WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says Republican lawmakers may consider an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden over unproven claims of financial misconduct, responding to enormous GOP pressure to demonstrate support for Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

25 July 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia is plotting the takeover of the iconic Selfridges department store in London's Oxford Street in an effort to increase its international influence and boost the development of its economy, the Telegraph has revealed. Riyadh is said to have emerged as the private financial backer of a $5.1 billion purchase of the luxury store. If the deal is completed, the acquisition will seal the Kingdom's third high profile takeover of famous British brands.

25 July 2023; MEMO: Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Tuesday, welcomed his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, with an official ceremony at the presidential complex in the capital, Ankara, Anadolu Agency reports.

The leaders will hold one-on-one talks, to be followed by a joint news conference. The Turkish leader will also host a dinner in honour of the guest.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A fire on a freight ship carrying nearly 3,000 cars was burning out of control Wednesday in the North Sea, and the Dutch coast guard said one crew member had died, others were hurt and it was working to save the vessel from sinking close to an important habitat for migratory birds.

Boats and helicopters were used to get the 23 crew members off the ship after they tried unsuccessfully to put out the blaze, the coast guard said in a statement. The cause of the blaze wasn’t immediately known, and it wasn’t clear how the crew member died.

26 July 2023; MEMO: The Palestine Action protest outside the Elbit-owned UAV Tactical Systems factory in Leicestershire's Meridian Business Park has now entered its 87th day. A small but determined group of protesters is on site 24 hours a day to ensure that the local council doesn't remove the flags and banners from the protest camp across the road from the factory entrance.

25 July 2023; MEMO: The membership of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) has voted to endorse a resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions, the association said on Monday.

26 July 2023; MEMO: Qatar has manged to fend off competition from Saudi Arabia, UAE and China to secure a deal with Pakistan over the running of Islamabad Airport. The sale, via tender of a contract, to manage Islamabad Airport is nearing completion after consultations with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

PARIS (AP) — The president of the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday formally invited the world’s nations but not Russia or its military ally Belarus to gather in one year in Paris for the Olympics — launching the final countdown to the 2024 Games against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.

IOC president Thomas Bach accompanied his invite with a plea for togetherness and invoked the memory of John Lennon as he argued that “our fragile world, with conflict, division and war,” needs the Olympics’ “unifying power more than ever.”

ANKARA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in the Turkish capital Ankara, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.

The closed-door meeting came after Erdogan held talks with Abbas in Türkiye a day earlier.

Türkiye will continue to back the Palestinian cause and support the prosperity of Palestinians, Erdogan said at the press conference, urging the Palestinian factions to unite for their cause.

NIAMEY, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Niger's presidential guard imposed a blockade on the presidency since 10 p.m., local time, Tuesday, a presidency staff told Xinhua Wednesday.

"Since yesterday, no one has left; no one has returned to the presidency. At the moment, nobody knows where President Mohamed Bazoum is," said the same source, who was not identified.

An official of Niger's security department told Xinhua in a telephone interview that Bazoum has spoken to other members of his party, saying that "freedom will be restored soon."

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Wednesday it gave new details to the United Nations about two sites near Tehran that inspectors say bore traces of manmade uranium, part of a wider probe as tensions remain high over the Islamic Republic’s advancing program.

ATHENS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Large areas of the Mediterranean have sweltered under an intense summer heatwave in recent weeks and Greece, Algeria and other affected areas are battling wildfires together.

Hundreds of firefighters, helped by counterparts from Türkiye and Slovakia, have been battling blazes that have raged on the islands of Rhodes, Corfu and Evia since Wednesday amid hot, windy conditions, while emergency planes have been flying out tourists.

FIRE-FIGHTING PLANE CRASH