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19 Sep 2019; MEMO: The economic pain inflicted on Saudi Arabia by this weekend’s attacks on its largest oil processing plant, Abqaiq, is turning out to be more severe than it was initially thought. Despite its long-held position as the world’s largest exporter of oil, Riyadh has been left with no option other than to import diesel and jet fuel.

19 Sep 2019; MEMO: Germany had renewed a freeze on the delivery of arms to Saudi Arabia until March 2020, DW reported a government spokesman saying yesterday.

New Delhi Sep 19 (PTI) The Government on Thursday issued an ordinance to ban e-cigarettes, making the production, import, export, transport, sale or advertisements of such "alternative" smoking devices a cognizable offence attracting jail term and fine.

First time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. For subsequent offences, a jail term of up to three years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh, or both according to the ordinance.

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 19 (PTI): In a big boost to Kerala, the Union Government has decided to extend the Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor to Coimbatore and then to Kochi.

The decision in this regard was conveyed to the state government by the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT), a government release said.

It had been Kerala's plea for long to include the state in the corridor and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had made a strong pitch for the same.

SYDNEY, Sept 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) – A Jetstar passenger plane, travelling between Australia and Indonesia, was forced to turn back halfway on Wednesday, after the pilot noticed a crack in the cockpit windshield.

The plane was supposed to travel from Sydney to Denpasar Airport in Bali, but was diverted to Melbourne, where the airline’s engineering hub is located.

BEIRUT, Sept 19 (NNN-NNA) – Gas stations in Lebanon held, on Wednesday, a nationwide strike, as they were forced to pay higher rates, when exchanging Lebanese pounds into U.S. dollars.

“We are losing money because we buy fuel from our suppliers by paying in U.S. dollars, while we sell it at Lebanese pounds,” Sami Brax, head of the Syndicates of Gas Station Owners, was quoted as saying.

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 18 (PTI): After their success in dishing out delicious and cost-effective food items, prisoners in Kerala are now gearing up to manage fuel stations, thanks to an innovative government initiative.

Drawing inspiration from their counterparts in Tamil Nadu and Punjab, the Prison Department is all set to open petrol pumps in the outer campuses of three central jails in the state, envisaged to be run by selected inmates.

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is setting up the pumps in the land, identified by the prison department.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Fitch Solutions Macro Research today (Wednesday), forecast China’s and India’s import demand to remain strong over the coming months, which will continue to support global palm oil prices.

The research house said that, it maintained its forecast for palm oil price to average 2,150 ringgit (about 514 U.S. dollars) per tonne this year, which was slightly lower than 2,300 ringgit per tonne in 2018, as it believed palm oil price would remain supported around current levels over the remainder of 2019.

ISTANBUL, Sept 18 (NNN-ANADOLU) – A Russian Su-35 fighter jet performed an aerobatic show at the opening ceremony of Turkey’s biggest aerospace and technology festival in Istanbul.

The 4++ generation supersonic multi-purpose fighter with a single seat and twin engines, displayed various stunts over the sky for about 10 minutes.

During a visit to the air show in Moscow in late Aug, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inspected the Su-35 and fifth-generation Su-57 jets, and discussed with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, bilateral cooperation on them.

17 Sep 2019; MEMO: US President Donald Trump said on Monday said it looked like Iran was behind attacks on oil plants in Saudi Arabia but stressed he did not want to go to war, as the attacks sent oil prices soaring and raised fears of a new Middle East conflict.

Iran has rejected US charges it was behind the strikes on Saturday that damaged the world’s biggest crude-processing plant and triggered the largest jump in crude prices in decades.