15 August 2023; MEMO: Data from an international statistics website shows a “terrifying” expectation of the size of Egypt’s national debt over the next five years. Statista has predicted that the debt will be $510.32 billion in 2028, compared with $132.86bn in 2018, an increase of more than 284 per cent over the ten-year period.

WARSAW, Aug 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wants to hold a referendum on irregular migration, asking citizens whether they support accepting irregular migrants as part of a European Union relocation plan.

Morawiecki announced his plan for a vote on Oct 15 – alongside the country’s parliamentary elections – in a new video published on social media over the weekend, which included scenes of burning cars and other street violence in Western Europe.

WINDHOEK, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese medical team in Namibia on Monday delivered a lecture on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to students from the University of Namibia, enabling them to have a better understanding of the TCM techniques.

During the lecture at the university's Confucius Institute, the Chinese doctors delved into the intricate details of TCM, in a move meant to enlighten and educate students more on the benefits as an alternative to other modern forms of treatments.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, including a 16-year-old, in a raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military said troops came under fire and shot back.

TOKYO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - As the yen slid past 145 per dollar with barely a murmur from Japanese policymakers during recent days, suspicion grew that they won't be as quick to order intervention as they were last year as they now reap some benefits from a weaker currency.

Surging exports helped economic growth hit 6% on an annualised basis in the second quarter, and lower global oil prices have helped keep a lid on the import bill.

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/: The Russian battlegroup West has repelled five Ukrainian counterattacks in Kupyansk area over day, Sergey Zybinsky, the battlegroup’s spokesman, told TASS.

"In order to regain lost positions in the Kupyansk area, the enemy launched five counterattacks on our positions by units of the 14th independent mechanized brigade and the 95th independent airborne assault brigade. All counterattacks were thwarted by the group's artillery. The enemy's losses amounted to up to a platoon of infantry," he said.

TOKYO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Nearly 900 flights in Japan were cancelled and 240,000 people were ordered to move to safety as a slow-moving typhoon made landfall early on Tuesday, cutting off power to tens of thousands of homes.

Typhoon Lan, approaching from the Pacific Ocean, made landfall at the southern tip of Wakayama prefecture, some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Tokyo, lashing much of central and western Japan with heavy rain and powerful winds.

Authorities issued flood and landslide warnings, and some tornadoes formed.

YANGON, Aug 15 (NNN-MNA) – A total of 19 bodies have been recovered until this afternoon, following a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar’s Kachin State, local police said.

“Until 2:30 p.m. local time today, 19 bodies were retrieved. All the deceased are male. Search and rescue operations are underway,” Han Win Hlaing, a police officer from Hpakant police station, said today.

MOSCOW (AP) — A massive explosion at a gas station in Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan killed 30 people and injured scores more, Russian officials said Tuesday.

Russia’s Emergency Ministry reported Tuesday that a total of 105 people were injured, and 30 of them died.

Three of those killed were children, Dagestan’s governor Sergei Melikov said.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- UN peacekeepers are speeding their withdrawal from the Ber base near Timbuktu, Mali, because of a deteriorating security situation, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the peacekeepers from the mission known as MINUSMA notified the Malian authorities they were leaving a day early because of risks to the safety and security of UN personnel.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An airstrike on a crowded town square in Ethiopia’s restive Amhara region killed at least 26 people and wounded more than 55 others, a senior health official said Monday, days after authorities asserted that calm had been restored in the area.

Local militia members have been clashing with Ethiopia’s military over efforts to disband them, and last week the military retook key Amhara towns by force.

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/: Ukrainian air defenses cannot fight Russian Kh-22 cruise missiles, Ukraine’s Air Force Command Spokesman Yury Ignat said in a live broadcast on the Rada television channel on Tuesday.

"Not a single [Russian] Kh-22 cruise missile has been destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses not only over the past night but also over the entire period of military operations," he said.