policy of cutting production.Other theories include that Trump has pressed for lower oil prices to hurt Russian finances and speed up the end of the Ukraine war, or that Riyadh wants to push out US shale businesses and increase its market share.”We don’t know for sure. The exact motive remains unclear,” Ozkardeskaya said.- Fed move -On stock markets, Wall Street’s three main indices slid lower at the opening bell.US stocks are coming off two strong weeks, with gains last Friday driven by strong jobs data and improving sentiment about US-China trade talks.Shares in Berkshire Hathaway fell more than five percent after influential billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday he would retire from leading the firm which he built into a conglomerate worth more than $1 trillion.Shares in entertainment firms slid after Trump said Sunday he was ordering new tariffs on all films made outside the United States, claiming Hollywood was being “devastated” by a trend of US filmmakers and studios working abroad.Shares in Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery were down around three percent, while Lionsgate fell more than five percent.Shares in Paramount dropped more than two percent and Disney 1.5 percent.In Europe, Paris was down in afternoon deals while Frankfurt pushed higher.London was closed for a public holiday, as were Tokyo and Hong Kong in Asia.Investors are waiting for interest rate decisions this week, with the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England holding policy meetings on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.”Our US economists expect the Fed to keep rates steady and avoid explicit forward guidance about the policy path ahead,” Deutsche Bank analysts said.The dollar fell against other major currencies.But the Australian dollar gained against the US dollar after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s election victory on Saturday, while the S&P/ASX 200 fell almost one percent.- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.7 percent at $57.29 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.5 percent at $60.37 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 41,107.23 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.7 percent at 5,647.28New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 17,832.95Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.6 percent at 7,726.57 Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 23,273.07London – FTSE 100: closed for holidayTokyo – Nikkei 225: closed for holidayHong Kong – Hang Seng Index: closed for holiday Shanghai – Composite: closed for holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1359 from $1.1299 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3329 from $1.3268Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.67 yen from 144.97Euro/pound: UP at 85.21 pence from 85.14burs-rl/lth

The Druze are a prominent religious community of more than a million people spread mainly across Syria, Lebanon and Israel, who for centuries have sought to preserve a distinct identity.In Syria, Druze fighters recently clashed with forces loyal to the country’s new Islamist rulers, highlighting the struggles they and other minority groups have faced with shifts in regional power dynamics.”The Druze are a kind of an ultra-tribe which transcends space and geography,” said Makram Rabah, assistant professor of history at the American University of Beirut.Despite being a minority in a majority Sunni Muslim region, the Middle East’s Druze have played “a very important role”, Rabah said.Here is a look at the community:- Religion and customs -The Druze emerged in Egypt in the early 11th century as a branch of the Ismaili sect of Shiite Islam.They are monotheistic and call themselves “muwahhidun”, or unitarians.The sect is highly secretive and includes mystical elements like reincarnation.It does not allow new converts and marriage outside the community is strongly discouraged.A source familiar with Druze rituals, requesting anonymity to discuss matters considered sensitive, said the faith’s emergence was influenced by other religious and philosophical teachings, including those of Greek philosopher Plato.Some Druze religious occasions align with those of other Islamic sects.Traditional Druze garb is black, with men wearing white caps or turbans and women covering their heads and part of their faces with a flowing white scarf.- Where are they? -“The Druze don’t really recognise borders,” Rabah said.”You have marriages and you have standing relationships between the Druze across the region,” he said, adding that “clerics play a very important role in keeping this relationship alive.”Before Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, the community was estimated at around 700,000 people.According to “The Druze Faith” by historian Sami Makarem, Druze have been migrating to southern Syria since the 16th century, to an area now known as Jabal al-Druze, meaning Druze Mountain, in Sweida province.Syria’s Druze are now mainly concentrated in their Sweida heartland, as well as nearby Quneitra province, with smaller pockets in the Damascus suburbs, notably Jaramana and Sahnaya, which recently saw sectarian violence.In Lebanon, an estimated 200,000 Druze are concentrated in the mountainous centre as well as in the south near Israel and Syria.In Israel, some 153,000 Druze are Israeli citizens, living mainly in the north. Unlike other Arab Israelis, Druze serve in the Israeli army.In the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights, more than 22,000 Druze hold permanent resident status. Only around 1,600 have become Israeli citizens, while others remain attached to their Syrian identity.Israel seized much of the Golan from Syria in 1967, annexing the area in 1981 in a move largely unrecognised internationally.The move separated extended families, though Druze in the annexed Golan were often able to cross into Syria to study, attend weddings or sell produce.Some Druze from southern Syria also settled in neighbouring Jordan, where the community is estimated at 15,000 to 20,000.Two delegations of Syrian Druze clerics have made pilgrimages to a holy site in Israel this year, even though the two countries are technically at war with each other.Outside the Middle East, Druze have migrated to regions including the Americas and Australia.Well-known Druze include prominent human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin Clooney and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.- Leading role -Despite their minority status, Druze “have filled an important and sometimes a leading role in the political and social life” of the Middle East, according to historian Makarem.In Syria, Druze Sultan Pasha al-Atrash led a nationalist revolt against the French mandatory power which had established a Druze statelet in southern Syria during the 1920s and 1930s.In Lebanon, Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt played a key role in politics from the 1950s until his 1977 assassination, and his son Walid is a powerful politician.Jumblatt last month urged Syria’s Druze to reject “Israeli interference”, after Israel warned the Islamist authorities who ousted president Bashar al-Assad against harming the minority.Druze leaders have declared their loyalty to a united Syria, though some have called for international protection following recent sectarian violence.Israeli Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif has urged Israel to protect Syria’s Druze.Rabah said there was a Druze “power struggle across three states”, adding that he believes Syria’s community does not aspire to statehood.The Druze largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria’s war after it erupted in 2011, focusing on defending their heartland.Most Druze armed groups have yet to reach a settlement with the new authorities.

All 133 Catholic cardinals who will vote for a new pope have arrived in Rome, the Vatican said on Monday, two days before they gather at a conclave to elect the next head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.Hailing from 70 countries across five continents, the group — summoned following the death of Pope Francis on April 21 — is the largest and the most international ever.At stake is the direction of the Catholic Church, a 2,000-year-old institution with huge global influence but which is battling to adapt to the modern world and recover its reputation after the scandal of widespread child sex abuse by priests.The 133 so-called “Princes of the Church” who will vote — all those aged under 80, minus two who are absent for health reasons — will gather on Wednesday afternoon under the frescoed splendour of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.Voting once that day and four times a day thereafter until a pope is chosen, they will stay at the nearby Santa Marta guesthouse but are forbidden from contacting the outside world until they have made their choice.They will inform the waiting world of their progress by burning their ballots and sending up smoke — black if no candidate has reached the two-thirds majority of votes, or white if they have a winner.On Monday morning, technicians installed red curtains on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, where the new pontiff will make his first appearance.At issue is whether the new pontiff will follow the popular Argentine pontiff’s progressive line or whether the Holy See will pivot towards a more conservative traditionalist leader. Francis, an energetic reformer from Buenos Aires, ran the Church for 12 years and appointed 80 percent of the current cardinal electors.But experts caution they may not choose someone in his model, with many warning there could be surprises.Vatican affairs specialist Marco Politi told AFP that, given the unknowns, the conclave could be “the most spectacular in 50 years”.  – ‘Calm the waters’ -Cardinals met on Monday morning for the latest in a series of preparatory meetings, so-called general congregations, and will gather again in the afternoon.All cardinals are invited to these, not just those eligible to vote in the conclave, taking the opportunity to discuss the issues that will face Francis’s successor.”Nobody campaigns, for crying out loud. That would be extraordinarily stupid and indiscreet, and improper and counterproductive,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.”But you just want to get to know folks, and it works well,” he said on his own podcast.Among the pilgrims and sightseers who gathered in the square on Monday, opinions varied widely about who could or should take over.”Maybe more of Pope Francis than Pope Benedict,” said German visitor Aurelius Lie, 36.”As long as he’s not too conservative (and) influenced by modern political leaders — (Giorgia) Meloni, (Donald) Trump,” he said, referring to the Italian prime minister and the US president.”Maybe the Church will be thinking: ‘We need a tough pope now to deal with these people.’ But their terms will end in a couple of years.”But Canadian priest Justin Pulikunnel did not hide his frustration at the direction Francis tried to take the Church, saying he personally sought a return to a more traditional leadership.”Well, I hope and I pray that the new pope will kind of be a source of unity in the Church and kind of calm the waters down after almost a dozen years of destabilisation and ambiguity,” he said on Sunday.- ‘Changing world’ -The conclave begins on Wednesday afternoon and could continue for days, weeks or even months — although both Francis and Benedict XVI — who was pope from 2005 until his resignation in 2013 — were elected within two days.Italy’s Pietro Parolin, who was secretary of state under Francis, is one of the favourites, as is Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.Among the so-called “papabili” are also Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines and Hungarian conservative Peter Erdo.But many more names have been discussed, and just like when Francis — then an Argentinian known as Jorge Bergoglio — was picked in 2013, a surprise candidate could emerge.Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako of Iraq told reporters before Monday’s meetings that he wanted “a pastor, a father who preserves the unity of the Church and the integrity of the faith but who also knows the challenges of today”.”The world is always changing. Every day there is news. The pope must read the signs of the times to have the right answer and not be closeted in his palace.”burs-ar/ams/sbk

Before his death, Pope Francis donated one of his popemobiles to be converted into a children’s clinic in war-torn Gaza, Catholic charity Caritas said on Monday.The iconic open-sided vehicle, designed to allow the pontiff to greet crowds of well-wishers, has been transferred to Caritas Jerusalem and will head to Gaza if and when Israel opens a humanitarian corridor.The car, a converted Mitsubishi, was used by the pope during a 2014 visit to Bethlehem and had since been on display, gathering dust and rust. It has now been repaired and refurbished as a mobile clinic.  “With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to healthcare — children who are injured and malnourished,” said Peter Brune, secretary general of Caritas Sweden.Brune told AFP that Sweden’s Cardinal Anders Arborelius had asked the late pope, who died on April 21 aged 88, that the spare vehicle be put to use providing essential frontline healthcare to Palestinian children.It will be fitted with medical equipment and a fridge for medicines and be assigned a driver and a team of doctors.”This vehicle represents the love, care and closeness shown by His Holiness for the most vulnerable, which he expressed throughout the crisis,” said Anton Asfar, secretary general of Caritas Jerusalem.It was not clear, however, if or when the aid agency’s hoped-for humanitarian corridor would open.Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid political deadlock over how to build on a two-month ceasefire in its war against Hamas, which was sparked by the militants’ October 2023 attack.On Monday, Israel’s security cabinet approved an expansion of military operations that would lead to what an official described as the “conquest” of the Palestinian territory. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday that at least 2,436 people had been killed since Israel resumed its campaign on March 18, bringing the overall death toll from the war to 52,535.Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Cash-strapped Maldives has signed a deal with a Dubai-based company to establish an $8.8 billion investment zone aimed at diversifying the tourism hotspot into a “financial freezone”, the government said Monday.Three residential and office towers, a convention centre and hotels will form part of the Maldives International Financial Centre (MIFC), President Mohamed Muizzu’s office said …

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