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Israeli fire in Gaza killed Reuters journalist Hussam al-Masri.

As he lived in a tent and battled to provide for his family, Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters journalist killed by Israeli fire on Monday while running a live video feed at Gaza's Nasser Hospital, covered the suffering of civilians during the conflict. According to journalist colleagues, Masri, 49, was a seasoned cameraman who was well-liked by Gaza's close-knit community of reporters because of his upbeat demeanor in the most perilous circumstances. In the months before his death, he would say, "Tomorrow will be better," despite the fact that the Palestinian enclave was becoming increasingly desolate and hungry. That was the conclusion of his final discussion with Mohamed Salem, a senior Reuters visuals journalist who had collaborated with Masri in Rafah, in southern Gaza, last year and had known him since 2003. Salem, who left Gaza later in 2024 but stayed in daily contact with Masri until Monday morning, said he was a pleasure to work with because of his smiles and o...

Oil ends the week around 5% lower as it stabilizes on reports of a US-Russia agreement.

Oil prices saw their biggest weekly losses since late June due to a tariff-hit economic outlook, but they remained stable on Friday as markets anticipated a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, in the coming days.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures remained steady at $63.88, but Brent crude futures ended the day 16 cents, or 0.2%, higher at $66.59 a barrel.
WTI closed 5.1% below last Friday's close, and Brent dropped 4.4% over the week.
After Bloomberg News reported that Washington and Moscow were seeking to reach an agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine that would lock in Russia's occupation of territory seized during its military invasion, U.S. crude fell more than 1% earlier in the day.
According to the report, which cited people familiar with the situation, U.S. and Russian officials are trying to reach a territorial agreement for a summit meeting between Trump and Putin that is scheduled to begin as early as next week.
The possible meeting coincides with escalating trade tensions between Trump and Russian oil buyers and raises hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Ukraine, which could result in loosened sanctions against Russia.
Trump threatened to raise tariffs on India this week if it continued to buy Russian oil. Trump added that tariffs akin to those imposed on Indian imports might be applied to China, the biggest purchaser of Russian crude.
Neil Crosby, an energy market analyst at Sparta Commodities, stated that "a number of non-oil factors are at play, including concerns about the impact of tariffs and the headlines flying over the last few days regarding a Trump and Putin meeting in the near term."
"With flip-flopping about who will attend a meeting over Ukraine and under what circumstances, headline risk is especially strong right now."
In a note, ANZ Bank analysts expressed concern about economic activity and the demand for crude oil as a result of the imposition of higher U.S. tariffs on imports from a number of trading partners on Thursday.
In an effort to regain market share, OPEC+ decided on Sunday to increase oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September. This will increase supply.
This week, the number of oil rigs in the United States increased by one to 411, a sign of future supply.
According to analysts at FGE NexantECA, "Bearish sentiment has returned this week as President Trump's sweeping import tariffs went into effect against most countries, and key OPEC+ members announced a second 'quadruple' output unwind for September (thus fully restoring their extra voluntary cuts of 2.2 mmb/d)."
Expectations of a more dovish approach were heightened on Thursday when Trump announced that he would designate Stephen Miran, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, to fill the remaining months of a newly open position at the Federal Reserve.
Lower interest rates can increase economic growth and the demand for oil while lowering the cost of borrowing for consumers.
Though it headed for a weekly decline, the dollar strengthened on Friday. Foreign buyers' demand for dollar-denominated crude is negatively impacted by a stronger dollar.

According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), money managers reduced their net long positions in U.S. crude futures and options during the week ending August 5.


SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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