Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Oil prices posted their biggest weekly jump since the first quarter of 2023 amid escalating geopolitical tension, with Israel's potential retaliatory strike on the Iran's oil infrastructure prompting worries over supply disruption.
Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world's oil, settled 0.55 per cent higher at $78.05 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, closed up 0.91 per cent at $74.38 a barrel.
Both benchmarks briefly retreated in early Friday trade. For the week, they leapt 8.9 per cent and 9.1 per cent, respectively.
Brent and WTI shot up by as much as 4 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively, on Thursday, after US President Joe Biden said the country was discussing the possibility that Israel will hit Iranian oil facilities in retaliation for Tehran's ballistic missile attack.
The White House has given no further details but the President said he did not expect Israel to retaliate immediately. On Friday, Mr Biden said the US would not support an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure.
Oil prices also rose sharply on Tuesday after Iran's late-night strike on Israel, which drew a vow of swift retaliation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel's conflicts with its Middle East neighbours have been expanding: its war in Gaza has been going on for almost a year and it also launched a ground invasion against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Analysts are particularly concerned on how Israel might respond to Tehran's attacks.
"Global headlines were shaken ... and that Joe Biden may let Israel do it. It’s a complex chain of events, but the possibility of Israel targeting Iran’s oil infrastructure is definitely raising eyebrows around the world and giving a decent energy boost to oil prices," Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, wrote in a note on Friday.
She said crude's upside potential is "clearly present" due to the rising tension. "But it’s important to keep in mind that the gains that are made on the back of geopolitical tensions will – sooner rather than later – be given back. Tactical longs will benefit from the rising tensions as long as they last, and until the focus will return to the market fundamentals of ample global supply and prospects of slowing global demand," she added.
Iran, which produces more than 3 million barrels a day of oil, is an Opec member and is vital to maintain balance in the global energy market. The ample supply of Opec+, however, has managed to keep a lid on oil prices, which remain about 15 per cent lower than their 2024 peak in April.
Opec+ held a panel meeting on Wednesday when the group did not make any changes to its production policy.
Last month, the producers' alliance extended voluntary oil output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day until the end of November amid a drop in crude prices on concerns of slumping demand. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman will pause scheduled increases of 180,000 bpd in October and November.
"The potential for supply disruptions – particularly, but not exclusively from Iran – increases as the fighting intensifies. But Opec+ still sits on unusually ample spare capacity, which is the result of successive production cuts over the past two years," said Claudio Galimberti, chief economist of Rystad Energy.
"This spare capacity is for now preventing runaway prices amid one of the deepest and most pervasive crises in the Middle East in the past four decades.”
The Opec+ alliance is doing a “noble job” of balancing the oil market, even though the group does not produce most of the world’s crude, Suhail Al Mazrouei, UAE’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said on Wednesday.
Oil prices have fallen this year on a weakening global demand outlook and rising supply from non-Opec+ countries. Concerns about fuel demand are primarily focused on China, the world’s second-largest economy and leading crude importer.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Related
Points to remember
- Debate the issue, don't attack the person
- Build the relationship and dialogue by seeking to find common ground
- Express passion for the issue but be aware of when you're losing control or when there's anger. If there is, pause and take some time out.
- Listen actively without interrupting
- Avoid assumptions, seek understanding, ask questions
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MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The years Ramadan fell in May
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Schedule:
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
