Oil prices soar after attacks on Saudi facilities

Oil prices hit their highest in four months after two attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities on Saturday knocked out more than 5% of global supply.

At the start of trading, Brent crude jumped 19% to $71.95 a barrel, while the other major benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, rose 15% to $63.34.

Prices eased back slightly after US President Donald Trump authorised the release of US reserves.

It could take weeks before the Saudi facilities are fully back on line.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco said the attack cut output by 5.7 million barrels per day.

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The drone attacks on plants in the heartland of Saudi Arabia's oil industry included hitting the world's biggest petroleum-processing facility.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tehran was behind the attacks. Iran accused the US of "deceit."

Later Mr Trump said in a tweet the US knew who the culprit was and was "locked and loaded" but waiting to hear from the Saudis about how they wanted to proceed.

In another tweet he said there was "plenty of oil!".

What will be the impact on oil supply?

The Saudis have not gone into any detail about the attacks, barring saying there were no casualties, but have given a few more indications about oil production.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said some of the fall in production would be made up by tapping huge storage facilities.

The kingdom is the world's biggest oil exporter, shipping more than seven million barrels daily.

"Saudi authorities have claimed to control the fires, but this falls far short of extinguishing them," said Abhishek Kumar, head of analytics at Interfax Energy in London. "The damage to facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais appears to be extensive, and it may be weeks before oil supplies are normalised."

Saudi Arabia is expected to tap into reserves so that exports can continue as normal this week.

However, Michael Tran, managing director of energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets in New York, said: "Even if the outage normalises quickly, the threat of sidelining nearly 6% of global oil production is no longer a hypothetical, a black swan or a fat tail. Welcome back, risk premium."

What are the US accusations?

Mr Pompeo said Tehran was behind the damaging attacks but gave no specific evidence to back up his accusations.

He has rejected claims by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels that they carried out the attacks.

Iran accused the US of "deceit" and its Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that "blaming Iran won't end the disaster" in Yemen.

Yemen has been at war since 2015, when President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was forced to flee the capital Sanaa by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia backs President Hadi, and has led a coalition of regional countries against the rebels.

The US meanwhile has blamed Iran for other attacks on oil supplies in the region this year, amid continuing tension following Mr Trump's decision to reinstate sanctions after abandoning the landmark international deal which limited Tehran's nuclear activities.

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US woman who hid baby in bag charged with human trafficking

A US woman has been charged with human trafficking in the Philippines after she allegedly attempted to smuggle a newborn baby out of the country.

Jennifer Talbot, 43, was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on Wednesday.

A six-day-old boy was reportedly found in her carry-on bag as she attempted to board a plane to the US.

Authorities allege that Ms Talbot did not declare the baby to immigration officials.

The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) alleges that Ms Talbot intended to "conceal and sneak the baby out".

The baby's mother and father have been charged under a child protection law, authorities said. The boy has been placed in the custody of social services.

Ms Talbot, from Ohio, was not able to provide a boarding pass or any documentation for the baby, the agency said.

Wearing an orange shirt and in handcuffs, Ms Talbot attended a news conference on Thursday, when the charges against her were announced. She made no comment.

If found guilty, she could face life in prison, Manuel Dimaano, head of the NBI's airport division, told reporters.

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US Embassy officials have been informed of Ms Talbot's arrest, the Associated Press reported.

Following her arrest, Ms Talbot did present a document which she claimed gave her consent to take the baby to the US, the NBI said.

But the document was not signed by the baby's mother, the agency said.

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Dutch woman's candid tweet that launched helpline for the lonely

Nadï van de Watering, 25, was contemplating another day of amusing herself, enviously watching others her age enjoying summer parties in the glorious sunshine.

It was while waiting outside her physiotherapist's in the eastern Dutch city of Nijmegen that she decided to reach out on social media in the vague hope someone in a similar headspace might reply.

I'm by myself every day. At most I get 30 mins physio. That's as far as my social life goes. Work, study, going out, sport isn't possible. After 9 years on my own I want a network!                                        Tweet by Nadï van de Watering@nadivdw 31 July 2019

Her courage was rewarded with an avalanche of responses and the hashtag "maatjegezocht" was born. It translates as "seeking a pal".

There are no figures for the scale of social isolation in the Netherlands. Loneliness is a subject rarely discussed in a country often considered emotionally insular.

But her tweet has generated more than a million messages - an indication of how many other young Dutch people may be desperate to escape their solitude.

How the helpline began

Youth worker Jolanda van Gerwe spotted the likes and shares and vowed to build on the momentum Nadï van de Watering's tweet had generated.

Her group, Join Us, set up a hotline for people aged between 12 and 30.

Calls to the hotline will act as alerts and link young people looking for friends in the neighbourhood. The data will be used to highlight the scale of youth loneliness and petition councils to do more to assist young people in cultivating their social circles.

"We give lonely young people a place to be heard and put them in touch with youth clubs specialising in kids who are lonely," Ms Van Gerwe tells the BBC.

"But they need more than just a club, they need advice and guidance to escape their lonely lives. They need help in three ways - connections, social skills, and to stop having a negative bias about themselves and the world."

The idea has already attracted the support of the Dutch government, earning the praise of Public Health Minister Hugo de Jonge who encouraged people to use the hotline.

What is loneliness?

Up to 10% of young people are considered "chronically lonely", according to global statistics.

"Young people see loneliness as a taboo," says Gerine Lodder from Tilburg University, one of the few Dutch academics conducting scientific research into youth loneliness.

She cites a TV poll suggesting 60% of those who feel lonely say they will never talk about it.

Social status and popularity are very important in this age group. You're growing up, forming your identity. If you admit you're lonely you're admitting you're a social failure

Gerine Lodder
Tilburg University

Ms Van Gerwe, agrees: "A lot of Dutch people put a mask on every day and night.

"We confuse loneliness and isolation. It's not the same. Loneliness is a subjective feeling of not having enough or not having high enough quality of interactions.

"You can be lonely surrounded by others. There's an aching feeling: I should be able to connect now but I can't."

Dr Lodder believes the new hotline can help people realise they are not alone, as well as giving an indication of how many are struggling.

How young woman's tweet made a difference

It is not without irony that the catalyst for the loneliness hotline was a candid tweet. Social media is often suspected of exacerbating feelings of isolation among young people, and yet the reality is more nuanced.

It can act as a vital resource for LGBTQ or other minority groups who cannot find people like them in real life.

Join Us also hopes the loneliness hotline will help reduce physical ailments.

"Loneliness can affect more than emotional wellbeing," explains Jolanda Van Gerwe. She talks of insomnia and addiction to drugs and alcohol, and says the immune system can also be affected.

"Nadï's tweet showed it was normal to be lonely, she shook up the Netherlands, but it's just the tip of the iceberg, it's the start of a change, breaking down the taboo."

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