DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will leave OPEC effective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of one of its largest producers and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices.
Stock indexes closed higher on Wall Street. The S&P 500 added 0.2% Friday. Tech stocks led the way, with Dell Technologies in a stunning 32.8% gain. The Dow added 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. European and Asian markets mostly rose. Brent crude fell 1.7%.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistan announced Sunday that it will soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran, though there was no immediate word from the U.S. or Iran, and it was unclear whether the talks would be direct or indirect.
BANGKOK (AP) – A blast on Sunday at a building in northeastern Myanmar said to have been storing explosives for mining has killed more than 45 people, according to rescue workers and independent media reports. About 70 other people were injured in the explosion that took place around noon in the village of Kaungtup, in Namhkam township.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Israel as the war in the Middle East marks its one-month anniversary. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued a statement on Saturday. He said the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel.
BUNIA, Congo (AP) – Five patients have recovered from a rare type of Ebola virus, the head of the World Health Organization said Sunday during a visit to Bunia in eastern Congo, a city at the heart of an outbreak. “Four people will be discharged today and there was one that was discharged the day before yesterday,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month-old war in the Middle East on Saturday, claiming a missile launch that Israel said it intercepted. Pakistan said regional powers plan to meet Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting, while Iran expressed skepticism about the diplomatic efforts. And about 2,500 U.S. Marines arrived in the region.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
CAIRO (AP) – A missile attack on Israel by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on Saturday raises concern that Tehran’s proxies may again try to block Red Sea shipping routes, as Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz keeps another key global trade passage virtually closed.