Business

Washington, Jan 21 (PTI) Top American lawmakers have urged the Joe Biden administration to initiate a litigation process at the World Trade Organization against India subsidising its farmers over half of the value of production for wheat.

US Wheat Associates, which has been aggressively pushing for such a move by the administration, has welcomed the letters by members of the Congress and Senate.

20 Jan 2022; MEMO: Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, met in Moscow on Wednesday in their first meeting since the latter assumed office last August, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Greeting Raisi, Putin said the trade turnover between Russia and Iran has been increasing despite the coronavirus pandemic, and the two countries continue implementation of major projects and expand cooperation "in many directions."

Wellington, Jan 20 (AP) New Zealand is among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday an outbreak was inevitable and the nation would tighten restrictions as soon as one was detected.

But she also said that New Zealand would not impose the lockdowns that it has used previously, including for the delta variant.

18 Jan 2022; MEMO: The US imposed sanctions on three people and their company in Lebanon, on Tuesday, for their alleged links to Hezbollah, according to the Treasury Department and reported by Anadolu News Agency.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Adel Diab, Ali Mohamad Daoun, Jihad Salem Alame and their company, Dar Al Salam for Travel & Tourism.

19 Jan 2022; MEMO: Germany's arms sales have hit a record high after they were bumped up by weapons sales to Egypt, according to government figures.

In 2021 Germany exported 9.35 billion euros worth of arms, $10.65 billion, up 61 per cent from 2020, with most of these exports being authorised by the previous government under former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

19 Jan 2022; MEMO: Washington has officially informed Israel that it will no longer support the proposed EastMed natural-gas pipeline, Israeli media reported on Tuesday, pointing that the US also informed Greece and Greek Cyprus of its decision.

The Jerusalem Post reported that an official from the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the decision on Tuesday, but said that the had Ministry refused to comment on the matter.

18 Jan 2022; MEMO: Egypt borrowed $10.3 bn from bilateral and multilateral lenders in 2021; the Ministry International Cooperation said in an annual report published on Sunday.

According to the report, most of the funding or $8.7 billion went to the public sector, while the remaining $1.6 billion went to private sector initiatives.

Bengaluru, Jan 18 (PTI) Joining the growing list of Indian states wooing Tesla's billionaire founder and CEO Elon Musk to start a manufacturing unit, Karnataka on Tuesday projected itself as the "Electric Vehicle (EV) hub" of India and an ideal destination to set up a plant.

Several Indian states like Telangana, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have already invited Musk to set up shop.

16 Jan 2022; MEMO: President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi for talks in Moscow next week as Russia tries to help salvage a nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran, Reuters reported on Sunday quoting the state television channel Rossiya-1.

Rossiya-1 did not disclose when precisely the meeting between the two leaders would take place, nor the issues they would discuss.

16 Jan 2022; MEMO: A project to expand parts of the Suez Canal is expected to be completed after two years of work in July 2023, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Sunday, reported Reuters.

The SCA announced accelerated plans to extend a second channel of the canal and to enlarge an existing channel after the Ever Given container ship ran aground and blocked the waterway for six days last year.