Business

16 Jan 2022; MEMO: Six years after snapping their diplomatic ties, arch-foes Iran and Saudi Arabia are slowly moving toward rapprochement and preparing to reopen embassies, according to a senior Iranian lawmaker, reported Anadolu Agency.

Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, a member of the Iranian Parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, in a Twitter post on Saturday, said the two countries are on course to restore their fractured ties.

16 Jan 2022; MEMO: The US has reportedly allowed Israel to supply cash-strapped Lebanon with gas via Jordan, according to local Israeli media.

Israeli Channel 12 said an agreement was reached between Washington and Tel Aviv to provide Lebanon with Israeli gas from the offshore Leviathan field through Jordan. From there, gas will be transferred to Syria and onto Lebanon.

14 Jan 2022; MEMO: Iran's top diplomat, on his first official visit to China, announced the implementation of the ambitious 25-year strategic agreement between the two countries has begun, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, following extensive deliberations with senior Chinese officials during his two-day visit to Beijing, said on Friday the two sides agreed to announce the start of the implementation of the long-term pact.

15 Jan 2022; MEMO: Greece has received a strike from the US after freezing the excavation works of US-owned ExxonMobil and French company Total off the island of Crete in the East Mediterranean, CNN Turk reported on Friday.

15 Jan 2022; MEMO: Sudan's Sovereign Council, on Thursday, hailed Turkey's supportive stance toward the country and its keenness to strengthen ties between Ankara and Khartoum, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The Council issued a statement saying its member, Ibrahim Jaber, met earlier in the day with Turkish Ambassador to Sudan, Irfan Neziroglu, and discussed developing and strengthening bilateral relations between their two countries.

13 Jan 2022; MEMO: Syria and China have signed a memorandum of understanding on a number of issues, bringing Damascus into the fold of Beijing's Silk Road initiative.

In a meeting at the Planning and International Cooperation Commission's building in the Syrian capital yesterday, the agreement was signed by the Head of the Planning and International Cooperation Commission, Fadi Al-Khalil and the Chinese Ambassador, Feng Biao.

Islamabad, Jan 13 (PTI) Pakistan's National Assembly Thursday passed the controversial Finance (Supplementary) Bill, also called the "mini-budget" despite stiff resistance by the opposition parties.

The bill aimed to raise more taxes and duties and to empower the central bank were tabled on December 30 by the government to fulfill a key condition by the International Monetary Fund to approve USD 1 billion under the USD 6 billion Extended Fund Facility.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India and Britain on Thursday launched talks on pursuing a free trade deal that is expected to boost bilateral trade by billions of dollars in one of the most ambitious negotiations to take place after Brexit.

Britain’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan met with Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles in New Delhi. Actual negotiations kick off next week, officials said.

13 Jan 2022; MEMO: The head of the Executive Assembly of Hezbollah, Hashem Safieddine, demanded on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia should stop what he described as its "hegemony" over the Lebanese people and "blatant interference" in their affairs.

13 Jan 2022; MEMO: The turmoil in the Republic of Kazakhstan made Israel worried about its secret oil, cybersecurity and weapons deals with the Central Asian country, according to Haaretz columnist David Rosenberg. Despite looking marginal to Israel, Kazakhstan, is actually "an important source for imported oil and a lucrative market for Israeli arms."

Citing experts in such matters, he said that, "Both businesses are shrouded in secrecy but are strategically important."