News Headlines - 27 August 2019
▽U.S. Plans to Open Direct Talks With Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen - WSJ
The Trump administration is preparing to initiate direct talks with Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen in an effort to end the four-year-old war, a conflict that has become a volatile front line in the conflict with Tehran, according to people familiar with the plans.
The U.S. is looking to prod Saudi Arabia into taking part in secret talks in Oman with Houthi leaders in an effort to broker a cease-fire in Yemen, according to these people.
▽BP to Exit Alaska With $5.6 Billion Sale - WSJ
BP PLC is exiting Alaska after six decades, marking the latest blow to the state’s oil industry, which has diminished amid the rise of shale drilling in the continental U.S.
The British oil company is selling all of its Alaska assets, including its share of the giant Prudhoe Bay oil field and its interests in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, to Hilcorp Energy Co. for $5.6 billion. Privately held Hilcorp, based in Houston, is Alaska’s largest private operator.
▽Ferdinand Piech, Porsche patriarch and VW saviour, dies at 82 | The Guardian
Ferdinand Piech, the Porsche family patriarch who transformed Volkswagen from a struggling carmaker into a global powerhouse, has died at the age of 82.
Piech, the grandson of sports car and VW Beetle pioneer Ferdinand Porsche, died on Sunday in Rosenheim, Bavaria, his wife said.
A fire that broke out in a tower block in Notting Hill was caused by sunlight, with cigarettes also a possible factor, officials have said... Fire investigators said initial findings suggest the blaze was accidental and caused by sunlight refracting through a "glass item" on the balcony.
They added that the "unsafe disposal of cigarettes" could not be ruled out.
▽CITES votes to ban trade in two endangered otter species
A trade ban is looming for two endangered otter species after some 100 countries voted to increase protections following a social-media fuelled craze for acquiring the silky mammals as pets.
Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted overwhelmingly in Geneva Sunday to place the smooth-coated otter on the treaty's most endangered list. On Monday they voted to do the same for the Asian small-clawed otter.
