Benchmark oil contract Brent North Sea hit its highest level since late 2014 on Thursday, breaching US$ 80 per barrel, with some market players predicting it could rise all the way to US$ 100. Higher oil prices, in turn, pushed the shares of energy firms in European stock markets higher, helping London's FTSE to set a new all-time high, and the Paris CAC to establish a fresh 2018 peak.
The United States based cereal maker Kellogg is pulling out of Venezuela because of the economic deterioration in the country. Workers said they were prevented from entering the plant in the central city of Maracay on Tuesday. The announcement comes ahead of Sunday's presidential elections.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with Germany's Angela Merkel and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive after the US decision to withdraw, the Kremlin said Friday.
Former US Vice President Dick Cheney said the US should restart the harsh detention and interrogation practices used on terror suspects after 9/11, and called on the Senate to confirm CIA nominee Gina Haspel.
Brazil will surpass the United States as the largest producer of soybeans this year, taking over the top ranking for the first time in history, oilseeds crusher group Abiove said on Friday. The U.S. is expected to harvest 116.48 million tons of soybeans later on in 2018, falling short of Brazil’s estimated collection of 117 million tons for its crop year that is just drawing to a close, Abiove said, citing United States Department of Agriculture figures released on Thursday.
Europe cannot put all of its trust in the U.S. when it comes to protection and should instead “take its destiny into its own hands,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. It's no longer the case that the United States will simply just protect us.
Western powers, Russia and China remain committed to the Iran nuclear deal - after the US announced it was withdrawing from the agreement. The UK, France and Germany say they will work with all remaining parties and urged the US not to obstruct its implementation and the other signatories to the 2015 deal - Russia and China - have also stressed their continuing support.
The dollar hovered near a four-month high on Tuesday, continuing to draw support from higher Treasury yields and upbeat prospects for the U.S. economy, leaving its major rivals such as the Euro struggling and other Latin American currencies including the Argentine peso down sharply.
Britain will remain a “very important pillar” of the United Nations after Brexit, the organization's secretary general has said. Antonio Guterres’s comments appear to contradict the fears of some opponents of Brexit that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU might throw into question its position as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, alongside the US, Russia, China and France.
The influential US gun lobby the National Rifle Association (NRA) has elected a former aide to President Ronald Reagan as its new president. Oliver North, a retired US Marine Colonel, played a major role in the so-called Iran-Contra scandal.