IN REBUKE TO WEST, OPEC AND RUSSIA AIM TO RAISE OIL PRICES WITH BIG SUPPLY CUT

Saudi Arabia and Russia, acting as leaders of the OPEC+ energy cartel, agreed on Wednesday to their biggest production cuts in more than two years in a bid to raise prices, countering efforts by the United States and Europe to choke off the enormous revenue that Moscow reaps from the sale of crude.

U.S. President Joe Biden and European leaders have urged more oil production to ease gasoline prices and punish Moscow for its aggression in Ukraine. Russia has been accused of using energy as a weapon against countries opposing its invasion of Ukraine, and the optics of the decision could not be missed.

“This is completely not what the White House wants, and it is exactly what Russia wants,” said Bill Farren-Price, the head of macro oil and gas analysis at Enverus, a research firm. It also puts Saudi Arabia on a diplomatic “collision course” with the United States, he said.

The cut of 2 million barrels a day represents about 2% of global oil production.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told reporters that the decision was a “mistake and misguided.” “It’s clear that OPEC+ is aligning with Russia with today’s announcement,” she said.

By reducing output, OPEC+ was also seeking to make a statement to energy markets about the group’s cohesion during the Ukraine war and its willingness to act quickly to defend prices, analysts say.

At a news conference after the meeting, the Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said OPEC+ was acting amid signs of a downturn in the world economy that might cause demand for oil to weaken and prices to fall.

“We would rather be pre-emptive than be sorry,” he said.

Hours before the OPEC+ meeting, the European Union pushed ahead with an ambitious plan promoted by the Biden administration to cap the price of Russian oil, in coordination with Group of Seven nations and others.

The EU cap is intended to set the price of Russian oil lower than where it is today but still above the cost of producing it. The U.S. Treasury Department estimates that the program could deprive the Kremlin of tens of billions of dollars annually. But some analysts say the cap would make the logistics of the oil trade more difficult, driving prices higher. And it relies on the participation of non-EU nations that are still buying Russian oil.

PUTIN SIGNS ANNEXATION LAWS, ASSERTS CONTROL OVER UKRAINE N-PLANT

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has signed the final papers to annex four regions of Ukraine - even as his military suffered further setbacks.

The Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are "accepted into the Russian Federation" the documents say.

But in two of those areas - Luhansk and Kherson - Ukraine said it has been retaking more villages.

Mr Putin also signed a decree to formalise Russia's seizure of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia.

Last Friday, the Russian leader held a grand ceremony in the Kremlin, where he signed agreements with the Moscow-installed leaders of the four regions.

The move followed self-proclaimed referendums in the areas, denounced as a "sham" by the West.

But on the ground there appears to be a different reality, with Ukrainian forces making gains in both the south and the east.

Serhiy Haidai, Ukrainian governor of Luhansk, told the BBC on Wednesday that six villages in the region had been recaptured.

And President Zelensky later said Ukraine had liberated three more villages in the southern region of Kherson.

That followed a series of gains in Kherson the previous day, including the strategically key village of Davydiv Brid.

Meanwhile, the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was rocked by a series of huge explosions an hour or so before dawn.

Local authorities say seven Russian missiles hit residential buildings and that people are under the rubble. There has been no information on casualties so far.

ELON MUSK REVIVES $44 BILLION DEAL TO BUY TWITTER, AIMS TO AVOID LEGAL BATTLE

In a surprise move, tech billionaire Elon Musk has decided to go ahead with the Twitter buyout after months of trying to get out of the deal.

Musk revived the original bid to buy Twitter at $54.20 a share, at a market valuation of around $44 billion, in a bid to avoid a legal battle.

In a letter to Twitter on Tuesday (3 October), Musk made the proposal to revive the original bid, according to a security exchange filing.

The Tesla CEO said that he intended to proceed to closing of the Twitter buyout provided, a stay and ajournment of trial in the court case filed by Twitter against Musk after he abruptly terminated the deal earlier this year.

Twitter said it received the letter and intends to close the deal at the agreed-upon price, without commenting specifically on how it will respond to Musk, reports Bloomberg.

Musk had been trying for months to end his contract to acquire Twitter, signed in April.

The tech billionaire formally quit the deal in July and Twitter sued him in Delaware Chancery Court to force him to go forward with the purchase.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Musk said that buying Twitter is "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app".

BOMBING OF MOSQUE IN AFGHANISTAN KILLS FOUR

A bombing in a mosque on the grounds of Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry in Kabul killed four persons and wounded 25 others on Wednesday, an official said, with injured patients claiming it was a suicide attack.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafy Takor said an explosion occurred at a mosque of the Ministry when worshippers were offering mid-day prayers.

“Four worshippers were martyred and 25 others were injured,” he said in a statement to reporters, adding that an investigation was being conducted.

The latest blast comes after a suicide bombing on Friday killed 53 people in a Kabul classroom, including 46 girls and women, according to a toll by the United Nations.

PAK GOVERNMENT TO CALL OUT ARMY IF IMRAN KHAN CALLS FOR MARCH IN ISLAMABAD

Islamabad: After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry claimed all the arrangements for his party's long march to Islamabad were in their final stages, the Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government decided to call out army and deploy troops in the capital city if PTI chief Imran Khan gave a call for the march.

According to Dawn newspaper, the decision was taken on Tuesday at a meeting, chaired by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.

Citing official sources, the publication reported that the Pakistan Army would be deployed in the capital city's Red Zone to stop the entry of protestors.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the cabinet had decided it would not allow PTI to enter Islamabad under any circumstances.

Earlier, PTI Chairman Imran Khan directed party workers to get ready for the 'Haqeeqi Azadi March' in Islamabad and asked his party's leaders and workers to take an oath that they will participate in the long march considering it a Jehad for the country.

In the meeting, the members were briefed that around 20,000 people were expected to participate in the long march. The top security huddle decided to engage the Sindh Police, Rangers and FC to ensure law and order in the federal capital during the long march.

The Pakistan Army, under Article 245 of the Constitution, will secure public buildings and the Diplomatic Enclave in the Red Zone.

In the meeting, the members decided to impose a complete ban on carrying weapons. It was also decided that action would be taken against the federal employees who planned to support the PTI's long march, reported Geo News.

‘PAKISTAN ARMY WILL STAY OUT OF POLITICS’

Islamabad : Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has assured the nation that the armed forces have distanced themselves from politics and wanted to continue to do so, according to a media report Wednesday.

Bajwa reiterated his promise to leave office after completing his second three-year term in November. His remarks, at a lunch hosted at the Pakistan embassy in Washington, comes in the wake of former premier Imran Khan making anti-military statements. Since he lost power, Khan is saying the government wants to install an army head of its choice to protect looted wealth and steal general polls.

NORTH KOREA "HAS ENJOYED BLANKET PROTECTION" FROM CHINA, RUSSIA AT UN: US

United Nations: The United States accused China and Russia on Wednesday of enabling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by protecting Pyongyang from attempts to strengthen U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

"The DPRK (North Korea) has enjoyed blanket protection from two members of this council," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said. "In short, two permanent members of the Security Council have enabled Kim Jong Un."

The 15-member council met on Wednesday on North Korea after nuclear-armed North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile on Tuesday that soared over Japan for the first time in five years and prompting a warning for residents there to take cover.

China and Russia did not want a public council meeting, arguing that it would not be conducive to easing the situation.

China's deputy U.N. ambassador, Geng Shuang, said the Security Council needed to play a constructive role "instead of relying solely on strong rhetoric or pressure."

"Discussions and deliberations should contribute to a detente, rather than fueling escalation. They should promote the resumption of dialogue instead of widening differences and forge unity instead of creating divisions," he said.