GENEVA, Aug 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization and US health authorities said Friday they are closely monitoring a new variant of Covid-19, although the potential impact of BA.2.86 is currently unknown.

The WHO classified the new variant as one under surveillance “due to the large number (more than 30) of spike gene mutations it carries”, it wrote in a bulletin about the pandemic late Thursday.

So far, the variant has only been detected in Israel, Denmark and the United States.

17 August 2023; MEMO: The UK, on Thursday, criticised Israel for demolishing a school in the Occupied West Bank, calling on Tel Aviv to ensure Palestinian children’s right to education, Anadolu Agency reports.

“All children have a right to education. The UK calls on the government of Israel to uphold this right for Palestinian children,” the British Consulate in Jerusalem said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese town said Friday it has agreed to a geological study to determine its suitability as an interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel.

Kaminoseki, a small town in the southwestern prefecture of Yamaguchi, said it would accept the offer of a survey by Chugoku Electric Power Co., one of two major utility operators, along with Kansai Electric Power Co., whose spent fuel storage pools are almost full.

ACCRA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - West Africa's main regional bloc on Friday said it had agreed an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible military intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail, stressing that it would not hold endless dialogue with the defiant junta.

The comments came at the end of a two-day meeting of West African army chiefs in Ghana's capital Accra, where they have been hashing out the logistics and strategy for a possible use of force in Niger. ECOWAS has said such action would be a last resort.

MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/: The Ukrainian authorities are preying not only on their own people but also on US taxpayers, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

"The Kiev elite is preying not only on its fellow citizens but also on American taxpayers. Not so long ago, US presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pointed out in an interview that Washington’s spending on Ukraine aid stood at $130 billion, while 15 million Americans did not have medical insurance and 30 million people in the US lacked food stamps," she noted.

TOKYO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- As the Japanese government approaches a decision on the specific date for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, hundreds of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to rally against the discharge plan.

SYDNEY, Aug 18 (NNN-AAP) – Australian Federal Police (AFP), confirmed today that, three men have been charged in Western Australia, for their involvement in the importation and possession of about 560 kg of cocaine.

On Aug 11, police officers executed a search warrant at a Kalbarri property, about 570 km north-west of Perth, where they located about 560 kg of cocaine wrapped in plastic.

The drug haul had an estimated value of about 224 million Australian dollars (about 144 million U.S. dollars) and could be equivalent to 2.8 million individual street deals.

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Canary Islands (AP) — Firefighters in Spain’s Canary Islands are battling dense smoke and high temperatures to try to control the worst wildfire in decades on the main tourist island of Tenerife, officials said Friday.

The fire started late Tuesday in the north of the island and has forced authorities in eight municipalities to order the evacuation of more than 4,500 people and the confinement of thousands more. Confinement means residents are strongly advised to stay indoors with windows closed.

No injuries have been reported so far.

Aug 18 (Reuters) - British police are investigating Myanmar's former ambassador to the United Kingdom for trespassing on a diplomatic residence in London that he has refused to leave since being ousted for opposing Myanmar's 2021 military coup, his lawyer told Reuters.

Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of his embassy a few months after the February 2021 coup, and later replaced by the junta's representatives, after calling for the release of Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday announced a major expansion of temporary legal status for Ukrainians already living in the United States, granting a reprieve for those who fled Russia’s invasion.

The move is expected to make 166,700 Ukrainians eligible for Temporary Protected Status, up from about 26,000 currently, the Homeland Security Department said. To qualify, Ukrainians must have been in the United States by Aug. 16, two days before the announcement. They are eligible for work authorization.

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russian invaders as soon as pilot training is completed, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

Ukraine has actively sought the U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russian air superiority.

Washington gave Denmark and the Netherlands official assurances that the United States will expedite approval of transfer requests for F-16s to go to Ukraine when the pilots are trained, the official said.

MINSK, August 18. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the time has come when it is necessary to present a common front against the warmongers.