Europe’s oil refineries are increasingly missing out on Russian crude as the world’s biggest energy producer directs more and more barrels by pipeline to China. Russia will ship an average of 19 percent less crude through its main ports on the Baltic and Black Seas in the first five months of 2018 compared with a year earlier, according to loading plans obtained by Bloomberg. Meanwhile piped flows to China soared 43 percent in the first three months, the most recent data from state operator Transneft PJSC show. Source Bloomberg
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen voiced outrage Thursday (Sept 20) after being ordered to undergo psychiatric tests for having posted pictures of atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group on Twitter. Ms Le Pen shared the gruesome images in December 2015, a few weeks after ISIS militants killed 130 people in attacks in Paris, sparking widespread condemnation in France. Source The Straits Times
Acting commerce and industry minister Ajmal Hamid Abdul Rahimzai on Tuesday said Afghanistan’s exports increased by 32 per cent in the first eight months of the ongoing fiscal year. Source: The Frontier Post
Israel’s air force commander will lead a delegation to Moscow to share the military’s findings on the Syrian downing of a Russian warplane following Israeli air strikes. Source: Arab News
