Oil prices moved higher in Asian trade Friday as tension between Western countries and Iran continued to intensify.
There were a number of new developments in the ongoing Iran-Israel saga.
Greece’s finance minister Evangelos Venizelos has suggested some countries in the bloc want Greece to leave the eurozone.
Greece expressed hope it was within days of finally securing a 130-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout to ease its debt crisis but markets reacted sceptically on Thursday as acrimony grew between Athens and eurozone partners led by Germany.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday Iran's announcement of new nuclear achievements was exaggerated and meant to fend off action against the Islamic republic.
Greece expressed hope it was within days of finally securing a 130-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout to ease its debt crisis but markets reacted skeptically on Thursday as acrimony grew between Athens and euro zone partners led by Germany.
Using spyware technology that can intercept telephone text messages, Syrian government has resorted to applying blocks on text messages which contain politically sensitive terms such as revolution, or demonstration.
Conflicting reports on whether or not Iran will terminate the supply of its crude to Europe before European Union sanctions become effective have come to the front fuelling the worries of possible risk of oil supply disruption.
Asian shares and the euro fell Thursday as another delay in cementing a crucial bailout for stricken Greece underscored how far Europe is from resolving a debt crisis that threatens the stability of the financial system.
European Union finance ministers will meet in Brussels to finalise Greece's second bail out deal.
Greece expressed hope Wednesday that it can secure its second EU/IMF bailout in as many years and a deal on easing its debt burden next week, but its euro zone peers made clear the months of increasingly ill-tempered argument are not quite over yet.
Senior Greek officials were asked to pledge in writing that they would abide by the terms spelled out in the austerity program.
Stocks gave up gains on Wednesday as the S&P 500 hit a technical barrier near a nine-month high and Apple shares erased a 3 percent advance.
U.S. stocks gave up gains on Wednesday as the S&P 500 hit a technical barrier near a nine-month high and Apple shares erased a 3 percent advance.
In country after country in Europe the so-called bitter pill approach has been wholeheartedly embraced as the only solution by both conservative and leftwing governments. Problem is, it's looking more and more likely that they're wrong: as a strategy, austerity has by and large failed.
Russia said global powers must work harder to win concessions from Iran over its nuclear program, warning that Tehran's desire for compromise is decreasing as it moves closer to being able to build atomic weapons.
Cynicism towards Greece abounds across Europe.
Oil prices are up about 0.85 percent in New York trading.
China will continue to invest in euro zone government debt and it remains confident in the euro, the country's central bank governor said on Wednesday, while calling on Europeans to produce more attractive investment products for China.
Iran President President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already asserted that Iran will never halt its uranium enrichment program.
Top Greek refiner Hellenic Petroleum said on Wednesday it had not been informed of a cut in Iranian oil exports toGreece but that it was confident of finding alternative sources of fuel if needed.
Eurozone finance ministers Wednesday scrapped a planned meeting to be held in Brussels that they had called to approve the new bailout and a related debt restructuring plan.
