16 June 2023; MEMO: EU's Border Agency had alerted Greek authorities about a migrant boat a day before it capsized off the coast of Greece, its chief, Hans Leijtens, has confirmed, Anadolu Agency reports.

"My colleagues detected on Tuesday a fishing boat, heading for Greece, with around 600 people aboard," Frontex chief, Leijtens, said in an interview with German daily, Suddeutsche Zeitung.

Kanpur: Attending a meeting with the metro officials here lately, the city Mayor Pramila Pandey got angry with the working of metro officials.

She instructed to switch off ceiling fans and ACs in the meeting hall and kept them sitting for one hour without the cooling air.

She wanted to know the exact reason for cutting all the trees.

Questioning about the 118 trees cut for the Metro project she asked them to explain.

Not only this but people were distressed by the logs put outside their homes.  

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Justice Department accused Minneapolis police Friday of engaging in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discriminating against Black and Native American people following an investigation prompted by the killing of George Floyd.

The sweeping two-year civil rights investigation concluded that systemic problems in the Minneapolis Police Department “made what happened to George Floyd possible.”

BRUSSELS, June 16 (Reuters) - NATO defence ministers failed on Friday to reach agreement over new plans on how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack, and one diplomat blamed Turkey for blocking them.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the ministers reviewed the plans - the first since the end of the Cold War and given impetus by Russia's invasion of Ukraine - at a two-day meeting in Brussels and were moving closer to agreeing on them.

(AP) --- As Donald Trump became the first former president to face federal charges, he and his supporters went through a familiar routine of mounting a victimhood defense in the face of unprecedented allegations of wrongdoing. But this time, the stakes are higher.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden opened his 2020 presidential run at a Pittsburgh union hall, declaring, “I’m a union man. Period.” As he gears up for reelection, the president’s first political rally is being held at a union gathering on the other side of Pennsylvania, punctuating just how much Biden is counting on labor support to carry him to a second term — especially in a critical battleground state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nusrat Chowdhury, a civil rights lawyer, has been confirmed by the Senate as the first Muslim female federal judge in U.S. history.

She will assume her lifetime appointment in Brooklyn federal court in New York after a 50-49 vote on Thursday along party lines.

The confirmation drew praise from the American Civil Liberties Union, where she is the legal director of the ACLU of Illinois. Prior to that post, she served from 2008 to 2020 at the national ACLU office, including seven years as deputy director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program.

HOUSTON, June 15 (Xinhua) -- From U.S. south central state of Texas to southeastern Florida, about 35 million people are bracing for a widespread heat wave which is expected to last for days, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) forecast on Thursday.

The heat wave in parts of Texas, Louisiana and Florida is likely to break records and raise the risk of wildfires and heat-related illnesses, the weather service warned.

NEW YORK, Jun 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – Crude oil futures prices posted solid growth yesterday, thanks to hopes for strong oil demand and the plunge of the U.S. dollar.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July delivery, gained 2.35 U.S. dollars, or 3.44 percent, to settle at 70.62 U.S. dollars a barrel, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for Aug delivery added 2.47 U.S. dollars, or 3.37 percent, to settle at 75.67 U.S. dollars a barrel, on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

(AP) --- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg seems increasingly likely to have his term at the helm of the world’s biggest security organization extended yet again, as members struggle to agree on another candidate to replace him.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, has been NATO’s top civilian official since 2014. His term was due to expire last year but was extended for a second time to keep a steady hand at the helm after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Friday touted Russia’s prospects at the country’s main international economic forum despite heavy international sanctions imposed because of the war in Ukraine.

Western officials and investors steered clear of this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that for decades has been Russia’s premier event for attracting foreign capital and is sometimes likened to the Davos World Economic Forum.

TEHRAN, Jun 16 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s English language newspaper, Tehran Times, slammed the U.S. idea of expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), to the Asia-Pacific region, saying it is doomed to failure, as it lacks regional backing.

The paper on Wednesday published an article entitled “Asian NATO: U.S. paranoia and fragility,” highlighting a widely reported plan by the U.S.-led military alliance, NATO, to expand to the Asia-Pacific region.