Reconciliation talks between Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy and the Shiite opposition have started for the first time since anti-government protests erupted in the Gulf kingdom, an opposition figure said.

US President Barack Obama today extended a ban on new deepwater oil drilling permits for another six months while a presidential commission investigates.

Crude oil futures surged past $70 a barrel for the first time today as Hurricane Katrina headed toward the heart of US oil and refinery operations in the Gulf of Mexico, shutting down an estimated one million barrels of refining capacity.