Bloomberg Egypt and Russia signed a $30 billion deal to build North Africa’s first nuclear power plant as the Kremlin moves to expand its influence in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi witnessed the signing ceremony in Cairo on Monday. The project increases Russia’s economic presence and political influence in the Middle East, already …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia plans to raise domestic gasoline and jet fuel prices in January, part of a program to gradually eliminate energy subsidies as the kingdom seeks to overhaul its economy and balance the budget, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Gasoline prices are set to increase by about 80 percent, while jet fuel prices will be …

BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq has agreed to swap up to 60,000 barrels per day of crude produced from the northern Iraqi Kirkuk oilfield for Iranian oil, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said. The agreement signed by the two countries provides for Iran to deliver to Iraq’s southern ports, on the Gulf, “oil of the same characteristics and in the same …