World News
Russia will ban the sale of its oil to countries using the ceiling price on February 1
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Eva Deschamps / December 29, 2022
Russia will prohibit from February 1 the sale of its oil to foreign countries that use the cap on the price of Russian black gold, a decision that has little reaction of crude oil prices on the markets Tuesday.
This price cap had been set in early December at $ 60 per barrel by the EU, the G7, and Australia; and aims to deprive Moscow of important revenues to finance its military intervention in Ukraine.
“The delivery of Russian oil and oil products to foreign legal entities and other individuals is prohibited” if they use the ceiling price, it says in a decree signed Tuesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The decree specifies that this measure will last for five months, “until July 1, 2023.
Only “a special decision” of Vladimir Putin himself will be able to allow the delivery of Russian oil to a country or countries that have implemented the price cap in recent weeks, it is stated in the decree published Tuesday.
In early December, the 27 member states of the European Union, the G7 countries and Australia had agreed, after months of negotiations, on a cap on the price of Russian oil exports at 60 dollars per barrel.
In practice, only oil sold by Russia at a price of 60 dollars or less can continue to be delivered. Beyond this ceiling, it is forbidden for companies to provide services allowing its maritime transport (freight, insurance, etc…).
Faced with Moscow’s decision on Tuesday, black gold prices, already at their highest in three weeks, initially climbed but the rise was short-lived.
The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent crude for delivery in February finally ended up a modest 0.48% at $84.33.
As for U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also due in February, it gave up 0.03% to $79.53.
“There has been a very distinct reaction of prices” to the Russian announcement “but in fact, this decision is not a surprise for the market,” commented Matt Smith commodity market analyst at Kpler to AFP.
This was to be expected, given everything the Russians have already said in recent months and what they have done with natural gas, refusing to sell to Bulgaria and Poland because these countries did not pay in rubles,” added the analyst.
According to him, the implementation of this ban will have a limited impact, because “large buyers of Russian crude such as India or China do not apply the ceiling price” and buy it below $ 60 per barrel.
“This will tighten supply a bit, but not that much,” commented Matt Smith.
The price of a barrel of Russian oil (Ural crude) itself is currently around 65 dollars, which is barely more than the ceiling set, implying a limited short-term impact of this capping measure, according to many observers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky deplored the “weak position” of his Western allies at the time of its implementation.
For their part, the Russian leaders had repeatedly declared that they “do not accept” this mechanism which “will have no impact” on the course of the Russian offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor.
On December 9, Vladimir Putin had threatened the West to “reduce the production” of Russian oil “if necessary”, blasting a “stupid decision”.
Russia is the world’s second largest exporter of oil and was, in 2021, the second largest supplier of black gold to European Union countries. According to European leaders, 90% of Russian oil exports to the EU will already be stopped by the end of 2022 to protest against the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
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Eva Deschamps / October 31, 2023
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 63 employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have already lost their lives in the Gaza Strip. Ten aid workers have been killed in the last 72 hours, according to this new toll released by the agency on its website on Monday.
At least 22 UNRWA staff were also injured. Since October 7, 44 UNRWA facilities have also been destroyed. Of its 22 health centers, only nine are still operational, the UN agency said, warning that the provision of health care is made even more difficult by the very low fuel supply.
The UN agency had previously reported that several of its warehouses had been looted. “Due to the very limited aid available and overcrowded shelters, growing tensions are being reported within the displaced communities,” it stressed. Some 672,000 refugees are living in 149 UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip, “in increasingly difficult conditions”. “The ability to provide vital assistance was further hampered by the 36-hour communications blackout between October 27 and 29”, UNRWA added.
In all, an estimated 1.4 million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip. Over 120,000 of them have taken refuge in public buildings such as hospitals and schools.
“The aid currently available is insufficient to meet the most basic needs of displaced people and the communities hosting them”, warns the UN agency.
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Sylvie Claire / October 31, 2023
This research into mammal reproduction in space could prove crucial for future solar system exploration missions.
Mouse embryos were grown on board the International Space Station (ISS) and developed normally, according to a Japanese study published in the scientific journal “iScience” on Saturday, October 28.
This is “the very first study to show that mammals might be able to thrive in space”, claim Yamanashi University and the Riken National Research Institute.
The researchers, including Teruhiko Wakayama, a professor at Yamanashi University’s Center for Advanced Biotechnology, and a team from the Japanese space agency Jaxa, sent frozen mouse embryos aboard a rocket to the ISS in August 2021. The astronauts thawed the embryos at an early stage, using a specially designed device, and cultured them on board the station for four days.
The experiment “clearly demonstrated that gravity had no significant effect”, noted the researchers. After analyzing the blastocysts (cells that develop into fetuses and placentas) that were returned to their laboratories on Earth, they observed no particular changes in the state of DNA and genes.
“In the future, it will be necessary to transplant blastocysts grown in microgravity on the ISS into mice to see if the mice can give birth,” in order to confirm that the blastocysts are normal, say Yamanashi University and the Riken Institute.
This research could prove crucial for future space exploration and colonization missions. As part of its Artemis program, NASA plans to send humans back to the Moon to learn how to live there in the long term, and to prepare for a trip to Mars in the late 2030s.
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Steph Deschamps / October 25, 2023
The world’s oldest dog died last weekend in Portugal. Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro de l’Alentejo, was 31 years and 165 days old, reports the British public broadcaster BBC on Monday.
Last February, Bobi entered the Guinness Book of Records as not only the oldest living dog, but also the oldest dog of all time.
The old record had been held for almost 100 years by Bluey from Australia. He died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months.
Bobi has spent his entire life with the Costa family in the village of Conqueiros, near the west coast of Portugal.
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