17 July 2023; MEMO: Four groups of companies have made bids in Israel's latest tender for offshore hydrocarbon exploration, the Energy Ministry said on Sunday, reports Reuters.

The ministry said the groups include a total of nine companies, five of which were new to the Israeli market. It did not name which companies took part.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday he would consider Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds as a potential running mate, should he win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and dismissed former President Donald Trump’s recent complaints about her as “totally out of hand.”

“Of course,” DeSantis said when asked whether he would consider the second-term Republican. “I mean, she’s one of the top public servants in America.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis is cutting campaign staff as he struggles to catch former President Donald Trump in the GOP’s crowded primary contest while facing unexpected financial pressure.

DeSantis, the Florida governor, let go fewer than 10 paid staffers late last week to help reduce operating expenses, according to a DeSantis aide granted anonymity to discuss internal campaign strategy. The staffers were involved in event planning and may soon join a pro-DeSantis super PAC.

LONDON (AP) — British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Sunday he plans to resign at the next Cabinet reshuffle after four years in the job.

Wallace has served as defense secretary under three prime ministers and played a key role in the U.K.'s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He told The Sunday Times his departure was due to the strain his job had put on his family. He also said he would stand down as a lawmaker at the next general election.

UNITED NATIONS, July 16. /TASS/: The United Nations Security Council will hold a meeting on the situation in Ukraine on Monday, which will be attended by top diplomats from a number of countries, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said on Sunday.

GANDHINAGAR, India (AP) — On the heels of a trip to Beijing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is back in India for the third time in nine months, this time to meet finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations about global economic challenges like the increased threat of debt defaults facing low-income countries.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Britain on Sunday officially joined an Asia-Pacific trade group that includes Japan and 10 other nations during a meeting in New Zealand.

The trade bloc covers more than 500 million people and 15% of the world’s economy. For Britain, it represents the largest trade deal it has struck since leaving the European Union more than three years ago.

July 16 (Reuters) - Alzheimer's disease experts are revamping the way doctors diagnose patients with the progressive brain disorder - the most common type of dementia - by devising a seven-point rating scale based on cognitive and biological changes in the patient.

The proposed guidelines, unveiled by experts on Sunday in a report issued at an Alzheimer's Association conference in Amsterdam, embrace a numerical staging system assessing disease progression similar to the one used in cancer diagnoses. They also eliminate the use of terms like mild, moderate and severe.

(AP) --- Elon Musk says Twitter is still losing cash because advertising has dropped by half.

In a reply to a tweet offering business advice, Musk tweeted Saturday, “We’re still negative cash flow, due to (about a) 50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load.”

“Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else,” he concluded.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Moscow has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster munitions, and warned that Russia “reserves the right to take reciprocal action” if Ukraine uses the controversial weapons.

MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the Ukrainian army has had no success since the start of its counteroffensive.

"All the enemy's attempts to break through our defense - which is a task including the use of strategic reserves - they have not succeeded since the offensive began. The enemy has no success!" the president said in an interview for the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin", a fragment of which was posted on the Telegram channel of host Pavel Zarubin.

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — A neighborhood on the fringe of suburban Atlanta crawled with police on Sunday as Georgia authorities hunted for a man suspected of gunning down three men and a woman in the subdivision before fleeing.

Andre Longmore, 40, is accused of fatally shooting the people Saturday morning before driving away from the Dogwood Lakes subdivision in Hampton on Atlanta’s southern outskirts, police said. Longmore is wanted on four counts of murder in the deaths. Police haven’t said why Longmore may have acted.