20 June 2023; MEMO: The CEO of the Saudi SCOPA defence company, Fawaz Al-Aqeel, yesterday announced the signing of an agreement with the French Airbus company to manufacture civilian and military helicopters in the kingdom.

Al-Aqeel said the project will provide more than 8,500 jobs, adding that the company expects investments worth more than 25 billion riyals ($6.67 billion) over 20 years, Saudi state TV Al-Ekhbariya reported.

20 June 2023; MEMO: Israel's opposition is dragging the country into chaos, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned yesterday.

"Last week, we witnessed the ferment of the opposition," Smotrich was quoted by Maariv as saying during his far-right party's meeting.

Smotrich accused the latter of lacking "responsibility and restraint" and "dragging us toward chaos."

LONDON (AP) — Britain made a mistake in focusing too much on preparations for a flu pandemic rather than considering other types of pandemic in the years before the COVID-19 outbreak, former Prime Minister David Cameron told a public inquiry Monday.

Cameron, who led Britain’s Conservative government from 2010 to 2016, was the first politician to be questioned by the wide-ranging inquiry into the U.K.’s preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic, how the government responded and what lessons can be learned for the future.

June 19 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Monday the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is "real", days after denouncing Russia's deployment of such weapons in Belarus.

On Saturday, Biden called Putin's announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus "absolutely irresponsible".

"When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy," Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday.

LONDON (AP) — European Union consumer protection groups urged regulators on Tuesday to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT, citing risks that leave people vulnerable and the delay before the bloc’s groundbreaking AI regulations take effect.

In a coordinated effort, 13 watchdog groups wrote to their national consumer, data protection, competition and product safety authorities warning them about a range of concerns around generative artificial intelligence.

19 June 2023; MEMO: Qatar and the UAE have announced today that they have resumed full diplomatic relations, with the reopening of their respective embassies. Qatar's Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Consulate in Dubai, as well as the UAE Embassy in Doha have now resumed operations.

19 June 2023; MEMO: Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and King Abdullah II of Jordan agreed on Monday to begin work towards forging a strategic partnership, setting a new course in bilateral relations, Anadolu Agency reports.

Meeting in Madrid, the leaders signed a joint declaration dedicated to enhancing bilateral ties and collaborating on international stability and prosperity.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An effort to disbar conservative attorney John Eastman, who devised ways to keep former President Donald Trump in the White House after his defeat in the 2020 election, will begin Tuesday in Los Angeles.

19 June 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Tel Aviv has informed the United States of its opposition to "interim deals" being made on the "Iranian nuclear program".

NEAR KREMINNA, Ukraine, June 19 (Reuters) - The artillerymen of Ukraine's 67th infantry brigade are delighted with the U.S.-supplied M119 howitzer amid an increase in military exchanges south of the Russian-held town of Kreminna.

The men now stationed in Ukraine's northeast have been redeployed from positions around the devastated town of Bakhmut - encircled and locked in fierce fighting for more than nine months before it fell last month to Russian mercenaries.

WASHINGTON, Jun 20 (APP):Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, on Monday met members of the Pakistani community in Atlanta, capital of the U.S. state of Georgia, and urged them to work for the vital interests of the country.

“You are pillars and pivots of Pak-US relations,” the ambassador told a cheering gathering of the community members, calling them “hidden nuggets”.

19 June 2023; MEMO: An Israeli settler smashed the stained-glass windows of the room believed by Christians to have hosted the Last Supper in Jerusalem, known as the Cenacle.

The Israeli suspect, whose name has not been made public, threw the stones directly towards the building's windows on Thursday, smashing them. He was detained by a security guard and taken for questioning.