14 June 2023; MEMO: The US House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that mandates the Biden Administration to appoint an envoy for the Abraham Accords to help advance Israel's normalisation with Arab States, particularly with Saudi Arabia.

The bill, which was first introduced in February, would create a Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords with the rank of ambassador who would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Boris Johnson deliberately misled the British parliament in an unprecedented way over rule-breaking parties at his office during COVID-19 lockdowns, a committee said on Thursday in a damning verdict that further tarnished the former prime minister

Almost a year ago, Johnson was talking about remaining prime minister into the 2030s. But the privileges committee - the main disciplinary body for lawmakers - said on Thursday he should now be stripped of having automatic access to parliament.

(AP) --- Suspected state-backed Chinese hackers used a security hole in a popular email security appliance to break into the networks of hundreds of public and private sector organizations globally, nearly a third of them government agencies including foreign ministries, the cybersecurity firm Mandiant said Thursday.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — A former manager at the Harvard Medical School morgue, his wife and three other people have been indicted in the theft and sale of human body parts, federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced Wednesday.

Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, stole dissected portions of cadavers that were donated to the school in the scheme that stretched from 2018 to early 2023, according to court documents. The body parts were taken without the school’s knowledge or permission, authorities said, adding that the school has cooperated with the investigation.

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the United Nations launched a tirade against fossil fuel companies Thursday, accusing them of betraying future generations and undermining efforts to phase out a product he called “incompatible with human survival.”

NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged with manslaughter for putting an agitated New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold has been indicted by a grand jury, an expected procedural step that will allow the criminal case to continue.

Daniel Penny was charged by Manhattan prosecutors last month in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled in recent years with homelessness and mental illness.

BRUSSELS, June 15. /TASS/: Western states are far from implementation of plans to ship US-made F-16 planes to Ukraine, and a lot of work is yet to be done for that, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said Thursday.

He was asked to comment on the status of the program on shipment of warplanes to Ukraine during a press conference after a meeting of Western contact group that coordinates arms shipments to Ukraine in Brussels.

MOSCOW, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday warned about the potential ecological and agricultural aftermath of a U.S. plan to supply depleted uranium shells to Ukraine.

During the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Zakharova said using radioactive materials in warfare could spread contamination. She said given its distance from the region, the United States has disregarded the harmful impact of its decision.

SEOUL, June 15. /TASS/: North Korea on Thursday launched two short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan District near Pyongyang, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Two short-range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea from the Sunan District toward the Sea of Japan were detected between 7:25 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. local time (1:25 p.m. and 1:37 p.m. Moscow time - TASS)," the statement said. Earlier, the South Korean military reported the launch of a ballistic missile.

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Jurors in federal court have awarded $25.6 million to a former Starbucks regional manager who alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location in 2018.

Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages on Monday after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination.

TOKYO, June 15 (Xinhua) -- A Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) recruit was referred to prosecutors Thursday on suspicion of murder a day after shooting three of his instructors during a live-fire training in central Japan, killing two of them.

The recruit, an 18-year-old male, was arrested at the site after allegedly opening fire at three GSDF personnel during the indoor exercise at the force's shooting range in Gifu prefecture on Wednesday morning, the GSDF said.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Thursday he is opening a preliminary probe in Congo after the African nation asked him to investigate alleged crimes in its North Kivu province since January last year.