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15 July 2020; MEMO: The closing session of the technical and legal committees of the Renaissance Dam negotiations ended without agreement.

According to Al Jazeera, Egyptian Foreign Minister said that his country regretted the failure to reach an agreement.

 “Egypt has provided a tremendous level of flexibility and understanding. However, the negotiations ended again without reaching an agreement.”

15 July 2020; MEMO: Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior yesterday announced the closure of all casinos, gambling halls, and nightclubs in the capital Baghdad.

“The ministry’s intelligence agency has carried out a security duty in different parts of Baghdad,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the security forces had “closed casinos, nightclubs and alcoholic beverages outlets in a number of hotels and lounges across Baghdad.”

15 July 2020; MEMO: The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, on Monday, called for resuming oil production in Libya as soon as possible, stressing that his country supports a ceasefire there.

This came a day after the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) accused Abu Dhabi of playing a role in the suspension of oil production in the country.

15 July 2020; MEMO: Sudan’s Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources said Tuesday that it submitted a “balanced and fair” draft agreement on the Nile dam to the African Union, reports Anadolu Agency.

“Sudan delivered its final report on the course of the Hidase Dam negotiations to the African Union’s current president, South Africa,” the ministry statement said, referring to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile.

Mumbai, Jul 15 (PTI) Google has agreed to invest Rs 33,737 crore to buy a 7.7 per cent stake in Reliance Industries' technology venture, adding to a slew of investments since April that has crossed Rs 1.52 lakh crore.

California-based Alphabet Inc joins Facebook Inc, which opened the investment cycle in Jio Platforms by picking 9.99 per cent stake for Rs 43,573.62 crore, as well as chipmaker Intel Corp and Qualcomm Inc.

Washington, Jul 15 (PTI) In a surprise U-turn, the Trump administration has dropped its controversial plan to deport hundreds and thousands of international students, including Indians, if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On July 6, the US immigration authority announced that foreign students will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only classes during the September to December semester.

14 July 2020; MEMO: Bahrain will add around 177 million dinars ($470 million) to its 2020 state budget in emergency spending on fighting the new coronavirus pandemic, state news agency BNA said on Monday, reporting a royal decree.

To this end, $450 million will be taken as a one-time deduction from the Future Generations Fund (FGF), a fund set up in 2006 to reinvest hydrocarbon revenues, and allocated to this year’s state budget, another new decree said.

14 July 2020; MEMO: Saudi social media users rejected state-owned oil company Aramco’s decision to increase petrol and other fuel prices by 34 per cent this month.

On Friday, Aramco updated the list of prices of petrol and other fuels on its website for the month of July.

According to the updated list, the price for Gasoline 91 will rise from 0.98 riyals ($0.26) to 1.29 riyals ($0.34) and Gasoline 95 will increase from 1.18 riyals ($0.32) to 1.44 riyals ($0.38).

14 July 2020; MEMO: The former in the Lebanese Ministry of Finance, Bifani said Monday that Lebanese bankers have smuggled nearly $6 billion out of the country since October despite financial regulations imposed to save the country from the worst financial crisis in 30 years, a former Ministry of Finance official revealed yesterday.

Tokyo, Jul 14 (AP/PTI) China is pushing harder to make territorial claims in the regional seas and even using the coronavirus pandemic to expand its influence and take strategic superiority, posing a greater threat to Japan and the region, Japan's government said.