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Greek PM Tsipras says accord possible if pensions are not cut

ROME Greece could reach a deal with its international creditors if they dropped demands including cuts to pensions, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera published on Tuesday. Reflecting the more conciliatory tone Athens has adopted in recent days, he said the two sides could find a compromise on key elements in any deal, including the size of a primary budget surplus. But he showed no signs of accepting creditor demands for cuts to pensions or other social spending, repeating comments he has made over recent days. "I think we’re very close to an agreement on the primary surplus for the next few years," he told the newspaper. "There just needs to be a positive attitude on alternative proposals to cuts to pensions or the imposition of recessionary measures." The comments came as Greece’s international partners, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and […]

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Oil prices fall as China’s crude imports tumble, OPEC keeps production high

SINGAPORE Crude oil prices fell on Monday as China’s oil imports dropped sharply and markets were expected to be increasingly oversupplied following OPEC’s decision to keep its production targets unchanged. China, the world’s biggest net oil importer, bought nearly a quarter less crude in May than it did in the previous month, according to official data. Its imports of oil products also fell just over six percent while product exports fell 10 percent. [TRADE/CN] China’s fall in imports came after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed on Friday to stick to its policy of high output, which stands above 30 million barrels per day, exacerbating worries about a glut in a market where millions of barrels of crude are stored without a buyer. "Crude demand/supply remains in excess of supplies," said Yasushi Kimura, president of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) after OPEC’s decision. Front-month Brent […]

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Oil Prices Retreat as China Imports Soften

Oil prices fell in Asian trade Monday, after China reported a drop in its oil imports and as the impact of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision to keep its production level unchanged trickled through. Investors are also expected to turn their attention to the June 30 deadline for the Iran nuclear deal that could pave the way for the lifting of Western sanctions and more Iranian oil hitting the oil market. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $58.54 a barrel at 0322 GMT, down $0.59 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.56 to $62.75 a barrel. Oil markets have struggled to sustain a price rally as bearish supply indicators such as Saudi Arabia’s record output have offset signs of a decline in U.S. shale oil production. This bearishness […]

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G7 summit: Climate and extremism lead day two talks

The G7 leaders attended a working dinner at the end of Sunday’s discussions Climate change and terrorism are expected to dominate talks as the second day of the G7 summit of economic powers gets under way in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the group to reach an agreement on limiting global temperature rises. She also wants G7 members to contribute to a fund for poor countries suffering the worst effects of climate change. There will also be talks on the threat from radical extremism with the leaders of Nigeria, Tunisia and Iraq. The summit is being held at the picturesque Schloss Elmau hotel in Kruen in the Bavarian Alps. It is being attended by US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, French President Francois Hollande, Canadanian PM Stephen Harper and Italian PM Matteo Renzi. G7 venue Schloss Elmau includes 47 suites, three […]

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OPEC oil price anchor could be easy to unmoor

VIENNA To hear OPEC ministers in Vienna last week, one would think the cartel’s battle for market share is a complete success and oil prices are now firmly anchored where they are. "The strategy is working… It will take time for markets to rebalance," was the mantra from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi and his peers. However, the oil markets have probably become even less easier to read now than in November last year when OPEC launched its shock strategy of adding barrels to the already oversupplied market in the hope of winning back market share from higher-cost rivals such as U.S. shale oil. If anything, the list of uncertainties that could pull oil prices both ways from OPEC’s current favorite price range of $60-$70 per barrel has grown longer. It includes the performance of the U.S. oil industry, the return of Iran to oil markets, […]

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Saudi-led air strikes kill 44 in attack on Yemeni army compound: agency

SANAA Saudi-led air strikes killed at least 44 people during an air raid on the main headquarters of the Yemeni army in central Sanaa on Sunday, the Houthi-run state news agency Saba said. The agency said that more than 100 people, including civilians, were also wounded in the attack which also destroyed private houses in Tahrir district in central Sanaa. Residents had earlier said that four explosions shook the compound, where soldiers allied with the Iranian-backed Houthi group that dominates Yemen had gathered since Saturday evening to get their pay checks. "More than 44 citizens were martyred and 100 others including women and children, according to preliminary figures," the agency said. The agency quoted a source at the Health Ministry as saying that rescue teams where working to find people believed to be still under the rubble of houses destroyed by the raids. The escalation of the violence came […]

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Syrian army regains ground against Islamic State in Hasaka city

AMMAN The Syrian army said on Sunday it had repulsed a major offensive by Islamic State militants in the northeastern city of Hasaka and driven out fighters who had taken over key installations on the southern edge of the city. The northeastern corner of Syria is strategically important because it links areas controlled by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Syrian Kurds have also sought to expand their territorial control over a region stretching from Kobani to Qamishili they see as part of a future Kurdish state. The militants, approaching from their stronghold the city of Shadadi, south of Hasaka city, made lighting advances this week after conducting around a dozen suicide attacks using explosives-laden trucks at army checkpoints in the city. But Syrian state television, quoting an army source, said in a newsflash they had taken back an electricity station, a juvenile prison and two villages almost two […]

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Turkish Election Signals That Erdogan’s Power May Have Peaked

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Turkey for a mandate to reshape the country’s political system and give him more power. On Sunday, Turkish voters replied with a no. Preliminary results showed the ruling AK Party, which Erdogan led for more than a decade before becoming president last year, short of the majority needed for a single-party government. The results are a a blow to Erdogan, who turned the vote into a referendum on his rule, and suggest that after more than a decade as the nation’s most influential politician, he may have over-reached. “This is a major defeat both for Erdogan and the AK Party,” Ozer Sencar, head of MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research, said Sunday by phone from Ankara. “It’s a clear sign that his power is in decline.” Erdogan argued on the campaign trail that a strong presidency was necessary for Turkey to become one of the […]

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EU: No Iran nuclear deal without UN probe of past

VIENNA (AP) — The European Union is telling Iran to cooperate with a stalled U.N. probe of suspicions that it worked on atomic arms if the country wants a nuclear deal that will see removal of sanctions. The cautionary EU statement comes ahead of a June 30 target date for such an agreement. It was obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its delivery at a meeting of the U.N’s International Atomic Energy Agency that opens Monday. Iran denies any work on – or interest in – nuclear arms and has fended off IAEA demands for cooperation with its investigation. The EU statement says getting to the bottom of the allegations "will be essential" to a nuclear deal. Iran also would have to accept limits on its present nuclear activities.

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Iran and Saudi Arabia on a collision course over oil at Opec

Oil prices continue to trade at around 40pc below last year’s peak due to a global glut of supply. After a week of meetings of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in Vienna, one thing is clear: Iran and Saudi Arabia are on a collision course that could eventually break the world’s largest oil producing group apart. Faced with Saudi Arabia’s stubborn determination to keep Opec pumping at full choke, Iran’s oil minister Bijan Zanganeh has upped the stakes in this game of double bluff between the Middle East’s two dominant political forces. He has confidently stated that the Islamic Republic will pump an additional 1m barrels per day (bpd) of crude within months of nuclear sanctions being lifted by the West. The move – assuming that Iran agrees to all US demands to curb its nuclear ambitions by the deadline on June 30 – effectively fires […]

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