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OilOil prices settled higher on Friday as some investors covered short positions ahead of the three-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend in the US and lingering worries about a possible US military strike against Iran.Brent crude futures settled at $64.13, and US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) finished at $59.44. For the week, Brent rose 1.2%, while WTI gained 0.5%.The US Navy's aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was expected to arrive in the Gulf this week after operating in the South China Sea.Investors are increasingly concerned that any escalation could prompt Iran to attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which roughly a quarter of global seaborne oil supplies pass.However, analysts note that expectations of higher global oil supply this year could limit the extent of any geopolitical risk premium in prices.Gas**media[405620]**Asia spot LNG rose last week on the back of a colder weather outlook that spurred some demand, lifting prices to their highest levels in six weeks.The average LNG price for February delivery into north-east Asia was $10.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down from $9.50 per mmBtu the week before.Analysts noticed a rise in Asian spot tenders this week, with Japan's Kansai and Tohoku Electric seeking one cargo each for February-March delivery ahead of a forecast cold snap in Northeast Asia later this month.In Europe, the Dutch TTF gas price settled at $12.73 per mmBtu, posting a weekly gain of 31.3% as colder weather returned across the region and accelerated storage withdrawals pushed prices higher.The near depletion of underground gas storage in some northwestern European countries due to colder weather has driven prices significantly higher relative to Asia. 

Protesters and security forces clashed in three Iranian cities Thursday, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the cost-of-living demonstrations broke out.The protests began on Sunday in Tehran, where shopkeepers went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, and have since spread to other parts of the country.Thursday Iran's Fars news agency reported two people killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Lordegan, in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and three in Azna, in neighbouring Lorestan province."Some protesters began throwing stones at the city's administrative buildings, including the provincial governor's office, the mosque, the Martyrs' Foundation, the town hall and banks," Fars said of Lordegan, adding police responded with tear gas."The rioters entered ⁠the police headquarters around 1800 (local time) on Thursday... they clashed with police forces and set fire to several police cars," Fars reported.Fars reported that the buildings were "severely damaged" and that police arrested several people described as "ringleaders".In Azna, Fars said "rioters took advantage of a protest gathering... to attack a police commissariat".During previous protest movements, state media has labelled demonstrators "rioters".Earlier Thursday, state television reported that a member of Iran's security forces was killed overnight during protests in the western city of Kouhdasht."A 21-year-old member of the Basij from the city of Kouhdasht was killed last night by rioters while defending public order," the channel said, citing Said Pourali, the deputy governor of Lorestan Province.The Basij are a volunteer paramilitary force linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic.Pourali said that "during the demonstrations in Kouhdasht, 13 police officers and Basij members were injured by stone throwing".The demonstrations are smaller than the last major outbreak of unrest in 2022, which left several hundred people dead, including dozens of members of the security forces.The latest protests began peacefully in the capital and spread after students from at least 10 universities joined in on Tuesday.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has sought to calm tensions, acknowledging protesters' "legitimate demands", and called Thursday on the government to take action to improve the economic situation."From an Islamic perspective... if we do not resolve the issue of people's livelihoods, we will end up in hell," Pezeshkian said at an event broadcast on state television.Authorities, however, have also promised to take a "firm" stance, and have warned against exploiting the situation to sow chaos.Local media coverage of the demonstrations has varied, with some outlets focusing on economic difficulties, and others on incidents caused by "troublemakers".Iran is in the middle of an extended weekend, with the authorities declaring Wednesday a bank holiday at the last minute, citing the need to save energy during the cold weather.They made no official link to the protests.The weekend in Iran begins on Thursday, and Saturday is a long-standing national holiday.Iran's prosecutor-general said on Wednesday that peaceful economic protests were legitimate, but any attempt to create insecurity would be met with a "decisive response"."Any attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of externally designed scenarios will inevitably be met with a legal, proportionate and decisive response."The national currency, the rial, has lost more than a third of its value against the US dollar over the past year, while double-digit hyperinflation has been undermining Iranians' purchasing power for years.The inflation rate in December was 52% year-on-year, according to the Statistical Centre of Iran, an official body.Iran's economy has been struggling for years, chiefly because of US and Western sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme.Regional tensions led to a 12-day air war with Israel in June, further straining the country's finances. 

Lebanon said three people were killed Monday in a strike near Sidon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah operatives, days ahead of a deadline for Lebanon’s army to disarm the group near the border. Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah, despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with the fighter group, which it accuses of rearming. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Monday’s strike on a vehicle was carried out by an Israeli drone around 10 kilometres from the southern coastal city of Sidon and “killed three people who were inside”. The health ministry reported the same toll. Under heavy US pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming Hezbollah, starting with the south. The Lebanese army plans to carry out the task south of the Litani River — about 30 kilometres from the border with Israel — by year’s end. The latest strike came after Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives on Friday took part in a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee for a second time, after holding their first direct talks in decades earlier this month, also under the committee’s auspices. The committee comprises representatives from Lebanon, Israel, the US, France and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil). Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that the goal of the negotiations was to “stop the hostilities, achieve Israel’s withdrawal, return prisoners held in Israel and return southern residents to their villages”. Israel has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas that it deems strategic. “Lebanon awaits positive steps from the Israeli side,” Aoun told visiting Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto Monday, a presidency statement said. 

A strike on a UN facility in Sudan's southern Kordofan region killed at least six people, a medical source said Saturday.Witnesses said that the victims of the attack on the besieged South Kordofan state capital of Kadugli were UN employees."Six people were killed in a bombing of the UN headquarters while they were inside the building," the medical source at the city's hospital told AFP.The Sudanese government in a statement condemned the attack that hit the UN facility.Eyewitnesses said a drone had struck the UN building.The army-aligned government based in Port Sudan accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of being behind the attack.In a statement, the Sovereignty Council headed by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan called the attack a "dangerous escalation".Kadugli, where famine was declared in early November, has been besieged for a year and a half by the RSF.Kordofan is a vast agricultural region split into three states. It lies between RSF-controlled Darfur in the west and army-held areas in the north, east and centre.Its position is important for maintaining supply lines and moving troops.The RSF has been at war with the military since April 2023 and has deployed fighters, drones and allied militias to the fertile region. Analysts say the RSF seek to punch through the army's defences around central Sudan, paving the way for recapturing Khartoum. 

Killing of commander has deepened fears of new escalationIsrael has kept up strikes since US-brokered truce a year agoAnalyst says Israel could be using AI to identify future targetsHundreds gathered in Beirut's southern suburbs Monday to mourn Hezbollah's top military commander Haytham Ali Tabtabai and four other fighters from the Lebanese group killed in an Israeli strike on the city's outskirts the previous day.The targeted assassination by Israel - a type of operation that had become rarer since a ceasefire was agreed last year - came a day after Lebanon marked its Independence Day and deepened fears of a renewed Israeli escalation. As the mass funeral snaked its way through neighbourhoods in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs Monday, chants rang out against Israel and the United States. Both countries have been pressuring Lebanon to move faster to disarm Hezbollah, in line with the 2024 ceasefire agreement."We will not leave our weapons, we will not leave our land!" the mourners chanted. Top Hezbollah political officials attended the funeral in person but it was unclear if any military officials were present.The November 2024 US-brokered ceasefire was meant to end a year of fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, triggered by Hezbollah's rocket fire on Israeli posts a day after the October 2023 storming of Israel by its Palestinian ally Hamas. During that war, Israel killed Hezbollah's then-leader Hassan Nasrallah, his expected successor and much of the group's top military brass.Tabtabai, 57, rose through the ranks swiftly to fill roles left by slain commanders, according to the Israeli military and a Lebanese security source. After the truce, he was appointed the group's top military official and sat on its Fighter Council, the body responsible for military operations.A Lebanese security source said Israel now appeared to be targeting the group's "next generation" after having killed most of the group's founding leadership."Israel is peeling them off layer by layer," said a Western diplomat who works on Lebanon.Israel has sustained near-daily strikes on Lebanon since the truce, targeting what it says are Hezbollah arms depots, fighters and efforts by the group to rebuild. It has ratcheted up the strikes in recent weeks.Israel has also continued to gather intelligence on Hezbollah's activities using surveillance drones, a Lebanese security source said. Monday, Israeli drones flew over Beirut, Lebanon's south and its eastern Bekaa Valley, according to the source.Israel's advanced capabilities have worried Hezbollah's supporters. Malek Ayoub, a retired military analyst, told Hezbollah's Al Manar television station Monday that Israel could be using facial recognition technology to identify Hezbollah figures from the station's coverage of Tabtabai's funeral."Artificial intelligence can identify any of those faces to build Israel's bank of targets," Ayoub said.

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed one person Saturday, Lebanon's health ministry said, in the latest attack despite a nearly year-long ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah group. In a statement, the ministry attributed the death to "an Israeli enemy strike" on a vehicle in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah.The ministry also reported that a grenade dropped by an Israeli drone in the southern town of Shaqra wounded five people. Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported several more strikes elsewhere in the south and east, but no casualties reported so far.The Israeli military said it struck "several Hezbollah launchers that were recently identified and placed in military sites in southern Lebanon". The army also hit "two Hezbollah military sites... including weapons storage facilities and additional military structures", according to its statement. It did not immediately comment on the deadly incident in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah.The NNA identified the man killed as Kamel Reda Qarnabash, saying he was driving at the time. The Israeli army earlier Saturday had said that it killed a Hezbollah member in a strike the day before. "In a targeted strike the (Israeli army) eliminated a Hezbollah fighter in the Froun area in southern Lebanon" on Friday, the military said in a statement.It alleged the Hezbollah member had "advanced fighter attacks against the State of Israel" and its forces. The Lebanese health ministry said Friday that an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Froun killed one person. Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024 — which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah — by continuing its strikes and maintaining forces inside its territory.Israel has said Hezbollah is working to rebuild its military capabilities, accusing the group of breaking the ceasefire terms. According to the health ministry, more than 330 people have been killed in Lebanon and 945 wounded since the ceasefire.An Israeli strike on Tuesday night on the Ain al-Hilweh camp for Palestinian refugees in southern Lebanon killed 13 people. On Friday, Israel said it had targeted "fighters" from the Palestinian Hamas group, allied with Hezbollah, in the strike on the camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon. Israel's military "is operating against Hamas's establishment in Lebanon", it said in Friday's statement.A secondary school in the camp said in a statement on its Facebook page on Thursday that two of its students were killed, publishing an image of two adolescent boys. The US has sought to pressure the Lebanese government to make Hezbollah hand over its weapons, which the group has so far refused to do.

The Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group has moved into the Latin America region, US officials said Tuesday, dramatically escalating a military buildup that has deepened tensions with Venezuela. President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of the Ford last month, adding to the eight warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft already in the Caribbean.The Ford, which was commissioned in 2017, is the United States' newest aircraft carrier and the world's largest, with more than 5,000 sailors aboard.The Pentagon confirmed the arrival, which was first reported by Reuters, saying in a statement it would help "disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations." Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly alleged that the US buildup is designed to drive him from power.Washington in August doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest to $50mn, accusing him of links to drug trafficking and criminal groups that Maduro denies.The US military has carried out at least 19 strikes so far against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coasts of Latin America, killing at least 76 people.When the US first announced the Ford's deployment, Maduro warned that if the US ever intervened in the country, "millions of men and women with rifles would march across the country."Venezuela is deploying weapons, including decades-old Russian-made equipment, and isplanning to mount a guerrilla-style resistanceor sow chaos in the event of a US air or ground attack, according to sources with knowledge of the efforts and planning documents seen by Reuters.Tensions between the United States and Venezuela's neighbour, Colombia, have also spiked in recent weeks, with Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro trading barbs. Trump has called Petro an "illegal drug leader" and imposed sanctions on him. The leftist Colombian president has accused the US of committing "murder" with its strikes.A Reuters visual investigation found the US military is upgrading a long-abandoned former Cold War naval base in the Caribbean, suggesting preparations for sustained operations that could help support possible actions inside Venezuela.The deployment of the Ford, however, is a far more overt demonstration of US military readiness. With only 11 aircraft carriers in the US military's arsenal, they are a scarce resource and their schedules are usually set well in advance — making the Trump administration's surprise announcement last month unusual.The Ford carrier, which includes a nuclear reactor, can hold more than 75 military aircraft, including fighter aircraft like the F-18 Super Hornet jets and the E-2 Hawkeye, which can act as an early warning system.The Ford also includes sophisticated radars that can help control air traffic and navigation.The supporting ships, such as the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser Normandy, Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers Thomas Hudner, Ramage, Carney, and Roosevelt, include surface-to-air, surface-to-surface, and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

Several Palestinians were wounded today after an Israeli drone struck a group of civilians in the town of Abasan Al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Local sources reported to WAFA news agency that an Israeli drone struck a group of Palestinians while they were inspecting their homes in the Abasan Al-Kabira area in Khan Yunis, wounding a number of them, some of them seriously.Israeli occupation forces also fired heavy machine guns continuously and intensively at the eastern areas of Khan Yunis, while Israeli gunboats fired shells near the coast of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 68,519 martyrs and 170,382 wounded since October 7, 2023.The ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel went into effect on October 10, following the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation army from populated areas and positions in the Gaza Strip. The return of displaced persons to the northern Gaza Strip has begun, as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war on Gaza.

Three people were killed and 29 others injured on Sunday in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.Ukraine’s Emergency Service reported that the city was targeted by Russian forces for the second time in the past 24 hours.According to the report, Russian forces carried out a drone strike in the Desnianskyi district, where one drone hit a nine-story residential building.Another drone struck a 16-story building, shattering the windows on the first nine floors. Reports also indicated that a drone hit a multi-story building in the Obolonskyi district.Drone strikes between Russia and Ukraine have become routine amid the ongoing conflict, which remains far from a political solution as Moscow continues its military operation in Ukraine until its declared objectives are achieved.

A person was killed today in an Israeli airstrike on the Iqlim Al-Tuffah region in southern Lebanon.The Lebanese National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone launched a guided missile strike this morning, targeting a motorcycle in the town of Ain Qana, killing the motorcycle driver.A ceasefire agreement went into effect in Lebanon on Nov. 27, stipulating the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the southern border towns and villages within 60 days. The Lebanese government subsequently agreed to extend the deadline until Feb. 18, but the Israeli army remains stationed at five points and continues its violations.

A national strike over a government savings plan grounded flights and disrupted public transport in Belgium on Tuesday, with tens of thousands expected to join a demonstration in Brussels.Brussels airport -- Belgium's largest -- cancelled all departures as security workers downed their tools. Charleroi Airport, a major European hub for low-cost airline Ryanair, said it could not operate any flights due to lack of staff.The strike is the last in a series to hit the European country since Flemish nationalist Bart De Wever took office as prime minister in February.Grappling with a budget deficit whose size violates European Union rules, the government is looking to reform pensions and make other savings that have infuriated trade unions."This government promised more sustainable jobs and increased purchasing power. Hot air! And once again, everyone is paying, except the rich," trade union CSC said, calling on people to take to the streets in protest.Unions expect tens of thousands to join a rally in Brussels on Wednesday, as delays and cancellations also hit the capital's metro, tram, and bus services.Police in the capital advised citizens to avoid some central areas and travel by car.The protest action will increase pressure on De Wever's coalition government, which on Monday failed to agree on a budget, forcing the prime minister to postpone a key speech to parliament scheduled for Tuesday.Trade unions have mounted strong opposition against planned reforms including cutting early retirement and a wage indexation freeze.As it looks to find about 10 billion euros ($12 billion) in savings, Brussels -- long a laggard -- has also pledged to ramp up spending on defence as part of a NATO push to boost rearmament.De Wever came to power after lengthy coalition talks following Belgium's federal elections in June last year.

Four members of the same family, including two children, were killed in a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Sumy Oblast, eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian news agency (Ukrinform) reported Tuesday that the attack occurred overnight in the village of Chernechchyna, located in the town of Krasnopillia. Reports issued by both countries regarding the progress of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, which has been ongoing since Feb. 24, 2022, conflict with regard to field data.