Washington’s close military ties with South Korea are bringing the region closer to a nuclear war, Pyongyang claimed on Tuesday.  The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) argued that the ongoing 11-day US-South Korean exercise ‘Ulchi Freedom Shield’ was a rehearsal for “an actual war to invade the North,” and that “the aggressive character of the…

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Oil prices will jump to $300 a barrel if the West abandons Russian oil, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and former energy minister Alexander Novak said on Monday, adding that “some see it possibly reaching $500 a barrel.”