TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s Supreme Court upheld Friday an immigration agreement between the United States and Canada that says asylum seekers must apply in the first country they arrive in.

The 2002 Safe Third Country Agreement between the U.S. and Canada says migrants who go to an official Canadian crossing are returned to the U.S. and told to apply there.

AHMEDABAD, India/KARACHI, June 16 (Reuters) - Roofs were blown off houses and trees and electric poles uprooted, leaving thousands without power as a severe cyclone made landfall and rain lashed both the Indian and Pakistani coasts early on Friday.

At least two people died in India's western state of Gujarat after being swept away by flood waters just before the cyclone hit.

More than 180,000 people were evacuated in India and Pakistan in the last few days as authorities braced for the cyclone, named Biparjoy, which means 'disaster' or 'calamity' in the Bengali language.

ACCRA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A staff team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Ghana's economy had started showing signs of stability after the start of the IMF's three-year support program.

In a statement released late Thursday after a week-long working visit to the West African country, the IMF team said Ghana currently sees softening inflation, an increase in international reserves, and a less volatile exchange rate.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A delegation of security officials, diplomats and journalists accompanying the South African president to Ukraine and Russia was stranded on a separately chartered plane at Warsaw’s airport for more than 24 hours. Polish authorities said on Friday that the problem was over permissions for firearms.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is among a group of African leaders visiting Kyiv and Moscow on a mission to encourage a resolution to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (NNN-Bernama) — The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar this morning despite the prevailing cautious sentiments surrounding China’s economic growth. 

At 9.04 am, the local note strengthened to 4.6100/6155 against the greenback from 4.6235/6280 at Thursday’s close.   

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is anticipated to move within a tight range of around RM4.62, given the mixed signals this week. 

BEIJING, June 16 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping called Bill Gates "an old friend" and said he hoped they could cooperate in a way that would benefit both China and the United States, in Xi's first meeting with a foreign entrepreneur in years.

In a meeting at Beijing's Diaoyutai state guest house, where China's leaders have traditionally received senior foreign visitors, Xi said he was very happy to see the Microsoft (MSFT.O) co-founder and philanthropist after three years, and that Gates was the first American friend he had met this year.

(AP) --- The production company founded by Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, is splitting ways with Spotify less than a year after the debut of their podcast “ Archetypes.”

It is unclear why the podcast, hosted by Meghan, is leaving the platform but Spotify and Archewell Audio said in a joint statement that the decision was mutual.

Archewell landed a multiyear partnership with Spotify in 2020 to create podcasts and shows that would tell stories through diverse voices and perspectives.

KYIV, June 16 (Reuters) - Advancing Ukrainian troops are facing "desperate resistance" from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut, and are inflicting big losses on Russian troops in the south, Ukrainian military chiefs said on Friday.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield situation. Russia has not officially acknowledged Ukrainian advances in the early stages of a counteroffensive, and said it had inflicted heavy losses on Kyiv's forces in the previous 24 hours.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 16. /TASS/: Russia has been among the top five global wheat exporters for a decade and this year, the country may set an all-time record for wheat exports, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

KIEV, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will closely monitor the water level at the cooling pond of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said Thursday.

"With the water that is here the plant can be kept safe for some time," Grossi said in a video message on Twitter after visiting the ZNPP.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan doesn’t have approval from its government yet to compete in the Cricket World Cup in India in October.

Cricket board chairman Najam Sethi said on Friday he has written to the International Cricket Council to say the PCB cannot unilaterally approve the World Cup draft schedule which has the marquee match between Pakistan and India at Ahmedabad on Oct. 15.

“We have written to the ICC that we can’t give approval or disapproval to this (schedule),” Sethi said in Lahore.

June 16 (Reuters) - An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 struck France on Friday, the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said.

The earthquake's epicenter was near a commune in the Charente-Maritime region of western France, at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), GFZ said.

There was no immediate information on casualties or damage from the quake.

The GFZ revised an earlier measurement of a 5.5 magnitude earthquake.