عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

EU Denounces New US Waiver of Russian Oil Sanctions

European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Valdis Dombrovskis, looks on ahead of a G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Paris, France, May 18, 2026. (Reuters)
European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Valdis Dombrovskis, looks on ahead of a G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Paris, France, May 18, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

EU Denounces New US Waiver of Russian Oil Sanctions

European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Valdis Dombrovskis, looks on ahead of a G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Paris, France, May 18, 2026. (Reuters)
European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Valdis Dombrovskis, looks on ahead of a G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Paris, France, May 18, 2026. (Reuters)

The European Union criticized Tuesday the latest US waiver of sanctions on Russian oil, announced while G7 finance ministers were meeting to reach a common response to multiple economic challenges.

Washington's move aims to help lower energy prices that have skyrocketed since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February, effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf oil tanker traffic.

But EU economics commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis denounced the extensions, which have given Moscow a financial boost as it pursues its war against Ukraine.

"From the EU point of view, we do not think that this is a time to ease pressure on Russia," Dombrovskis told journalists while arriving for a second day of G7 talks in Paris.

"In fact, Russia is the one which is gaining from the war in Iran and the increase in fossil fuel prices," he said. "If anything, we would need to strengthen the pressure."

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is in Paris for the Group of Seven talks hosted by France, which currently chairs the group's rotating presidency.

"Secretary Bessent was reassuring us that this is a temporary measure, but we know that it's already a second extension of the measure which initially was meant to last only 30 days," Dombrovskis said.

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said a joint statement would nonetheless be made following talks that are to wind up Tuesday.

"We've had extremely frank discussions between people who do not necessarily agree on everything, but who are able to talk about everything," he told journalists.

The talks aim to keep dialogue open as trade feuds spurred by US President Donald Trump's tariff blitz compound geopolitical tensions.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

China’s Torrential Rains Kill 10 in Southwest as Thousands Evacuated

A person rides an electric bike through a flooded street after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to Shanghai, China, August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
A person rides an electric bike through a flooded street after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to Shanghai, China, August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

China’s Torrential Rains Kill 10 in Southwest as Thousands Evacuated

A person rides an electric bike through a flooded street after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to Shanghai, China, August 10, 2026. (Reuters)
A person rides an electric bike through a flooded street after Typhoon Dolphin brought heavy rain to Shanghai, China, August 10, 2026. (Reuters)

Torrential rains lashed China's southwest to kill 10 in a house collapse and a landslide, state broadcaster CCTV said on Wednesday, with tens of thousands also evacuated as a precaution.

Disaster prevention authorities evacuated 21,784 people following heavy downpours in several areas in China's southwest, including the areas of ‌Chengdu and Zigong.

Five died in Sichuan ‌province ⁠after accumulated rainwater caused ⁠the collapse of a roof and wall during a dinner party to celebrate children's college entrance results on Tuesday, CCTV said.

Three died at the home in Sichuan's county of Changning, while two ⁠died in hospital where 17 ‌injured were ‌being treated, but it was unclear if the tallies ‌included children or young people.

Sichuan authorities ‌declared a heavy rain alert this week and warned about disaster risks. Torrential rain since Tuesday unleashed two disasters that cut off ‌roads in the mountainous Garze and Aba areas, CCTV said.

Authorities ⁠are ⁠investigating the cause of Monday's landslide at a construction site in Guangxi region that buried five people, later pulled out lifeless by rescue workers, CCTV said.

Loose sand and gravel in the high mountain canyon area could unleash landslides, authorities said earlier.

Since the start of summer, Guangxi, like many parts of China's southwest, has received heavy rain.

World

Hormuz Traffic Slows as Uncertainty Over Waterway Persists

FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
TT
TT

Hormuz Traffic Slows as Uncertainty Over Waterway Persists

FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed, data showed on Wednesday, as most shipowners avoided the key waterway because of a lack of clear signaling on its reopening from a blockade during the Iran war.

Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, Kpler data showed by 0258 GMT, down from nine a day earlier and below the 10-day daily average of 11.

Inbound traffic included an empty very large crude ⁠carrier that followed the ⁠Omani side of the strait, as well as two tankers, one of medium-range and the other intermediate, the data showed, according to Reuters.

Two medium-range fuel tankers and a post-Panamax vessel exited the strait.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said no talks ⁠were taking place with Iran and insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open, contradicting Iran's assertion that it remained shut to shipping.

The waterway handled a fifth of the world's shipments of crude oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.

As security concerns curb oil shipments to the world's largest importer, two Chinese shipping giants that used to carry half its imports of Middle Eastern oil ⁠before ⁠the war have kept their tankers out of the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb since late July, say tanker tracker Vortexa and a ship broker.

At the Bab el-Mandeb strait on the Red Sea, Kpler data showed 30 weekend transits by commodity vessels, up from 19 in the prior week.

World

Belgian Wildfire ‘Encircled’ but Situation Still ‘Complicated’

A firefighter gestures to another as smoke emanates from burnt vegetation during operations against a wildfire at the Hautes Fagnes (High Fens) nature reserve near Baelen, on August 18, 2026. (AFP)
A firefighter gestures to another as smoke emanates from burnt vegetation during operations against a wildfire at the Hautes Fagnes (High Fens) nature reserve near Baelen, on August 18, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Belgian Wildfire ‘Encircled’ but Situation Still ‘Complicated’

A firefighter gestures to another as smoke emanates from burnt vegetation during operations against a wildfire at the Hautes Fagnes (High Fens) nature reserve near Baelen, on August 18, 2026. (AFP)
A firefighter gestures to another as smoke emanates from burnt vegetation during operations against a wildfire at the Hautes Fagnes (High Fens) nature reserve near Baelen, on August 18, 2026. (AFP)

Firefighters managed overnight to fully surround Belgium's largest wildfire in a century, but the situation on the ground "remains complicated" with crews battling several new flare-ups, authorities said Wednesday.

Crisis cell spokesman Tony Hosmans said the fire raging in the High Fens nature reserve "has been encircled" and is not moving east towards Germany, with the goal today to bring it under control "if possible with aerial support".

"The situation remains complicated due to a number of flare-ups that have occurred in various parts of the site," he added.

The blaze charring the expanse of peatland, pine trees and hiking trails grew over the weekend to half the size of Manhattan -- 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) -- although hundreds of firefighters working night and day have managed to stop it spreading further.

The last area to be circumscribed was a hard-to-access front closest to the German border, with ground crews working all night to close the gap, coming in from the east and north under very difficult conditions.

On-site operations have been complicated by the fens' terrain -- a patchwork of heath, peat bogs and raised wooden boardwalks.

Water-bombing aircraft from Norway, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands flew in to help, but they were unable to operate at all on Tuesday due to low clouds.

Rain falling intermittently on the area has slowed the fire's spread by increasing humidity levels, but the weather has badly hampered aerial support since Monday.

- Burning underground -

Europe has been swept by weeks of devastating wildfires fueled by dry conditions and a historically hot summer, with France, Greece, Portugal and Spain also battling major blazes.

The High Fens blaze broke out Friday for reasons still unknown in an area that was ravaged by massive fires in 1911, during a similar period of heatwaves.

It is the country's largest wildfire since.

The fire triggered evacuation orders in the German border town of Monschau as well as two Belgian villages, although residents of the hamlet of Sourbrodt have been given the green light to return home.

Even once brought under control, officials have warned it will take weeks or even months of soaking and dousing to prevent the fire from reigniting.

"The fire is burning in the peat, so it is actually underground, sometimes quite deep," explained area fire chief David Covens on a trip into a fire zone.

"Whenever we disturb the ground, when we cut down a tree and expose the soil, the fire can reignite," he said. "We're doing everything we can with the resources available, but we know this is going to take a long time."