Saudi Arabia's push for oil production cuts has placed new strain on its stormy relationship with the United States, though analysts say any predictions of an all-out break are premature.

The move last week by OPEC+ -- composed of the Riyadh-led OPEC cartel and an additional group of 10 exporters headed by Russia -- would reduce global output by up to two million barrels per day from November.

Lebanon and Israel said they have struck a "historic" deal over a maritime border dispute involving offshore gas fields after years of U.S.-mediated talks, in a step that facilitates hydrocarbon production.

Here's what we know of the agreement:

They show up at the first signs of protest in Iran — men in black, riding motorcycles, often wielding guns or batons.

They are members of what's known as the Basij, paramilitary volunteers who are fiercely loyal to the Islamic Republic. The shock troops of the ayatollahs have taken on a leading role in quashing dissent for more than two decades.

Several Lebanese TV networks on Wednesday published the final Arabic-language text of the sea border demarcation agreement submitted by U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein to Lebanon and Israel. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper has meanwhile published the English-language text of the deal.

Below is the full English-language text as published by Haaretz:

Israel's prime minister said Tuesday that Israel has reached a "historic agreement" with neighboring Lebanon over their shared maritime border after months of U.S.-brokered negotiations.

The agreement would mark a major breakthrough in relations with the two countries, which formally have been at war since Israel's establishment in 1948. But the deal still faces some obstacles, including key legal and political challenges in Israel.

U.S. President Joe Biden has effectively acknowledged the failure of one of his biggest and most humiliating foreign policy gambles: a fist-bump with the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, the crown prince associated with human rights abuses.

Biden's awkward encounter with Mohammed bin Salman in July was a humbling attempt to mend relations with the world's most influential oil power at a time when the US. was seeking its help in opposing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting surge in oil prices.

Naharnet has interviewed presidential hopeful and Lebanon’s former candidate for World Bank chief Ziad Hayek about his presidential chances and plans.

Hayek, 63, was Secretary General of Lebanon's High Council for Privatization and PPP from 2006 until he was nominated to be President of the World Bank in February 2019. Hayek is currently Vice Chair of the Bureau of the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe Working Party on PPP, Head of the International Center of Excellence in PPP for Ports, President of the World Association of PPP Units & Professionals, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Member of the Investment Committee of World YMCA, and High Commissioner for Lebanon at the World Business Angels Investment Forum.

Protests in Iran over the death of a 22-year-old woman detained by the country's morality police have stretched into a third week, even after authorities disrupted the internet, deployed riot troops and attacked perceived enemies abroad.

That playbook of repression has worked before, but the spontaneous demonstrations over the death of Mahsa Amini persist and keep changing. In one recent incident, high school students chased away a hard-liner while famous politicians and actresses abroad now are cutting off their hair with scissors, following Iranian women protesters who have done the same.

Lebanon is grappling to strike a deal with Israel over contested maritime gas fields, but even with an agreement the cash-strapped country faces multiple hurdles before tapping potential hydrocarbon riches, analysts say.

"A deal would mark one step forward but it does not mean that Lebanon has become a gas- or oil-producing country," said Marc Ayoub, an associate fellow at the American University of Beirut's Issam Fares Institute.

Leaders from more than 40 countries meeting in the Czech capital Thursday are set to launch a "European Political Community" aimed at boosting security and prosperity across the continent. But critics claim the new forum is an attempt to put the brakes on European Union enlargement.

The Prague meeting is the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron and is backed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. It's taking place with Russia's war on Ukraine in its eighth month and as pressure builds to allow Ukraine to join the 27-nation EU.