BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) — Japanese Emperor Naruhito met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday, the third day of his first official foreign trip since ascending the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.

Widodo and Indonesia’s first lady, Iriana, welcomed Naruhito and Empress Masako at the Bogor presidential palace, along with greeters wearing Indonesian traditional clothes and a military band that played both national anthems.

“I feel very honored because Indonesia is the first destination for the Japanese emperor’s bilateral state visit abroad,” Widodo said.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Top North Korean officials vowed to push for a second attempt to launch a spy satellite as they called their country’s first, and failed, launch last month “the most serious” shortcoming this year and harshly criticized those responsible, state media reported Monday.

In late May, a North Korean rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite crashed soon after liftoff, posing a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to acquire a space-based surveillance system to better monitor the United States and South Korea.

18 June 2023; MEMO: US chipmaker Intel Corp INTC.O will spend $25 billion on a new factory in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, calling it the largest-ever international investment in the country, reports Reuters.

The factory in Kiryat Gat is due to open in 2027, to operate through 2035 at least and to employ thousands of people, Israel's Finance Ministry said. Under the deal Intel will pay a 7.5% tax rate, up from the current 5%, the ministry added.

18 June 2023; MEMO: Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off the Gaza Strip on Sunday while saying it would require security coordination with the Palestinian Authority and neighbouring Egypt, reports Reuters.

If concluded, the agreement would be a boost for the cash-strapped Palestinian economy.

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Even when he was president, Donald Trump lacked the legal authority to declassify a U.S. nuclear weapons-related document that he is charged with illegally possessing, security experts said, contrary to the former U.S. president’s claim.

The secret document, listed as No. 19 in the indictment charging Trump with endangering national security, can under the Atomic Energy Act only be declassified through a process that by the statute involves the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - For over 40 years, a landmark agreement between the United States and China has yielded cooperation across a range of scientific and technical fields, a powerful sign that the rivals could set aside their disputes and work together.

Now with bilateral relations in their worst state in decades, a debate is underway within the U.S. government about whether to let the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA) expire later this year, three officials familiar with the discussions said.

17 June 2023; MEMO: The Turkish national defense minister said Saturday that if Sweden fulfills its commitments it can become a NATO member like Finland, Anadolu reports.

Meeting reporters in Brussels after the NATO defense ministers meeting, Yasar Guler expressed support for the military alliance's "open door" policy.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The cruise ship with about 1,000 passengers anchored off Nome, too big to squeeze into into the tundra city’s tiny port. Its well-heeled tourists had to shimmy into small boats for another ride to shore.

It was 2016, and at the time, the cruise ship Serenity was the largest vessel ever to sail through the Northwest Passage.

17 June 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Iran on Saturday amid a rapprochement between the two Middle East arch-foes, Iranian state TV said, Reuters reports.

Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed in March, in a deal brokered by China, to end a diplomatic rift and reestablish relations following years of hostility that had endangered regional stability including in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday kicked off two days of high-stakes diplomatic talks in Beijing aimed at trying to cool exploding U.S.-China tensions that have set many around the world on edge.

Blinken opened his program by meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for an extended discussion to be followed by a working dinner. He’ll have additional talks with Qin, as well as China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping, on Monday.

17 June 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's top defense official held separate talks on Friday with his Dutch and US counterparts on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels, according the Turkish National Defense Ministry, Anadolu reports.

In the meetings, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler discussed bilateral and regional defense, security, and defense industry cooperation with the Netherlands' Kajsa Ollagren and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the ministry said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — On his first day as attorney general, Merrick Garland pledged a return to what he called the “norms” of the Justice Department and said he would work to eliminate the perception of political interference. But in the two years since he took office, the former federal judge has found himself in the middle of a political firestorm of historic proportions.