Reuters

Oil prices eased in early Asian trade on Thursday after weak U.S. job openings data signalled cooling economic conditions which may hit demand.

India's central bank is widely expected to raise its benchmark rate on Thursday for the seventh consecutive meeting and leave the door open for more increases to bring inflation back within its target range, economists said.

Investors were inclined to take money off the table after recent strong gains, and with many global markets off on Good Friday, when potentially pivotal U.S. monthly payrolls data is due.

During a visit to Warsaw on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said Poland had been instrumental in getting Western allies to send battle tanks to Ukraine and he believed it could play the same role in a "planes coalition".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in neighbouring Poland on Wednesday, a Polish presidential aide said, for an official visit to a close ally that has galvanised Western military and political support for Kyiv.

Border of Steel is one of eight new storm brigades totalling 40,000 soldiers that Ukraine wants to use during a counter-offensive against Russian occupiers in coming weeks or months.

Finland formally joined NATO on Tuesday, its flag unfurling outside the military bloc's Brussels headquarters, in a historic policy shift away from non-alignment that was brought about by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Some surveys put Ince's support at more than 5%, with one by Panoramatr giving him 10% last month.

Seven-year-old Saad Umer joined a crowd in a poor neighbourhood in the Pakistani city of Karachi rushing to get a handout of flour and a little cash from a charity trying to help the most vulnerable cope with runaway prices.

CENTCOM named him as Khalid 'Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri in a statement, saying he was responsible for planning Islamic State attacks in Europe and Turkey and developed the group's leadership structure in Turkey.

The plans to overhaul the judiciary caused one of the biggest domestic crises in Israel's 75-year history, triggering a wave of protest that forced the government to call a temporary halt to allow more discussion.

Ukraine this week received the first $2.7 billion tranche under the program, which is a part of a bigger $115 billion global package of support.

Operating profit likely fell to 1.08 trillion won in the quarter ended March 31, according to a Refinitiv SmartEstimate from 27 analysts, weighted toward those who are more consistently accurate.

"The question of our counter-attack is under active discussion by American and European political circles - perhaps to excess," said Serhiy Zgurets, director of the publication Defense Express.

In Asia, Japan's service sector grew in March at the fastest rate in more than nine years.

Pakistan's central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to its highest-ever level on Tuesday, as the cash-strapped country steped up its fight against soaring consumer prices.

The deal was signed in 2021 for TotalEnergies to build four oil, gas and renewables projects with an initial investment of $10 billion in southern Iraq over 25 years.

Jerzy Nowak, president and co-owner of Air Res Aviation, said his company's initial investment in the drone project amounted to around $200,000.

Fire service official Rashid Bin Khalid told Reuters 50 fire units were working to douse the fire, the cause of which was not known immediately.

The Ukrainian leader travelled to Yahidne, where he gave an emotional speech recalling how villagers were kept captive in a space less than 200 square metres during the first month of Russia's February 2022 invasion.

Middle East producers' curbs will leave markets short by an average of 2.3 million bpd in the second half of 2023, estimated Matt Hagerty, a senior manager for energy consultants BTU Analytics, a FactSet company.

Farmers are wrestling with a rare double whammy: a lethal condition called lumpy skin disease in their cows and a drawdown in market-ready cattle stock after the coronavirus pandemic slowed breeding.

"Saudi Arabia is moving from disengagement towards engagement to allow it to focus on pushing ahead on Vision 2030," said Saudi analyst Abdulaziz Sager.

Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said in a statement that he understood Dubai authorities' decision was final but must still go via his UAE counterpart.

Economic and trade cooperation - a key driver of the UAE's 2020 normalisation of relations with Israel which broke with decades of Arab policy towards the Palestinian cause - has deepened.

The compound, revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples, is a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is monitored especially closely by authorities during religious holidays.

Israel authorised on Sunday a national guard sought by far-right security chief Itamar Ben-Gvir to focus on Arab unrest

The court accepted his petition and posted it for hearing on April 13.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the reported strikes in Syria, the third since Thursday.