NEW YORK: OPEC and allied oil-producing countries decided Thursday to maintain the amount of oil they pump to the world even as the new omicron variant casts a shadow of uncertainty over the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Officials from OPEC countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and their allies, led by Russia, voted to stick with a pre-omicron pattern of steady, modest monthly increases in oil releases — a pace that has frustrated the United States and other oil-consuming nations as gasoline prices rise.
The OPEC+ alliance approved an increase in production of 400,000 barrels per day for the month of January.
The fast-mutating variant led countries to impose travel restrictions when it emerged late last week. In a worst-case scenario, lockdowns triggered by omicron could cut oil demand by nearly 3 million barrels per day in early 2022, according to projections by Rystad Energy.
Positive news about drugs to treat the variant or the vaccines’ effectiveness against it could improve that outlook. But even with positive news, a decrease in oil demand is likely because “the distribution of these remedies may not actually reach all markets with extreme immediacy, which would still necessitate the lockdowns in much of the developing world,” said Louise Dickson, senior oil markets analyst for Rystad.
The price of a barrel of US benchmark crude fell with news of the variant and then fell further as OPEC+ revealed it wasn’t going to curtail production. It was about $78 a barrel a week ago and was trading at about $66 a barrel Thursday. International benchmark Brent crude followed a similar path, falling from $79 a barrel a week ago to about $69 on Thursday.
The decision by OPEC+ to stay the course sends a signal that “the group does what it says and that they will continue their policy on their own terms,” Dickson said. “It also really signals that OPEC+ needs a bit more time to really dig into the numbers on the omicron variant.”
Some analysts had predicted that the OPEC+ alliance — made up of OPEC members and allied non-members like Russia — would act cautiously Thursday, pending more clarity from medical experts on the new variant.
Before omicron’s appearance, the OPEC+ meeting had been shaping up as a potentially fraught moment in a growing dispute between oil-supplying nations and oil-consuming ones, as the global economy rebounds from the worst of the pandemic downturn and demand for oil surged.
Angering the US and its allies, OPEC+ has stuck to a plan to open the petroleum taps bit by bit — even as oil prices surged to seven-year highs — until deep production cuts made during the depths of the pandemic are restored.
With rising gas prices putting him under political pressure at home, President Joe Biden last week responded to OPEC’s refusal to increase supplies more quickly by announcing the US and other nations would release tens of millions of barrels of oil from their strategic reserves, boosting supplies and temporarily lowering prices. But gasoline prices in the US barely moved.
And then, omicron’s emergence unsettled those dynamics.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that there are no plans to slow releases from strategic reserves, despite the advent of the variant and OPEC’s decision.
“We welcome the decision today to continue the 400,000 barrels-per-day increase,” Psaki said. “We believe this should help facilitate the global economic recovery.”
OPEC+ will meet again Jan. 4.
OPEC+ sticks to modest boost in oil output despite omicron
https://arab.news/j5dy2
OPEC+ sticks to modest boost in oil output despite omicron
Erased identity: Post-war adoptee seeks German roots
- “The French authorities actively sought these children and pressured the mothers to give them up,” said Yves Denechere, a historian at the University of Angers. “This was about replenishing the population after the war”
CHAVILLE, France: Claudine Spire pointed to a group of toddlers in a black-and-white photo. “I thought I recognized myself,” she said, indicating a girl with curly hair and a short coat. But it was not her.
As part of the 78-year-old Frenchwoman’s relentless search for her roots, Spire found the photo a few days ago in the archives of the French ministry of foreign affairs.
“I felt as a child that I didn’t quite belong,” she said. “I didn’t look like anyone in the family.”
Spire is among the post-war children from the French-occupied part of Germany who had German mothers and French soldiers as fathers.
About 1,500 of them were brought to France, presumably illegally, by French authorities between 1946 and 1951 and handed over to adoptive families.
“The French authorities actively sought these children and pressured the mothers to give them up,” said Yves Denechere, a historian at the University of Angers. “This was about replenishing the population after the war.”
German women expecting a child from a Frenchman were required to report this to the occupying authorities. While still in the maternity ward, many were visited by “research officers” who urged them to part with the child, claiming that their son or daughter would have a better future in France.
The officers brought a form, ready for the mothers to sign: “For personal reasons, I hand over my child to the French authorities,” it said. The mothers waived all rights to the child, and stated that they did so willingly.
Claudine Spire’s mother, who became pregnant at 19, was pressured by her parents to give up the “child of the enemy.”
Claudine was placed in a French children’s home in Nordrach in the Black Forest when she was barely one and a half.
The French occupying authorities had set up the home in a former “Lebensborn” institution that had been run by the Nazis to promote the Aryan race.
In selecting children for adoption, the French postwar authorities used racial selection criteria that were eerily similar to those applied by the Third Reich.
“The children sent to France were mainly white, with blond hair, and in good health,” said Denechere.
Since about half of the French soldiers stationed in Germany were from North or sub-Saharan Africa, many children did not match the criteria and were either returned to their mothers or placed in German children’s homes.
“I was on the list of children who were not to be proposed for adoption,” said Spire, whose father came from Morocco.
But adoptive parents were found for her regardless, and she grew up in a loving family.
Only in her early 50s did she feel compelled to search for her roots.
“I knew that I was adopted, but I didn’t know the circumstances,” she said.
The more she learnt about the past, the more she was shocked.
“It’s absolutely disgusting what the French state did back then,” Spire said, also condemning postwar Germany for allowing the adoptions to happen.
Spire eventually found her German mother. Their first meeting took place in the entrance hall of a hospital in Offenburg in southwest Germany, just across the border from Strasbourg.
“It was very strange. She hadn’t told her husband and daughter anything about me,” Spire remembered.
Her mother addressed her as Margarete, her birth name that was changed upon adoption.
“Our origins were erased,” Spire states.
These adoptions took place in a legal vacuum, as Germany, having no government, was divided into zones occupied by various Allied countries.
“Those were irregular, illegitimate practices,” said Denechere.
Yet been no legal challenges have been brought, the historian added.
“Against whom? And for what exactly?,” he said.
In addition such cases would presumably be covered by statutes of limitations by now.
“This part of history is completely unknown to the public,” he said.
This is gradually changing thanks in part to a 2022 documentary on the topic and a recent novel by author Anke Feuchter telling the story of a woman in a similar situation as Spire’s mother.
With criticism of the practice mounting, many adopted children of the occupation are still looking for their German roots.
Their search, it turns out, has been facilitated by the French authorities’ decision to repatriate all documents related to the adoptions in a bid to remove traces of the practices.
Today, those very documents have allowed historians and interested parties to shed light on a dark chapter of German-French post-war history.
This is how Claudine Spire found photos of children in Nordrach who, like her, were adopted.
But she has yet to find any pictures of herself from back then.
Saudi Arabia welcomes Oman’s hosting of Iran-US talks, says dialogue is the way to go
- Kingdom says it prefers dialogue as a way to end all regional and international disputes
- American and Iranian delegations met for the first time in Muscat, Oman, to lay down the format of their talks
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia welcomed Oman's hosting of the Iran-US talks on Tehran's nuclear program, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said, adding that the Kingdom prefers dialogue as a way to end all regional and international disputes.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, the ministry said Saudi Arabia hopes that the talks "will lead to supporting joint action to enhance security, stability and peace in the region and the world."
On April 12, American and Iranian negotiators met for the first time in Muscat, the Omani capital, as the long-term adversaries try to come up with a new nuclear deal in place of the failed 2015 accord.
The 2015 accord, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was a long-term deal that Iran agreed with world powers known as the P5+1 - composed of the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany.
Under that agreement, Iran was to limit its nuclear activities and allow international inspectors to visit its nuclear sites. In return, economic sanctions on Iran would be lifted by the world powers, notably the US.
Donald Trump, however, pulled the US out of the agreement in his first term of office in 2018 amid objections by other regional powers that the accord lacked the teeth to curtail Iran's nuclear activities and only empowered Tehran to continue interfering in the affairs of its neighbors.
In his second terms as president, Trump invited Iran's leadership to the negotiating table to avoid military action.
In Saturday's initial meeting in Muscat, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi acted as intermediary, shuttling from one room to the other where the American and Iranian delegations were assigned, as the long-time adversaries tried to lay the groundwork for their high-stakes nuclear talks.
Albusaidi later told reporters that the talks took place in a “friendly atmosphere,” adding: “We will continue to work together.”
According to the Iranian foreign ministry, the negotiators also spoke directly for “a few minutes,” and that the talks were held “in a constructive and mutually respectful atmosphere.”
Steve Witkoff, a real estate magnate, headed the US team, while Iran's team was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a seasoned diplomat and key architect of the 2015 accord.
Just before the first meeting started, Trump told reporters: “I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country. But they can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s adviser Ali Shamkhani said Iran was “seeking a real and fair agreement.”
The two sides have agreed to meet again.
Trump says chips from China will face national security probe; further tariffs expected
- Beijing increased its own tariffs on US imports to 125 percent on Friday in response
- It featured 20 product categories, including computers, laptops, disc drives, semiconductor devices, memory chips and flat panel displays
WASHINGTON/WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: US President Donald Trump on Sunday bore down on his administration’s latest message that the exclusion of smartphones and computers from his reciprocal tariffs on China will be short-lived, pledging a national security trade investigation into the semiconductor sector.
Those electronics “are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket,’” Trump said in a social media post. “We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.”
The White House had announced the exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs on Friday.
Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, earlier on Sunday said that critical technology products from China would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months.
The exclusions announced on Friday were seen as a big break for technology firms such as Apple and Dell Technologies that rely on imports from China.
Trump’s back-and-forth on tariffs last week triggered the wildest swings on Wall Street since the COVID pandemic of 2020. The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index is down more than 10 percent since Trump took office on January 20.
Lutnick said Trump would enact “a special focus-type of tariff” on smartphones, computers and other electronics products in a month or two, alongside sectoral tariffs targeting semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. The new duties would fall outside Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, under which levies on Chinese imports climbed to 125 percent last week, he said.
“He’s saying they’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two,” Lutnick said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” predicting that the levies would bring production of those products to the United States. “These are things that are national security, that we need to be made in America.”
Beijing increased its own tariffs on US imports to 125 percent on Friday in response. On Sunday, before Lutnick’s comments, China said it was evaluating the impact of the exclusions for the technology products implemented late on Friday.
“The bell on a tiger’s neck can only be untied by the person who tied it,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump’s run for president but who has criticized the tariffs, on Sunday called on him to pause the broad and steep reciprocal tariffs on China for three months, as Trump did for most countries last week.
If Trump paused Chinese tariffs for 90 days and cut them to 10 percent temporarily, “he would achieve the same objective in causing US businesses to relocate their supply chains from China without the disruption and risk,” Ackman wrote on X.
’CHANGES EVERY DAY’
Sven Henrich, founder and lead market strategist for NorthmanTrader, was harshly critical of how the tariff issue was being handled on Sunday. “Sentiment check: The biggest rally of the year would come on the day Lutnick gets fired,” Henrich wrote on X. “I suggest the administration figures out who controls the message, whatever it is, as it changes every day. US business can’t plan or invest with the constant back and forth.”
US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, criticized the latest revision to Trump’s tariff plan, which economists have warned could dent economic growth and fuel inflation.
“There is no tariff policy — only chaos and corruption,” Warren said on ABC’s “This Week,” speaking before Trump’s latest post on social media.
In a notice to shippers late on Friday, the US Customs and Border Protection agency published a list of tariff codes excluded from the import taxes. It featured 20 product categories, including computers, laptops, disc drives, semiconductor devices, memory chips and flat panel displays.
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the US has opened an invitation to China to negotiate, but he criticized China’s connection to the lethal fentanyl supply chain and did not include it on a list of seven entities — the United Kingdom, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Israel — with which he said the administration was in talks.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that there were no plans yet for Trump to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping on tariffs, accusing China of creating trade friction by responding with levies of its own. But he expressed hopes for some non-Chinese deals.
“My goal is to get meaningful deals before 90 days, and I think we’re going to be there with several countries in the next few weeks,” Greer said.
Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was worried about the United States sliding into recession, or worse, as a result of the tariffs.
“Right now we are at a decision-making point and very close to a recession,” Dalio said on Sunday. “And I’m worried about something worse than a recession if this isn’t handled well.”
Police say a person is in custody after a suspected arson fire at Pennsylvania governor’s mansion
- Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo said that forthcoming charges will include attempted murder, terrorism, attempted arson and aggravated assault
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania: Police said Sunday a man was arrested and will face charges including attempted murder, terrorism and attempted arson in an early morning fire that badly damaged the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and forced Gov. Josh Shapiro, his family and guests to quickly escape.
Sunday’s announcement came after Shapiro and his family were awakened by state troopers at about 2 a.m. and were evacuated from the official governor’s residence in the state capital of Harrisburg.
Shapiro told an afternoon news conference that he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family that had celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover with his family at the residence on Saturday were awakened by state troopers.
No one was injured and the fire was extinguished, according to authorities.
Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris identified the man in custody as Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg. Paris emphasized at a Sunday afternoon news conference that the investigation is continuing.
Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo said that forthcoming charges will include attempted murder, terrorism, attempted arson and aggravated assault.
Authorities said the suspect hopped over a fence surrounding the property and forcibly entered the residence before setting it on fire. Police deputy commissioner George Bivens said Balmer had a homemade incendiary device and evaded police who knew there had been a breach. Bivens said Balmer was later arrested in the area.
“I’m obviously emotional,” Shapiro said at the news conference. “When we were in the state dining room last night, we told the story of Passover” and the story of the Jewish exodus from bondage, he said. “I refuse to be trapped by the bondage that someone attempted to put on me by attacking us as they did last night.”
State police gave no other details about the cause of the fire at the Susquehanna Riverfront mansion but said it caused a “significant amount of damage” to a portion of the residence. Shapiro and his family had been sleeping in a different part of the residence, police said.
Shapiro, viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, said he had received pledges of help from the Department of Justice, the FBI and the US attorney’s office as well as numerous messages of support from fellow governors and others.
The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was called to the residence and, while they worked to put out the fire, police evacuated Shapiro and his family from the residence safely, Shapiro said.
On Sunday, fire damage was visible on the residence’s south side, primarily to a large room often used for entertaining crowds and art displays. Large west-facing windows were completely missing their glass panes and doors stood ajar amid signs of charring.
There was a police presence Sunday as yellow tape cordoned off an alleyway, investigators observed the damage inside and an officer led a dog outside an iron security fence before investigators sawed off a section from the top of the security fence on the residence’s south side. They wrapped it in heavy black plastic and took it away in a vehicle.
Shapiro splits his time between the mansion that has housed governors since it was built in the 1960s and a home in Abington, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east. He posted a photograph on social media Saturday of the family’s Passover Seder table at the residence.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker, a Republican, called the attack a “despicable act of cowardice” and said he hoped Pennsylvanians joined he and his wife in keeping the Shapiros in their prayers.
Former Gov. Tom Ridge, also a Republican, said images of the damage to the residence where he lived for eight years with his family were “heartbreaking” and said the attack on the official residence was shocking.
“Whoever is responsible for this attack — to both the Shapiro family and our Commonwealth — must be held to account,” Ridge said.
Germany’s Merz says Russia committed ‘serious war crime’ in Ukraine strike
- “It was a perfidious act.. and it is a serious war crime, deliberate and intended,” he said in comments to broadcaster ARD
BERLIN: Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said Sunday that Russia committed a “serious war crime” in its missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed at least 34 people.
“It was a perfidious act.. and it is a serious war crime, deliberate and intended,” he said in comments to broadcaster ARD.
“There are two waves of attacks, and the second arrived as emergency workers were taking care of the victims,” said Merz.
“That is the response, that is what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does to those who talk with him of a ceasefire,” he added.
“Our willingness to discuss with him is interpreted not as a serious offer to make peace, but as weakness,” said Merz.
Two ballistic missiles hit the northeastern city on Sunday morning. Two children were among the dead, authorities said.
While Germany’s outgoing chancellor Otto Scholz has refused to supply Kyiv with Taurus missiles capable of striking inside Russia, Merz has said he is open to the idea.
“I have always said that I would only do it in agreement with European partners,” he told ARD.
“It must be coordinated and if it is coordinated, then Germany should participate,” he added.
