ST. PETERSBURG, June 15. /TASS/: No country should benefit from the energy crisis or from its status of a transit country for energy resources, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"We have to make sure that no country would take advantage or would take the benefit out of the challenging or crisis-like energy situation now and no country should take profit of the fact that it serves as a transit country for others," he said.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The International Monetary Fund slammed Pakistan’s government on Thursday over its proposal for the new annual budget, saying it failed to implement a more fair tax system in the draft.

The harsh criticism by Esther Perez Ruiz, IMF’s representative for Pakistan, raised new concerns about the success of monthslong talks between the cash-strapped Islamic nation and the lender over a stalled bailout tranche.

However, Perez Ruiz also said the IMF was offering to “work with the government in refining its strategy” for the budget.

KALAMATA, Greece, June 15 (Reuters) - Rescuers scoured the seas off Greece on Thursday following a shipwreck that killed at least 78 migrants, as hopes of survivors dwindled and fears grew that hundreds more, including children, may have drowned inside the crowded vessel's hold.

Reports suggested between 400 and 750 people had packed the fishing boat that departed the Libyan port of Tobruk and capsized and sank early on Wednesday morning in deep waters about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern coastal town of Pylos. Greek authorities said 104 survivors had been brought ashore.

NEW DELHI, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The extremely severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy made landfall on Thursday evening in India's western coastal state of Gujarat, causing uprooted trees, hoardings and electric poles with wind speeds over 100 km per hour.

This is reportedly the longest cyclone witnessed in several years.

As a precautionary measure, power has been suspended in the affected regions and highways near the coastal areas have been closed. All schools and educational institutions have also been shut until Friday.

PARIS, June 15. /TASS/: Crimea is an inseparable part of Russia and has nothing to do with today’s conflict in Ukraine, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the parliamentary faction of the National Rally party, told France Info radio on Thursday.

BRUSSELS (AP) — International donors said Thursday they would commit $10.3 billion in aid for millions of Syrians battered by war, poverty, and hunger, both at home and as refugees abroad.

The pledges by 57 nations and 30 international organizations at an annual European Union-hosted conference in Brussels for Syria fell about $800 million short of a United Nations humanitarian appeal.

MOSCOW, June 15 (NNN-TASS) — Nearly 20 countries are seeking to get BRICS membership and their number continues to grow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Thursday.

“The list of candidates for joining the association continues to increase. The number of states seeking to join this association is nearing twenty. It reflects BRICS’ growing and already considerable role in the international arena as an association of countries with similar positions. I would like to stress it,” he said.

13 June 2023; MEMO: The United States and Iran are not discussing an interim nuclear deal, a US official said on Monday, but Washington has told Tehran of steps that might trigger a crisis and also those that may create a better climate between the long-time antagonists, Reuters reports.

"There are no talks about an interim deal," said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, even on some of the most consequential days of his presidency, were punctuated by the spectacle and attempts at showmanship he cultivated from years as a tabloid fixture and reality star.

The former president’s history-making appearance Tuesday as a criminal defendant in a Florida federal court was no different.

13 June 2023; MEMO: Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, started a 3-day official visit to Russia on Tuesday for talks on boosting bilateral cooperation, Anadolu Agency reports.

In a statement, the Algerian Presidency said the visit comes upon an invitation from Russian President, Vladimir Putin, for talks on strengthening cooperation between Algeria and Russia.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China this weekend as part of the Biden administration’s push to repair deteriorating ties between Washington and Beijing and keep lines of communication open, the State Department said Wednesday.

Blinken will be the most senior U.S. official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office. His visit had initially been planned for earlier this year but was postponed indefinitely after the discovery and shootdown of what the U.S. said was a Chinese spy balloon over the United States.

13 June 2023; MEMO: President Vladimir Putin said, on Tuesday, that Russia was considering withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal, saying that Moscow had been "cheated" over implementation of the parts of the accord that concerned its own exports.