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SYDNEY, Sept 20- An Australian court has found a man guilty of planning to blow up an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi nearly two years ago with a bomb hidden in a meat grinder, a spokeswoman for the New South Wales Supreme Court said on Friday. Police had accused the man, Mahmoud Khayat, and his brother Khaled Khayat of planning two terrorist attacks: the...

WASHINGTON, Sept 17- Known for acting on impulse, President Donald Trump has adopted an uncharacteristically go-slow approach over whether to hold Iran responsible for attacks on Saudi oil facilities, showing little enthusiasm for confrontation as he seeks re-election next year. After state-owned Saudi Aramco's plants were struck on Saturday, Trump did...

*Turkey nearly completely reliant on imports for energy. ISTANBUL, Sept 17- The weekend attack on Saudi oil production facilities could delay Turkey's efforts to contain inflation and to finally leave a recession behind if a supply shock means global oil prices stay elevated, analysts said. Turkey, a major emerging market, imports almost all of its energy needs.

The attack on Saudi Arabia that triggered the biggest jump in oil prices in almost 30 years was carried out with Iranian weapons, a Saudi-led coalition said on Monday, as President Donald Trump said the United States was "locked and loaded" to hit back. Speaking to reporters in an airplane on their way back to Moscow from Ankara on Monday evening, Novak said he did not...

WASHINGTON, Sept 15- The White House on Sunday did not rule out a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, even after Washington accused Iran of being behind drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Pompeo said Iran was behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while leaders in Tehran "pretend to engage in diplomacy.

WASHINGTON, Sept 15- The White House on Sunday did not rule out a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, even after Washington accused Iran of being behind drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities. Pompeo said Iran was behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while leaders in Tehran "pretend to engage in diplomacy."

LAGOS, Sept 12- The International Committee of the Red Cross wants to connect private investors with potentially money-making projects in areas blighted by conflict, its president said on Thursday. The ICRC head told business leaders in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos that it plans to launch five to ten new financing mechanisms by 2025 in conflict-hit...

DUBAI, Sept 11- Iran's envoy to London said on Wednesday the oil cargo of tanker Adrian Darya 1 was sold at sea to a private company, denying Tehran had broken assurances it had given over the vessel, but he insisted EU's Syria sanctions did not apply to Tehran. Britain said on Tuesday Iran had sold the oil cargo of tanker Adrian Darya 1 to Syria, breaking assurances it...

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that the Trump administration was considering imposing sanctions on related to Turkey's purchase of the Russian-made S-400 air defense missile system, but no decisions have been made. Ankara and Washington have been at loggerheads over Turkey's purchase of the S-400 system, which the United States says is...

DUBAI, Sept 8- The British-flagged oil tanker seized by Iran could be released after the imminent completion of legal proceedings against the tanker, Iranian state television reported on Sunday. Iran seized the British tanker near the Strait of Hormuz for alleged marine violations two weeks after British forces detained an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar,...

DUBAI, Sept 8- Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Sunday said an Iranian oil tanker at the center of a dispute between Tehran and Western powers had reached its destination and sold its oil, state television reported. "The tanker has gone to its destination, the oil has been sold," spokesman Abbas Mousavi told the television station without disclosing whether...

The incidents come at a time of tensions between Iran and the West in the Gulf that have been rising since the United States exited world powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran last year and reimposed sanctions. The stand-off between Iran and the United States triggered by Washington's withdrawal from the nuclear deal in May last year has stirred fears of a Gulf...

WASHINGTON, Sept 5- The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday warned that anyone around the world who helps fuel Iranian vessels blacklisted by Washington runs the risk of being designated as well. The Treasury Department blacklisted the Adrian Darya, a tanker at the center of a confrontation between Washington and Tehran, on Aug. 30. The Adrian Darya was released...

FRANKFURT/ BERLIN, Sept 5- Private equity firm KKR is preparing for a stock market flotation or sale of German defense supplier Hensoldt in a potential 2 billion euro deal, people close to the matter said. The investor bought Airbus's defense electronics business for 1.1 billion euros in 2016 and later rebranded it Hensoldt, naming it after a 19th century German...

*China faces growing criticism over treatment of Uighurs. But China has also prioritised tracking the movements of ethnic Uighurs, a minority mostly Muslim group considered a security threat by Beijing. China is facing growing international criticism over its treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang.

*China faces growing criticism over treatment of Uighurs. But China has also prioritized tracking the movements of ethnic Uighurs, a minority mostly Muslim group considered a security threat by Beijing. China is facing growing international criticism over its treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang.

DOLLAR AFTER ERDOGAN COMMENTS ON SYRIA.

DUBAI, Sept 5- Syria's wheat and barley crops this year improved helped by favourable rainfall and better overall security but food security remains a challenge, a joint report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme said on Thursday. "It is an improvement but a lot remains to be done... it is still 50% less than the...

SYRIA'S FOOD SECURITY REMAINS "SERIOUS CHALLENGE" DESPITE CROP IMPROVEMENT DUE TO CONTINUED HOSTILITIES AND DISPLACEMENT- FAO/WFP.