The CEO of the Quorum Center for Strategic Studies and Economic Research Tariq Al-Rifai stated that the significant change in oil prices during the recent past and its rise to exceed $80 per barrel came as a result of the error and imbalance between supply and demand, as oil consumption is greater than production, reports Al-Anba daily. In an exclusive press statement, Al- Rifai stressed that the absence of a second agreement for the OPEC-Plus group or the delay in its contract to determine the volume of production among countries will contribute to further increases in the oil prices, especially since the United States’ production of shale oil needs months to return to its state prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is currently being produced at approximately 11 million barrels per day, compared to 13 million barrels before the pandemic. This means that the United States needs a longer time to restore production to its previous state, as oil prices are expected to reach $ 100 per barrel before the end of this year./ ARAB TIMES

Thousands of migrants continue to wait in the freezing cold at camps they set up on the border between Belarus and Poland in the hope of crossing into the EU. 

Along the border just west of the Belarusian city of Grodno, migrants who came with visas from Iraq languish in the camps and logistics centers at the border crossing point.

Some of the migrant groups, which include women and children, make attempts to enter Polish territory from time to time.

According to the Belarusian State Border Committee, Lithuanian border guards made a brutal attempt early Wednesday to push Iraqi citizens back into Belarusian territory in the Klevitsa border area.

Footage shows the border guards severely beating a migrant lying on the ground and then setting a dog on him. The dog bit his leg and started tearing apart his sleeping bag, the committee added.

According to the European Union, Belarus reaches out to potential travelers through seemingly official channels, including diplomatic missions and travel agencies, and invites them to Belarus by offering visas. They are then allegedly guided to the EU border.

NATO and the EU consider Belarus’ approach towards migrants a hybrid attack meant to destabilize and undermine security in European countries through non-military means.

The EU countries bordering Belarus – Lithuania, Latvia and Poland – have reported a dramatically growing number of irregular crossings since August.

Over 8,000 people have tried to enter the bloc via the Belarus-EU border so far this year, up sharply from just 150 last year.

At least 2,000 people, including women and children, have been stuck in the Belarusian-Polish border area in dire conditions over the last week.

The US and Japan have launched a trade partnership, the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced in a statement on Wednesday.

The partnership will focus on trade-related matters that include third country concerns, labor- and environment-related priorities, and digital ecosystem.

"Our close collaboration will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s development of an economic framework for the Indo-Pacific and help create sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and competitive trade policies that lift up our people and economies," US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai said in a statement.

The first series of meetings under the trade partnership is set to take place in early 2022, followed by periodic meetings on a regular basis.

The office said in a separate statement that US, Japan and the EU have agreed to renew their trilateral partnership to address global challenges posed by non-market policies and practices of third countries.

The trilateral partners will start their work in the coming weeks before meeting personally in the upcoming World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland./agencies

Two men who were convicted of the murder of Black leader Malcolm X in the 1960s will have their convictions overturned, according to a report published on Wednesday.

Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam's convictions will be thrown out on Thursday, lawyers for the men and the Manhattan District Attorney told the New York Times newspaper.

The decision "represents a remarkable acknowledgment of grave errors made in a case of towering importance: the 1965 murder of one of America’s most influential Black leaders in the fight against racism," the Times reported.

The pending decision comes after a 22-month investigation conducted by the district attorney and the men's attorneys, which determined the FBI and New York Police Department failed to turn over key evidence that would have resulted in their acquittal.

They have spent decades behind bars for Malcom X's February 1965 murder, which occurred in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom when three men opened fire in the venue as he was speaking.

The investigation did not name who actually fired the fatal shots, nor did it discover evidence of a police or government conspiracy, the Times reported.

Cyrus Vance, Jr., the incumbent district attorney in Manhattan, apologized for the failures that led to Aziz and Islam's convictions and imprisonment. He acknowledged, however that there is nothing that could remedy the shortcomings, but said "what we can do is acknowledge the error, the severity of the error.”

“This points to the truth that law enforcement over history has often failed to live up to its responsibilities,” Vance said in an interview with the newspaper. “These men did not get the justice that they deserved.”

The investigation discovered FBI documents that would have led investigators away from Aziz and Islam, and prosecutors' notes suggested they failed to disclose that undercover police were in attendance at the Audubon Ballroom when the shooting took place.

A living witness also corroborated Aziz's alibi, namely that he had been at home nursing wounded legs at the time of the shooting.

Aziz was released in 1985 while Islam was freed in 1987, later dying in 2009./agencies

Catastrophic flooding caused by historic rainfall has forced thousands from their homes in the Canadian province of British Columbia as recovery crews continued to work feverishly Wednesday on rescue operations.

The lower part of British Columbia, including the heavily populated, 2.6 million, Vancouver area, is essentially cut off from the rest of the province and Canada as mudslides and floodwaters fueled by a foot of rain wiped out roads and railway lines.

More than 300 people trapped on a highway between a raging river that overflowed its banks and mudslides were rescued earlier this week as military helicopters and troops joined rescue efforts.

Many communities, including the entire city of Merritt, population 7,100, had to evacuate as water pounded the area, sweeping away homes, barns and other buildings.

Residents in the rural areas of Abbotsford, population just under 150,000, who are trying to rescue cows, horses and hens have been told by officials to "abandon their efforts to save livestock" and leave immediately.

What is called an "atmospheric river" dumped a month's worth of rain, 12 inches, in two days. Atmospheric rivers are long powerful corridors of concentrated moisture carried from the ocean. British Columbia borders the Pacific Ocean.

The food supply chain is also threatened as drivers are stuck due to road closures. Reports are that supermarkets have been stripped of goods.

"We fully recognize how important it is right now in British Columbia to reopen the road connections from the Lower Mainland to the Interior to get supply chains moving again," said Rob Fleming, the province's minister of transportation.

Given the chaotic conditions, it is surprising that only one death has been reported, but that may increase as rescuers continue to probe mudslides and floods.

All this comes after British Columbia suffered a historic heatwave that produced record-breaking temperatures this past summer. Officials said it killed about 600 people./aa