20 July 2023; MEMO: Palestinian Authority (PA) called on Palestinian people, groups and individuals, to file complaints against Israeli crimes via the ICC's online platform.

Speaking to Voice of Palestine, Minister of Justice Mohammad Shalaldeh said that the ICC is to launch an online platform to let people file their complaints against Israeli crimes.

He said that this online gateway is to gather documentation of Israeli crimes.

Toronto, Jul 20 (PTI) Canadian police have arrested 15 Indian-origin men for allegedly running a major organised cargo theft ring, and property worth more than 9 million dollars was recovered along with stolen goods.

A joint task force was formed in March to investigate a series of tractor-trailer and cargo thefts in Peel regional municipality and across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), a press release by the Peels Regional Police said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is courting unions as a cornerstone of the country’s economic future with a speech at a Philadelphia shipyard on Thursday — just as some major unions are weighing strikes that could disrupt the growth he wants to campaign on in 2024.

20 July 2023; MEMO: Morocco's King invited Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for an official visit, the Prime Minister's office said in a statement on Wednesday, two days after Israel recognised the Kingdom's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, Reuters reports.

20 July 2023; MEMO: An official at occupied Jerusalem's Western Wall asked a German Christian priest on Wednesday to hide his crucifix during a visit to the site, the Times of Israel has reported. Nikodemus Schnabel was accompanying Germany's Federal Education Minister at the time.

A reporter for German news outlet Der Spiegel filmed the incident and posted it on social media with an explanation of what happened.

MOSCOW (AP) — Mercenaries from Russia’s military company Wagner on Thursday launched joint drills with the Belarusian military near the border with Poland following their relocation to Belarus after their short-lived rebellion, a move that prompted Warsaw to redeploy its troops.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that the weeklong maneuvers will be conducted at a firing range near the border city of Brest and will involve Belarusian special forces. The ministry added that Wagner’s combat experience will help modernize the Belarusian military.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate Thursday, another sign of commitment to a traditional path of battling inflation but still falling below expectations after critics blamed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s economic policies for inflaming a cost-of-living crisis.

The 2.5 percentage point hike — putting the rate at 17.5% — came a month after the bank unleashed a 8.5% increase, a reversal after more than a year of rate-cutting prompted by Erdogan.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea hasn’t responded to U.S. attempts to discuss the American soldier who bolted across the heavily armed border, officials in Washington said, underscoring that the serviceman’s prospects for a quick release are unclear at a time of high tensions and inactive communication channels.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A pink phone. A New York mission. Swedish diplomats. A North-South Korean hotline.

The United States and reclusive North Korea have no diplomatic ties — but they still have ways to contact each other. An American official said Wednesday that the U.S. government had reached out to the North as it tries to discuss a U.S. soldier who dashed into North Korea during a tour of a border area this week. The North has not yet responded, according to the U.S.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans said Thursday he wants to lead a combined campaign by two center-left parties that are joining forces ahead of Dutch parliamentary elections in late November.

Timmermans is a vice president of the EU’s executive commission in charge of climate policy. He told Dutch national broadcaster NOS he has put himself forward as a candidate to lead the Labor Party and Green Left into the elections. The parties agreed Monday to form a united front on the left of the splintered Dutch political landscape.

CAIRO (AP) — A prominent Egyptian rights activist with ties to Italy was released from jail Thursday, days after he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, according to his family and a rights defender.

Patrick George Zaki, a postgraduate student in Italy, was pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi along with five other people on Wednesday, according to the country’s Official Gazette.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s Fire Service intensified water drops west of Athens where a huge blaze was contained overnight, as authorities braced Thursday for a new round of extreme weather.

Seven firefighting planes and nine helicopters were operating in the area, including four planes sent from Italy and France as part of a European Union support mechanism.

Searing heat across Europe’s Mediterranean south has maintained a high or very high risk of fires in Spain, Italy and Greece.