Oil United Arab Emirates

Iraq's saber-rattling toward Kuwait is a bad omen for consumers concerned about oil prices. Iraq, the most contentious member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is also OPEC's leading "price hawk," favoring OPEC policies that will sharply curtail production until average world prices rise to at least $25 per barrel from about $17 now.

The OPEC cartel, which produces about one-third of the world's oil supply, Friday unanimously demanded a higher price for its oil and vowed to back its move with firm controls on its own production. Meeting in Geneva, the oil ministers of the powerful 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to raise the target price of an average barrel of OPEC oil to $21, up from the former $18 level, in a market that has been soft for six months.

OPEC oil ministers Tuesday extended their talks to a fifth day after Iran put up surprise proposals to end a deadlock on assigning production quotas among its members. Delegates of Iran told lobby reporters that higher world petroleum prices was one goal. The 13 ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have been stymied for four days trying to agree on output quotas to remove excess supply from the world market.

Iraq's saber-rattling toward Kuwait is a bad omen for consumers concerned about oil prices. Iraq, the most contentious member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is also OPEC's leading "price hawk," favoring OPEC policies that will sharply curtail production until average world prices rise to at least $25 per barrel from about $17 now.

The OPEC cartel, which produces about one-third of the world's oil supply, Friday unanimously demanded a higher price for its oil and vowed to back its move with firm controls on its own production. Meeting in Geneva, the oil ministers of the powerful 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to raise the target price of an average barrel of OPEC oil to $21, up from the former $18 level, in a market that has been soft for six months.

The ruler of one of the seven United Arab Emirates left his throne Wednesday, and there were conflicting reports as to whether he was overthrown or abdicated in favor of his brother after mismanaging oil revenues. The departure of Sheik Sultan ibn Mohammed al Kasimi, ruler of Sharjah and a member of the seven-member ruling council of the Emirates, plunged the 16-year-old federation into its worst political crisis, Arab and Western sources said.

Somali rebels battling to oust President Mohamed Siad Barre said today they controlled nearly all the capital of Mogadishu and appealed to his forces to surrender. "We hope that by tonight the city will be completely liberated," a spokesman for the rebel United Somali Congress said in Rome. Chaotic conditions were reported in Mogadishu, where Siad Barre's government has been under rebel siege for a week. Siad Barre's family fled to the United Arab Emirates, according to diplomatic sources.

OPEC produced nearly 19.7 million barrels a day of oil in January, more than 1 million barrels over the amount promised under the cartel's new quota system, according to a report released Sunday. The Petroleum Intelligence Weekly said its latest survey of world oil production showed that at least five members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries exceeded their quotas last month, pushing production beyond the 18.5 million barrels pledged at a meeting in November.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans clashed Wednesday over how to investigate billions of dollars worth of reported improprieties in the international program that for five years allowed Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil to buy food and medicine. Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said at the hearing of the House International Relations Committee that it may be time to use the "power of the purse" to pressure the United Nations to provide greater public disclosure of the workings of its officials.

Is the Louvre wrong to lend out treasures to Atlanta or Abu Dhabi in exchange for funding? An argument is dividing France's art world, with protesters circulating an online petition that declares, "Museums are not for sale." At issue is whether French museums, including the Louvre, are selling their souls by lending too many works to museums abroad and whether the government is turning France's rich artistic heritage into a commercial brand.

OPEC oil ministers Tuesday extended their talks to a fifth day after Iran put up surprise proposals to end a deadlock on assigning production quotas among its members. Delegates of Iran told lobby reporters that higher world petroleum prices was one goal. The 13 ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have been stymied for four days trying to agree on output quotas to remove excess supply from the world market.

The ruler of one of the seven United Arab Emirates left his throne Wednesday, and there were conflicting reports as to whether he was overthrown or abdicated in favor of his brother after mismanaging oil revenues. The departure of Sheik Sultan ibn Mohammed al Kasimi, ruler of Sharjah and a member of the seven-member ruling council of the Emirates, plunged the 16-year-old federation into its worst political crisis, Arab and Western sources said.

Gunboat diplomacy--military intervention to secure a political goal--enabled the United States to impose its will abroad in the first half of this century. Unfortunately for our foreign-policy stakes in many developing countries today, it continues to be the knee-jerk reaction at the White House. The "big stick" approach, which largely ignored indigenous cultures and authorities from Santo Domingo to Saigon, collapsed finally with America's defeat in Vietnam.

The scarred Mercedes taxi rumbles to a halt. Its flaking paint exposes a layer of rust. It spews a noxious brown exhaust. That it can move at all appears to be a miracle. In most countries, police would have hauled the vehicle away, laid it to rest at a scrap yard on the outskirts and slapped the driver with a stiff fine for dragging such a heap onto the public roadways.