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27 July 2022; MEMO: Turkiye said grain exports from Ukrainian ports could resume within a week, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the export will reach 25 million tonnes by the end of the year, after it brokered a deal between Kyiv and Moscow that eased fears of a global food crisis.

The exports halted by Russia's invasion, will be determined by logistical groundwork, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said during an interview with local media.

27 July 2022; MEMO: Iran will soon start accepting payments made with Russia's Mir bank cards, a top official was quoted by Russia's RIA news agency as saying, making it the latest country to adopt the Russian-made alternative to Visa and MasterCard, Reuters reports.

"I think this payment system will be activated in Iran soon," RIA quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy, Medhi Safari, as saying on Wednesday.

27 July 2022; MEMO: An Israel-based pharmaceutical company has announced a $4.35 billion nationwide settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed against it for its alleged major role in the US's opioid epidemic, which has killed over 500,000 overdose deaths throughout the past two decades.

26 July 2022; MEMO: Iran and Russia will officially begin trading in rials and rubles, dropping the US dollar as their common currency exchange, Tehran has announced.

Iranian Minister of Economic and Financial Affairs, Ehsan Khandouzi, made the announcement at a press conference today, marking a new step in economic cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, while seemingly dealing yet another blow to the status of the US dollar.

26 July 2022; MEMO: Iran's income from oil and condensates exports is 580 per cent higher in the first four months of the Iranian year (March 21 to July 21) compared with the same period a year ago, the Iranian Economy Minister said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the Economy Minister, Ehsan Khandouzi, told a news conference that Iran saw a 580 per cent increase in the Treasury's income from the export of oil and condensate in the first four months of this year.

26 July 2022; MEMO: Turkiye aims to increase its purchases of Iranian oil and gas amid greater energy needs and developing ties between the two countries, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

The Turkish President made the announcement in an interview with the state-owned broadcaster, TRT Haber, yesterday, stating that "Turkiye will increase its purchases of oil and natural gas from Iran", noting that the trade volume between Ankara and Tehran could reach $30 billion.

27 July 2022; MEMO: The Lebanese parliament approved a loan agreement with the World Bank on Tuesday worth $150 million to secure wheat supplies. The agreement comes as the country witnesses an unprecedented shortage of bread.

Images of long queues of people waiting outside bakeries to buy government-subsidised bread have gone viral. Queuing has not been without problems, with occasional intervention by security officers required in some locations.

27 July 2022; MEMO: The European Union's foreign policy chief said yesterday he has proposed a new draft text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying there is no room left for further major compromises, Reuters reported.

27 July 2022; MEMO: The Israeli security and military forces have raised the level of alert and preparedness around vital gas fields in the disputed maritime zone in the Mediterranean Sea, local media reported.

26 July 2022; MEMO: Iran yesterday announced the discovery of a new gas field north of the South Pars gas field, which it shares with Qatar, with a capacity of about one trillion cubic metres.

A spokesman for the Iranian Parliament's Energy Committee, Malik Shariati said work in two of the four exploration phases in the field has been completed, noting that another oil field is expected to be found in the area and exploration operations are continuing.