The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday handed Russia at least a temporary victory in an appeal of what's believed to be the world's largest award in an arbitration case after former shareholders of bankrupted Russian oil giant Yukos accused the Kremlin of taking down the company to silence its CEO, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin.
The decision further extends what already has been a yearslong legal battle between Russia and former Yukos shareholders. It quashed a lower court ruling, effectively setting aside a $50 billion award made to the former shareholders in 2014 and sending the case to another court in Amsterdam to consider Russian claims that the shareholders committed fraud in the original arbitration hearings.

The top negotiators of the European Union and recently departed Britain sought a belated renegotiated deal Friday on how trade in Northern Ireland should be dealt with amid signs that increasingly acrimonious relations could lead to a trade war.
On top of the dispute on how to smooth the trade in goods in the UK's Northern Ireland, where the complicated Brexit deal has left the region also in the EU's single trading zone, both sides are fighting over symbolically important UK fishing licenses off France.

OPEC and allied oil-producing countries rebuffed pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden to pump significantly more oil and lower gasoline prices for American drivers, deciding Thursday to stick with their plan for cautious monthly increases even as prices surge and the global economy is thirsty for fuel.
The OPEC+ alliance, made up of OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia and non-members led by Russia, approved an increase in production of 400,000 barrels per day for the month of December at an online meeting.

The IMF has begun "preparatory" talks with Lebanon on a new aid package after receiving an official request from Beirut, an IMF spokesman said Thursday.

Two major delivery companies have canceled or drastically scaled back their services between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, employees said on Wednesday, following a major diplomatic row between the two countries.
DHL has stopped inbound and outbound shipments between the two countries, a company employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

Australia leaking French President Emmanuel Macron's text messages to the media was a "new low" and a warning to other world leaders that their private communications with the Australian government could be weaponized and used against them, the French ambassador said on Wednesday.
French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault used an address to Australia's National Press Club to make a withering attack on Canberra's surprise decision to scrap a 90 billion Australian dollar ($66 billion) contract with France to build a fleet of 12 diesel-electric submarines.

China and Russia are urging the U.N. Security Council to end a host of sanctions against North Korea ranging from the export of seafood and textiles to the cap on imports of refined petroleum products and the ban on its citizens working overseas and sending home their earnings.
A draft resolution circulated to council members and obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press stresses the economic difficulties in North Korea and says these and other sanctions should be lifted "with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population."

The king and queen of the Netherlands visited a strawberry farm Wednesday as part of a tour of the United Arab Emirates, which will see the royals also stop by Dubai's Expo 2020.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima visited a strawberry farm in the deserts of Abu Dhabi near the city of Sweihan. While there, they toured the facility, walking among the rows of strawberries growing inside the facility.

Over five days abroad at two global summits, President Joe Biden showed a new willingness to openly confront China over climate change and its lack of leadership on the global stage.
Biden ended his time at the U.N. climate summit in Scotland on Tuesday by chastising Chinese President Xi Jinping for physically skipping the event and failing to make the level of commitments that roughly 100 other nations did to curb greenhouse gasses. Xi also avoided the earlier Group of 20 summit in Rome, allowing Biden to dominate the conversation as he met with his French, Italian, British and German counterparts.

Upon arrival at Dubai's international airport, travelers can pick up a free guide to the city's top attractions and events. Curiously, the cover of this month's "Time Out-DXB" beckons visitors to Saudi Arabia. Emblazoned with an image of the kingdom's ancient Diriyah fort near the Saudi capital, it reads: "Welcome to Arabia. A Journey You've Never Imagined".
The landlocked, once ultraconservative capital of Riyadh is pitching itself as a city of concerts, movie theaters, world class sporting events and deal-making; a city where revamped cultural heritage sites wait to be discovered, distinguishing Saudi Arabia from other Gulf Arab capitals defined by sprawling malls and high-rise hotels.
