Latest News from ARN News Center
ARN News Center
3 hours ago
- Business
- ARN News Center
OPEC+ agrees July oil output hike of 411,000 bpd
OPEC+ agreed on Saturday to hike July oil output by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd), the same as in May and June, as the group of oil-producing countries continues to bring back supply more rapidly than earlier planned. Eight OPEC+ countries have been raising output faster than scheduled since May, even though the extra supply has weighed on prices. Group leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia areseeking partly to punish over-producing allies and to win back market share. On Saturday, the eight countries agreed to the July increase in an online meeting. The also discussed other options, an OPEC+ delegate said. On Friday, sources familiar with OPEC+ talks had said they could discuss a larger hike. In a statement issued after the meeting, OPEC+ cited a "steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" as its reasoning for the July increase. OPEC+ pumps about half of the world's oil and includes OPEC members and allies such as Russia. While the eight are raising supply, some are being asked to temper those increases to compensate for overproducing in past months. The July hike from the eight will take the combined boost for April, May, June and July to 1.37 million barrels per day, representing a 62% unwinding of the group's most recent output cut of 2.2 million bpd, according to Reuters calculations. "Three strikes from OPEC+, and none were softballs. May warned, June confirmed, and July fires a shot across the bow," said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad and a former OPEC official. Kazakhstan had said on Thursday that it would not cut production, prompting speculation that OPEC+ might go for a larger July increase than 411,000 bpd. Algeria was among a small number of nations that requested a pause in the output hikes on Saturday, a source familiar with the matter said. Oil prices LCOc1 fell to a four-year low in April, slipping below $60 per barrel after OPEC+ said it was tripling its output hike in May and as US President Donald Trump's tariffs raised concerns about global economic weakness. Prices closed just below $63 on Friday. Global oil demand is expected to grow by an average of 775,000 bpd in 2025, according to a Reuters poll of analysts published on Friday, while the International Energy Agency in its latest outlook saw an increase of 740,000 bpd. Besides the 2.2 million bpd cut that the eight members started to unwind in April, OPEC+ has two other layers of cuts that are expected to remain in place until the end of 2026.
ARN News Center
3 hours ago
- Politics
- ARN News Center
Arab Parliament condemns Israel's approval of 22 settlements in West Bank
The Arab Parliament on Saturday condemned the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to approve the construction of 22 new settlements in the West Bank, considering it a ''blatant'' violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 2334. In a statement, the Cairo-based Parliament affirmed the decision represents a serious escalation that undermines the prospects for peace and shuts the door on the two-state solution. It called on the international community, particularly the Security Council, to take immediate action to halt the violations and hold the occupation accountable. The Parliament also urged countries that have not yet recognised the State of Palestine to do so in support of the legitimate Palestinian right.
ARN News Center
3 hours ago
- Climate
- ARN News Center
Death toll in Nigeria floods rises to 151
Flooding in Nigeria's Niger State this week has killed 151 people and forced several thousand from their homes, an emergency official told Reuters on Saturday. Ibrahim Audu Hussaini, director of information at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, provided the new death toll, which was previously reported at 117 on Friday. He added that over 500 households had been impacted and more than 3,000 people displaced. The flooding incident in the central town of Mokwa in Niger State occurred on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday morning. Days later, rescuers were still picking through mud and debris in search of bodies. Nigeria is prone to flooding during the rainy season, which began in April. In 2022, the country's worst wave of floods in more than a decade killed more than 600 people, displaced around 1.4 million and destroyed 440,000 hectares (1.09 million acres) of farmland.
ARN News Center
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- ARN News Center
'M*A*S*H' actress Loretta Swit dies at 87
Loretta Swit, the Emmy Award-winning actress who played no-nonsense U.S. Army combat nurse Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the hit TV series "M*A*S*H" for more than a decade, died on Friday at the age of 87. Swit, a mainstay of one of the most successful and acclaimed series in US television history, died at her home in New York City from what was suspected to be natural causes, her publicist, Harlan Boll, said. Swit earned two best supporting actress Emmys and 10 nominations for her role as Hot Lips, the lusty, tough but vulnerable, patriotic Army career nurse in the series that ran from 1972-1983. As the only regular female character in the ground-breaking show set in the fictional 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War of the 1950s, Hot Lips endured the insults, pranks and practical jokes of the fun-loving male surgeons. The show's cast also included Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, Gary Burghoff, David Ogden Stiers and Jamie Farr. Swit defined her role by playing a strong, determined, independent woman, who had input into the development and storyline of her character, including her split from her married lover Major Frank Burns, hilariously played by Linville, and her own wedding and divorce. She appeared in nearly all of the more than 250 episodes and the series finale, which was the most watched episode of any TV series in history when the show ended in 1983. The TV series was based on the real-life experiences of an Army surgeon, who penned the 1968 book MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, and on director Robert Altman's 1970 black comedy film of the same name.
ARN News Center
11 hours ago
- Climate
- ARN News Center
Flood death toll rises to 117 in Nigeria
At least 117 people have died and several others are still missing after heavy flooding destroyed thousands of homes in Nigeria's Niger state, an emergency official said on Friday. The death toll is a sharp rise from Thursday's figure of 21 people, Ibrahim Hussaini, head of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said, adding that some 3,000 houses were submerged in two communities in the north-central state. Nigeria is prone to flooding during the rainy season, which began in April. In 2022, Nigeria experienced its worst wave of floods in more than a decade which killed more than 600 people, displaced around 1.4 million and destroyed 440,000 hectares of farmland. The flooding incident in Niger state occurred on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday morning, Hussaini said, with a number of people still in the water.
