Oil prices extended losses in Asian trade Monday and languished at 17-year lows, with the coronavirus crisis escalating around the world and no end in sight to a vicious price war.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 5.3 percent to trade at US$20 a barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude was off 6.5 percent at US$23.The falls came after the death toll from the pandemic surged past 30,000 at the weekend as cases in hard-hit Europe and the United States showed no sign of letting

Oil rebounded Tuesday, with investors buying at bargain levels after prices plunged to four-year lows as governments worldwide ramped up measures to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.Analysts said, however, that any recovery in oil prices is likely to be short-lived as travel restrictions and other tough measures rolled out to fight the virus sap demand amid a production glut and price war.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading at US$29.95 a barrel, up 4.36 percent,

Oil prices extended the gloom on Monday after a Saudi-Russian price war and an equities meltdown sparked by the coronavirus pandemic saw their biggest weekly losses in more than a decade.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) briefly fell below US$30 a barrel, or 5.5 percent, in morning Asian trade before regaining its footing.It was trading at US$31.13 a barrel at around 0530 GMT, down nearly two percent from Friday's close.The Brent global benchmark was down 3.28 percent at US$32.7

Oil plunged over 20 percent Monday after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets.The two main contracts both lost about a fifth of their value in morning Asian trade, with West Texas Intermediate sliding to about US$32 a barrel and Brent crude to about US$36 a barrel.Saudi Arabia launched an all-out oil war Sunday with the biggest cut in its prices in the last 20 years after a failing to clinch a d

Thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to fight the epidemic, United States (US) officials say.The disinformation campaign promotes unfounded conspiracy theories that the US is behind the COVID-19 outbreak, in an apparent bid to damage the US image around the world by seizing on health concerns.State Department officials tasked with combating Russian disinformation said that fals

International investigators looking into the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine released intercepted phone calls on Thursday showing close links between "high-ranking" Russian officials and rebel suspects facing trial over the crash.The probe said the recordings raised questions about the possible involvement of key Kremlin officials – including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and a top aide to President Vladimir Putin – in the deployment of the missile that shot down the Malaysia A

A court in Ukraine on Thursday released from detention a man suspected of involvement in the downing of flight MH17, prompting concern from the Netherlands that he may avoid questioning.The release of Vladimir Tsemakh, an alleged air defence specialist for pro-Russian separatists, comes amid speculation he might be part of a high-profile prisoner swap with Russia.Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday confirmed for the first time the “large-scale” prisoner exchange with Ukraine was bein

The manager of a sausage factory near Moscow, Arslan Gizatullin says his halal business has been feeling the pinch – not so much from Russia's sluggish economy but competitors vying for a piece of a growing Islamic market.Ever more producers are catering for the domestic Muslim community, which accounts for around 15 percent of Russia's population and is set to expand, and in some cases are also setting their sights on export. "In the last few years in general, halal&#

50 years after astronauts first walked on the Moon, space wars have gone from Hollywood fantasy to looming threat. Not content with possessing enough nuclear weapons to wipe out all life on Earth many times over, major powers are rapidly militarising space. Given the world’s increasing reliance on space-based assets, the risks are enormous.As with the Cold War-era Space Race between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union, the new global space race has an important symbolic dimension.

Five years ago on Wednesday, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was blasted out of the sky over war-torn eastern Ukraine with the loss of all 298 people on board.The shooting down of the Boeing 777 travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has prompted sanctions against Russia, a series of international investigations and criminal charges.Here are five questions about the July 17, 2014 disaster:What happened?About three hours after take-off from Schiphol airport, MH17 disappeared off the radar scr