16 June 2023; MEMO: Tel Aviv has told Russia it is concerned by its military cooperation with Iran in the war in Ukraine and the possibility it is providing advanced weapons to Tehran, the Hebrew Walla news site reported yesterday.

16 June 2023; MEMO: The Israeli military court has indicted an army soldier who had chased his commanders and threatened to kill them, Israel's Channel 12 reported on Thursday.

The Channel said the incident took place last year when the soldier, who served in the Paratroopers Brigade base in central Israel, left the military base and returned to his home without permission after being angry with his commanders.

TOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Japan plans to stoke competition in smartphone app payments, dominated by Apple (AAPL.O) and Google, by banning major app store operators from forcing software developers to use the operators' own payment systems, a government panel said.

The final report by the panel, released on Friday, also said major suppliers of smartphone operating systems (OS) should be obliged to offer users alternative ways to obtain apps in a secure manner other than their own app stores.

16 June 2023; MEMO: Hamas called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure that a "legal remedy" is given to the Palestinian victims of the Israeli occupation's "terrorism", a statement issued on the movement's official website said.

On the occasion of the ICC's new strategic plans for the years 2023-2025, Hamas urged the court to "demonstrate progress in the Palestine case."

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — With leader Kim Jong Un in attendance, North Korea opened a key political conference to discuss improving its struggling economy and reviewing defense strategies in the face of growing tensions with rivals, according to state media reports on Saturday.

The enlarged plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee came as the United States sent a nuclear-powered submarine to South Korea in the allies’ latest show of force against the North, which has ramped up its testing of nuclear-capable missiles to a record pace in recent months.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — An enslaved man who fled Arkansas in 1841 seeking freedom in Canada, only to be forcibly returned to the U.S., has been honored with a historical marker and a new street sign in the city where he once labored.

ROME, June 17 (Reuters) - Italy's government has ruled that China's Sinochem (600500.SS) cannot designate the chief executive of tyremaker Pirelli (PIRC.MI) despite being its main shareholder with a 37% stake, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.

The decision is part of the measures announced this week by Rome's right-wing administration to shield the autonomy of Pirelli and its management.

Sinochem and Pirelli declined to comment.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/: African countries stand for the indivisibility of global security, and Russia backs this principled position, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with an African peace mission.

JERUSALEM, June 17 (Reuters) - Israel could find acceptable an understanding between its arch-foe Iran and the United States if it includes rigorous supervision of Tehran's nuclear programme, a senior lawmaker said in comments aired on Saturday.

According to Iranian and Western officials, Israel's main ally Washington is holding talks with Iran to sketch out steps that could include limiting the Iranian nuclear programme.

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Suspected rebels attacked a school in a remote area of Uganda near the Congo border, killing at least 41 people in a nighttime raid before fleeing across the porous frontier, authorities said. Thirty-eight students in their dormitories were among the victims.

Some students were burned beyond recognition, and others were shot or hacked to death after militants armed with guns and machetes attacked the school in the frontier district of Kasese, a local mayor told The Associated Press.

ISLAMABAD, Jun 17 (NNN-APP) – Authorities in Pakistan’s south Sindh province, said yesterday that, normal life activities can be resumed in the country from today, as the threat of Cyclone Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea, off the coasts of Sindh has been averted, after it weakened into a cyclonic storm.

In a statement, Muhammad Iqbal Memon, the commissioner of Sindh’s capital city, Karachi, said that, all halted exams and educational activities can be resumed, as the threat of cyclonic danger has reduced.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities continued to search Saturday for victims and survivors of a trawler that sank off the coast of Greece with as many as 750 migrants on board, as conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis blasted critics of the rescue operation.

Naysayers, Mitsotakis said at a campaign stop in the town of Sparta, should turn their ire against traffickers he called “human scum.” The vessel sank on Wednesday.