00:00Oil prices spiked by more than 3% on Monday as reports suggested that Washington was expected
00:07to end its programme of offering waivers to countries importing Iranian oil. Oil prices
00:13hit highs not seen since November 2018. Brent crude futures surged by more than 3% to reach
00:19around $74 a barrel. Saudi Arabia didn't comment on the suggested reports and neither has the
00:24UAE and it's not clear whether Saudi will increase its production to accommodate the
00:29drop-off in Iranian oil in the market. There have been warnings though that Iran will not
00:33be forced to reduce its production to zero as that would be technically impossible for
00:38them to do. Since last year the US has offered waivers to a number of countries importing
00:42Iranian oil including China but reports suggest now that Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of
00:49State, will end that policy from May 2nd, banning all imports of Iranian oil globally
00:55or telling countries that they will face US sanctions if they continue to do so. And
01:00in other news, Samsung has folded its plans in China to launch its Samsung Fold, saying
01:06it has pushed back the events due to venue issues. However, the news comes on the back
01:11of reports last week that Samsung was having issues with its new folding phone, an extremely
01:17premium device looking to cost upwards of $2,000. The phone, which will fold in the
01:21middle, has reportedly been cracking and having other screen-related issues since
01:27it was tested this month. Despite this, Samsung says that its US launch is still on track
01:32for April 26th. After a number of screen issues happened during press reviews of the device,
01:38Samsung said it would thoroughly investigate what glitches were taking place and resolve
01:43them before a global rollout later this year. And lastly, on Monday, Japanese prosecutors
01:48said that they had filed fresh charges against ex-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, expanding
01:54the scope of the financial fraud allegations that are pending against the former boss of
01:59the carmaker. The charges filed on Monday are related to a number of payments made by
02:04the carmaker that allegedly went to a private investment vehicle controlled by Ghosn. After
02:09the indictment, Ghosn's lawyers filed a request for bail at the Tokyo District Court. A decision
02:15has not yet been made on that bail request.
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