Briefly

NATO

Stoltenberg's term extended by one year

NATO decided on Tuesday to extend Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg's contract by a further year. Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, has been the transatlantic security alliance's leader since 2014 and his tenure had already been extended three previous times. In a tweet, Stoltenberg said he was honored by the decision to extend his term to Oct 1, 2024.

OIL MARKETS

Saudi Arabia, Russia deepen oil cuts

Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's biggest oil exporters, deepened oil cuts on Monday. Saudi Arabia said it would extend its voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day for another month to include August, adding that the cut could be extended beyond that month. Shortly after the Saudi announcement, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow would cut its oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day in August. The cuts amount to 1.5 percent of global supply.

MIDDLE EAST

Egypt and Turkiye appoint ambassadors

Egypt and Turkiye said Tuesday they had appointed ambassadors to each other's countries for the first time in a decade, in the latest sign of warming ties. Cairo and Ankara both issued statements announcing "the upgrading of diplomatic relations between them to the level of ambassadors". The two foreign ministries said the move "aims at the re-normalization of relations between the two countries and reflects the mutual will to develop bilateral relations".

Agencies - Xinhua