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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An oil tanker sought by the U.S. over allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked on July 5 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a seafarers welfare organization said Wednesday.

Satellite photos showed the vessel in Iranian waters on Tuesday and two of its sailors remained in the Iranian capital.

It wasn’t immediately clear what happened aboard the Dominica-flagged MT Gulf Sky, though its reported hijacking comes after months of tensions between Iran and the U.S.

BEIJING (AP) — China became the first major economy to grow since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, recording an unexpectedly strong 3.2% expansion in the latest quarter after anti-virus lockdowns were lifted and factories and stores reopened.

Growth reported Thursday for the three months ending in June was a dramatic improvement over the previous quarter’s 6.8% contraction — China’s worst performance since at least the mid-1960s. But it still was the weakest positive figure since China started reporting quarterly growth in the early 1990s.

BEIJING, July 15 (APP): China has ramped up production of JF-17 fighter jet, which was jointly developed with Pakistan.

In the first half of 2020, the number of aircraft delivered was the most in the past five years, according to industry reports.

As of June 30, the production line of the JF-17 has on average shortened the production period of a single aircraft by 15 days compared to last year, Global Times while quoting China Aviation News, a newspaper affiliated with the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), reported on Wednesday.

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.