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08 Sep 2021; MEMO: Turkey can give the mission of protecting Afghanistan's Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport to a private security company, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday.

Speaking to Turkish broadcaster NTV, Cavusoglu said the Taliban or Afghan forces can ensure security outside the airport and the international community needs a structure it can trust for the airport to operate.

New Delhi, Sep 7 (PTI) UK-based Cairn Energy PLC on Tuesday said it will drop litigations to seize Indian properties in countries ranging from France to the US, within a couple of days of getting a USD 1 billion refund resulting from the scrapping of a retrospective tax law.

Beijing, Sep 7 (AP-PTI) China's import and export growth accelerated in August despite disruptions due to the spread of the coronavirus's delta variant.

Exports rose 25.6% over a year earlier to 294.3 billion, up from July's 18.9% growth, customs data showed Tuesday. Imports rose 33.1% to 236 billion, up from the previous month's 28.7%.

Mumbai, Sep 6 (PTI) Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 160 points to close at its fresh lifetime peak on Monday, driven by gains in index majors Reliance Industries and Infosys amid strong global cues and unabated foreign capital inflows.

The 30-share index settled 166.96 points or 0.29 per cent higher at 58,296.91. It touched an intra-day record of 58,515.85.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 54.20 points or 0.31 per cent to its new closing record of 17,377.80. During the session, it touched an all-time peak of 17,429.55.

Kochi, Sep 6 (PTI) The Lakshadweep administration has launched a programme to turn its nine inhabited islands into a hub of seaweed cultivation, officials said here on Monday.

Prioritising seaweed farming as the driver of development of the islands, the administration, with the technical support of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), held a demonstration on farming seaweed on the nine islands, a press release from the institute said.

06 Sep 2021; MEMO: The French company TotalEnergies signed a $27 billion contract with Iraq on Sunday to invest in the country's gas, oil, and solar energy industries. The deal was announced by Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail during a joint press conference with TotalEnergies CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, in Baghdad.

Ismail said that the deal aims to reduce Iraq's reliance on fossil fuel. "This is the largest investment by a Western company in Iraq," he added. "Implementing these projects is the challenge we now face."

06 Sep 2021; MEMO: Turkey's envoy to India, Firat Sunel, said Turkey and India would benefit from improving comprehensive bilateral relations in all fields, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to WION TV, Sunel said Turkey and India are both rising stars in their respective regions, owing to their growing economies and expanding roles in the area. He added that Ankara was among the first nations to recognise India's independence in 1947, opening a diplomatic mission the following year.

06 Sep 2021; MEMO: Turkey's data protection authority has fined WhatsApp nearly $235,000 for violating privacy rules, local media reports.

According to reports, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK) announced that it had fined WhatsApp 1,950,000 Turkish lira and ordered the app to bring its privacy policy in line with Turkish laws.

WhatsApp has to take "the necessary measures to avoid processing personal data contrary to the law", the KVKK said.

05 Sep 2021; MEMO: Ariana Afghan Airlines resumed some flights in Afghanistan between Kabul and three major provincial cities on Saturday, the carrier said, after a technical team from Qatar reopened the capital's airport for aid and domestic services, reports Reuters.

Flights between Kabul and the western city of Herat, Mazar-i Sharif in northern Afghanistan, and Kandahar in the south have started, the airline said in a statement on its Facebook page.

03 Sep 2021; MEMO: Lebanon has requested the United States provide it with an exemption from the ban on imports and exports through Syria, citing the economic and fuel crises currently ravaging Lebanon.

According to the Syrian news outlet Athr Press, the speaker of Lebanon's parliament Nabih Berri made the request to the US on Wednesday, in an effort to allow the exports to and imports from neighbouring Syria to help ease Lebanon's hardships.