Taiwan

Hormuz traffic remains near a standstill as Trump’s ‘Economic D-Day’ campaign pushes Brent closer to $100. Friday, August 21, 2026 Transits through the Strait of Hormuz have been in single digits the entire week, with Trump’s announcement of an ‘Economic...

Ukraine overnight hit with drones an oil refinery in the Perm region, deep into Russian territory, as the Ukrainian military has been targeting Russia’s oil processing and exporting facilities on a nearly daily basis in the past few weeks. Ukrainian...

The MQ-9 Reaper defined US drone wars for two decades, but the next era may be shaped by a very different premise: not building unmanned aircraft to survive every fight, but fielding them cheaply and in enough numbers that losing...

Numbers Report – August 21, 2026 In the latest edition of the Numbers Report, we will take a look at some of the most interesting figures put out this week in the energy and metals sectors. Each week we’ll dig...

Saudi Arabia has boosted its crude oil exports from Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir by about 33% in the month since the Houthis threatened Saudi oil shipments in the southern Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, tanker-tracking data...

China opposes the US and Western escalation against Iran and insists on condemning the US and Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear targets. China considers the US and Israeli military attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities a blatant violation of international law...

For the past several weeks, I have been working my way through the major findings in the Energy Institute’s 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy. This article concludes that series. For readers who want to catch up, the previous installments...

Somewhere between a single genetically engineered cell and a life-saving therapy sits one of biotechnology’s most demanding balancing acts. Turning a promising molecule into a medicine that reaches millions of patients means mastering recombinant protein production at a scale few...

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Kuril Islands has triggered genuine hysteria in neighboring Japan. Despite constant diplomatic provocations, Russia is firmly defending its territorial integrity, demonstrating political restraint and readiness for a tough response, underpinned by strengthening defense...

On September 1, the Bank of Russia will put the digital ruble into circulation, making it available to every Russian in the autumn. The color of its logo is already known, along with details of how the new form of...

Intel is considering a return to memory technology decades after abandoning mainstream DRAM and, more recently, selling its NAND business. Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan has argued that memory should no longer be viewed simply as a low-margin commodity. Artificial intelligence...

October WTI crude oil futures are trading at $86.31 late Thursday, up $4.82 or 5.91% for the week. The contract opened at $81.62, traded as low as $80.80, and reached $87.69. Friday’s session is still ahead, so the weekly result...

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict Iran has warned Gulf states that any support for U.S. military operations will make them participants in the war, as the UAE cuts economic ties with Tehran. Iran says it’s tracking U.S. aircraft operating from regional...

Israel is trying to establish a veto over where Turkey can deploy forces in Syria, and on Tuesday it bombed a Syrian airbase to enforce that. Eight strikes hit Abu al-Duhur because Israel determined that Damascus was gearing up to...

Nigeria’s Dangote Group has offered a 30% stake in a planned refinery in Kenya to East African nations, a senior economic adviser to Kenya’s President William Ruto said. Dangote Group, the corporation of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, plans to...

Every Friday, Reuters Open Interest distills the financial week into five key charts, highlighting the major market trends, surprises and developments that shaped investor sentiment. This week, the focus fell on a historic U.S. debt milestone, an extraordinary surge in...

Venezuela’s attempt to rapidly revive its oil industry is running into a major obstacle: the country’s aging ports cannot handle the growing flow of crude. Tankers are reportedly waiting as long as 30 days to load, creating a de facto...

The new Nigerian incentives for offshore oil and gas projects have the potential to attract $50 billion in new investment in Nigeria’s offshore energy sector, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said. Nigeria, however, needs upskilled and additional...

Iranian crude oil cargoes readily available to Chinese buyers have nearly dried up following the reinstated U.S. blockade on Iran’s oil exports, suggesting that independent Chinese refiners, the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, may have to turn to alternative supply...

On 23 August, it will be 100 days since the Bundibugyo strain was first reported. How did it became the DRC’s most deadly outbreak and what must be done to stop it becoming the world’s largest? Almost 100 days ago, Africa’s...

Iran Prepares for Tougher U.S. Economic Pressure Iran says it must strengthen its economy and reduce its vulnerability to foreign pressure as Washington prepares to impose what U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as the toughest sanctions ever imposed on...

Jeffrey Sachs’s unexpected appearance on a little-known Armenian talk show is not a coincidence but a symptom of deeper processes at work. Why would a world‑class economist suddenly speak about the South Caucasus? The answer, likely, lies in the shifting...

Taiwan Warns Chinese Vessel to Leave Sensitive Waters Taiwan’s coast guard said on Friday it had warned off and shadowed a Chinese research vessel operating in sensitive waters west of the island, marking the third time the ship has appeared...

Crude oil imports into China are set to rise by about 1.2 million barrels per day in the final quarter of the year from the current one, although they will likely remain lower than pre-war levels, Bloomberg has reported, citing...

Two rocks surrounded by coral, with a total land size of less than 10 square meters (approximately 108 square feet) at high tide, are the entire basis on which Japan claims a 150,000-square-mile exclusive economic zone, an area nearly the...

When the UK allowed Ukraine to use British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles against targets inside Russia in late 2024, Moscow predictably accused London of escalating the war and threatened retaliation. Russia’s latest warnings over Kyiv’s use of British-made drones that...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had a schizophrenic Thursday. Asked on CNBC why oil had jumped on the administration’s latest Iran threats, he professed bewilderment: “ I’m not sure why oil has popped up on this .” In separate remarks the...

“You cannot be at mental peace always. You will be worried. So even my family — they are scared all the time, and they were anxiously praying [for] the vessel [to] come out of this area safely.” While Captain Chirag...

NEW YORK — Of all the indignities South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expected to face in 2026, being run over by Donald Trump probably wasn’t one of them. The tire marks are fresh, too, as the US president throws Lee’s...

First gas from Australia’s Beetaloo shale basin is scheduled to start flowing next month, with initial production of 37 million cu m, Reuters has reported, noting hopes that the country could replicate the U.S. shale gas success story. The Beetaloo...

Russia is prepared to consider new proposals for ending the war in Ukraine, but Moscow says any settlement must account for what it describes as the “realities on the ground.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was ready...

When China agreed to suspend its sweeping new rare earth export controls in November 2025, Washington and Beijing appeared to have stepped away from another major escalation in their trade confrontation. The measures announced last October were suspended until November...

Crude oil prices were on course to book a second consecutive weekly gain as the prospects of peace in the Middle East dimmed further amid U.S. threats of the “toughest sanctions in history” against Iran and continued Ukrainian drone attacks...

Islam Times - For several days, Western media outlets have highlighted limited tanker traffic through the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz and spoken of the return of oil flows. But the creation of a special route under US...

Islam Times - Trump, who entered the war on February 28 based on the assumption that Iran’s capabilities would quickly collapse and even spoke of determining Iran’s future leadership, has now unveiled an “Economic D-Day” after failing to achieve his...