PRETORIA, June 29. /TASS/: Ethiopia hopes for a positive decision on its application to join BRICS member states, Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Meles Alem said.

"We expect BRICS will give us a positive response to the request we have made," the ENA news agency quoted him as saying at a media briefing. The diplomat noted that Ethiopia had officially applied to join the alliance.

27 June 2023; MEMO: The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a strong condemnation on 26 June, expressing its deep concern over the Israeli government's recent approval of the construction of approximately 5,700 new residential units in the Occupied West Bank, Anadolu News Agency reports.

PRETORIA, June 28 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — Germany’s top diplomat is in South Africa to discuss strengthening bilateral ties in fighting climate change, but the war in Ukraine remains a sticking point.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday that the short-lived uprising in Russia “makes it clear once again that Russia’s illegal war of aggression is not just an attack on Ukraine … but that President Putin is destroying his own country.”

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s prime minister offered Thursday to hold new mayoral elections in four Serb-majority municipalities and reduce police there in an effort to defuse tensions with neighboring Serbia that flared anew last month.

Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo boycotted mayoral elections in the four municipalities in April as part of a campaign for greater autonomy, and they now object to the ethnic Albanian mayors chosen in the polls. Neighboring Serbia has backed calls for the mayors to step down.

NOVOSIBIRSK, June 29. /TASS/: Developing the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and North-South transport corridor will be a priority for Russia over the coming ten years, Russian Presidential Aide and State Council Secretary Igor Levitin told a forum on Thursday.

"We face a lack of access to the Northern Sea Route now. Our task [on cargo transportation] is 80 mln tons, with 36 [mln tons] today. However, I would say that the Northern Sea Route and North-South [corridor] are two priority tasks for the coming ten years. <…> The Eastern polygon will take its 180 mln [tons]," he said.

SEOUL, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a ceremony Wednesday to mark the completion of an interior remodeling project for the China-DPRK Friendship Tower in Pyongyang.

Choe Ryong-hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of DPRK attended the ceremony, among other officials from the country's ruling party, government and armed forces as well as citizens of the capital city.

SANAA, Jun 29 (NNN-YPA) – A fire broke out yesterday, in a camp for displaced people in western Yemen, destroying 11 houses, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The fire was caused by fireworks used in the Eid al-Adha celebration, in the Al-Qanawis district of Hodeida province, according to a Houthi official. Furniture, food, and livestock were consumed by the flames, but no one was injured.

28 June 2023; MEMO: Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has condemned recent attacks by Jewish settlers on occupied towns of the West Bank, describing them as "organised terrorism carried out by the State of Israel."

Al-Maliki also accused the Israeli army of protecting the settlers.

"The army is protecting the settlers charged with terror, fear-mongering, killing and destruction in Palestinian lands," al-Maliki told Anadolu in an interview.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address a joint meeting of Congress on July 19 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Israel’s statehood and to reaffirm his nation’s special relationship with the United States, congressional leaders announced on Thursday.

GUWAHATI, India, June 29 (Reuters) - Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was stopped by local police on Thursday and teargas fired near his convoy when the 53-year old scion of the Congress party was on his way to visit the violence-hit northeastern Manipur state.

At least 80 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since clashes broke out in Manipur in early May between ethnic groups. Sporadic incidents of violence and arson still occur despite the heavy presence of security forces in parts of the remote state, which borders Myanmar.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — On the verge of tears, Nathan Nkunzimana recalled watching a video of a child being molested and another of a woman being killed.

Eight hours a day, his job as a content moderator for a Facebook contractor required him to look at horrors so the world wouldn’t have to. Some overwhelmed colleagues would scream or cry, he said.

STOCKHOLM, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's central bank on Thursday announced a 25 basis point hike of its benchmark interest rate to 3.75 percent -- a level not seen since 2008.

It is the seventh consecutive rate hike by the Riksbank since May last year. Before this round of interest rate hikes, the policy rate in Sweden had been at zero or sub-zero for more than seven years.

Another increase is also likely to come before the end of the year, the Riksbank said in a press release.