Business

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that his country will give Greece the “response it deserves” over the countries’ dispute in the eastern Mediterranean.

“We will continue to give Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration which fail to fulfil their promises in the European Union and NATO forums, the response they deserve on the ground” Erdogan told members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics has announced that inbound tourism in Israel has retreated by 76.5 per cent since the start of the year, Quds Press reported on Wednesday.

Reporting Israeli media, Quds Press disclosed that only 837,000 tourists visited Israel between the start of 2020 and the end of September.

Foreigners are unable to enter Israel unless they have permission issued by the Housing Ministry, and any foreign visitor must spend 14 days in quarantine.

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: A United Arab Emirates (UAE) Etihad Airways plane flew above Israeli skies for the first time Wednesday, according to Israeli Defense Ministry, Anadolu reports.

“Historical event in the skies of Israel: The flight from Italy’s Milan to Abu Dhabi takes place for the first time in these minutes in coordination with the aviation authority of the Ministry of Transport,” Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev said on Twitter.

15 Oct 2020; MEMO: Lebanon and Israel have concluded the first round of indirect talks over the demarcation of their disputed maritime borders. The talks ended on Wednesday at the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The Naqoura region in southern Lebanon around the building faced tight security imposed by the Lebanese army and UNIFIL soldiers.

Washington, Oct 15 (PTI) India's priorities should be to protect the most vulnerable people, well targeted support and protecting small and medium sized enterprises so that they do not collapse as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva has said.

Speaking at a news conference here during the ongoing annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, Georgieva said on Wednesday that focusing on protecting people and on the health of the population remain a priority for India.

LONDON - The OPEC+ alliance will ensure oil prices do not plunge steeply again when it meets to set policy at the end of November, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Thursday.

He was answering a question about whether there was room in for a planned increase in oil output from January by OPEC+, a grouping that includes OPEC states, Russia and other allies.

14 Oct 2020; MEMO: There are up to 250 Israeli companies in the UAE and the number will double by the end of 2020, an Israeli official told Emarat Al Youm earlier this week.

Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem and Chairman of the Emirati-Israeli Business Council, Fleur Hassan Nahum, told the Emirati newspaper that Israeli investors are looking to build strategic partnerships with their counterparts from the UAE in several economic sectors.

14 Oct 2020; MEMO: A spokesman for the Greek government, Stelios Petsas, said yesterday that his country will not participate in exploratory talks with Turkey as long as the Turkish survey vessel Oruc Reis remains in waters under dispute by the two countries.

“As long as the Oruc Reis is in the area we will not hold exploratory contacts with Turkey,” Petsas said in an interview with Skai Radio.

14 Oct 2020; MEMO: Gaza’s interior ministry said on Monday it was in contact with the Egyptian government to discuss opening the Rafah crossing “permanently”.

“The Rafah crossing has been partially operational since March, which represents hurdles for traveling citizens,” the spokesperson of the Gaza interior ministry, Iyad Al-Bazm, told the official Hamas-run Al-Aqsa.

14 Oct 2020; MEMO: Lebanese banks have closed hundreds of accounts of Syrians linked to the Assad regime in an effort to avoid US sanctions related to the Caesar Act, Aram Media reported yesterday.

The news site said that the Lebanese banks closed the accounts of Syrians who conducted any financial activity with people linked to the Assad regime after or before the Caesar Act was brought into force on 17 June.