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Russian Federation agrees with 4 nations to divide Caspian Sea resources
If deemed a sea, the five countries would draw lines extending from their shores to the midway point with littoral neighbors, while classifying it as a lake would mean the resources would be divided equally among those five countries. Its seabed is estimated to hold 50 billion barrels of oil and nearly 8.4 trillion cubic metres of natural gas. And while some countries have pressed ahead with lar... [Full Article...]
Plane carrying 9 people missing in eastern Indonesia
The Swiss-made Pilatus PC-6 Porter single-engine plane operated by Dimonin Air was on an estimated 42-minute flight when it was reported missing Saturday. Planes are one of the only ways to get around Papua province, a remote and mountainous region which is extremely hard to navigate. A plane crashed in the mountainous Gunung Menuk area in Pegunungan Bintang regency, Papua, on Saturday, killing ... [Full Article...]
Turkey's president calls lira plunge "plot", threatens to seek new alliances
He specifically pointed to the lira being under pressure from US President Donald Trump . "Otherwise, I will be compelled to implement Plan B or Plan C". Spanish banks have $83.3 billion in exposure to Turkish markets, while French banks are owed $38.4 billion and Italian banks owed $17 billion. Currently, the price of the Turkish lira against the United States dollar is hovering at around $0.1... [Full Article...]
Omarosa's new White House recording sounds alarm bells across Twitter
Manigault Newman's purported recordings inside the White House - especially the Situation Room, which is supposed to be one of the most secure locations on Earth - represents a serious breach of security protocol, said Ned Price, a former National Security Council spokesman for the Obama administration. [Full Article...]
China has prevented 'great tragedy' in Xinjiang, state-run paper says
Since 2016, hardline official Chen Quanguo has overseen an increase in security spending and the development of a network of extrajudicial internment camps where inmates are held without proper trial, often under "terrorism" or "separatism" charges , according to NGO Chinese Human Rights Defenders. [Full Article...]
Turkish lira drops to new record low overnight
The U.S. has responded by slapping financial sanctions on two ministers and later doubled steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey , driving the concerns over Turkey's economy which are rattling global financial markets. Since then, its relationship with Turkey, the sixth largest steel importer to the USA, the world's biggest steel importer overall, has deteriorated, prompting Ankara to send a dele... [Full Article...]
Trump doubles steel and aluminium tariffs on Turkey as lira nosedives
Speaking to a crowd in his hometown of Rize on Saturday, Erdogan addressed the recent USA decision to sanction two Turkish officials over the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson , who has been held in Turkey since 2016 over claims that he was linked to the failed coup attempt in July of that same year. [Full Article...]
Emerging market currencies, shares hit by Turkey's turmoil
Last week, Goldman Sachs said in a research note that a depreciation of the lira to 7.1 to the dollar would erode Turkish banks' excess capital. The steps included a cut to bank's reserve requirements in a bid to boost liquidity. "We can only say "good-bye" to anyone who sacrifices its strategic partnership and a half century alliance with a country of 81 million for the sake of relations with ter... [Full Article...]