NEW YORK, June 14 (Xinhua) -- All of the immense benefits from free trade would be at risk if the United States chose to elevate short-term political considerations, reported Foreign Policy on Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Since taking on the role of White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre has become known for frequently dodging questions by citing the Hatch Act. The law bars civil servants from politicking during their day jobs, and Jean-Pierre uses it to deflect reporters’ questions involving campaigns.

But apparently she wasn’t careful enough. The Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that enforces the Hatch Act, said in a recent letter that Jean-Pierre violated the law before last year’s midterm elections.

13 June 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's state aid agency, on Monday, said it delivered medical equipment to a children's hospital in war-torn Ukraine, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) provided medical equipment assistance to the Rivne Regional Children's Hospital, which has recently been seeing an increase in the number of patients.

13 June 2023; MEMO: Sweden agreed to extradite to Turkiye a man convicted of drug trafficking, who also supported the pro-Kurdish PKK, a first since Stockholm's NATO bid was stalled by Ankara, AFP reports.

According to the report, the Swedish government has decided to "grant an extradition from Sweden regarding a 35-year-old Turkish citizen," Justice Ministry official, Ashraf Ahmed, told AFP.

NEW YORK (AP) — After three years, the pandemic-era freeze on student loan payments will end in late August.

It might seem tempting to just keep not making payments, but the consequences can be severe, including a hit to your credit score and exclusion from future aid and benefits.

More than 40 million Americans will have to start making federal student loan payments again at the end of the summer under the terms of a debt ceiling deal approved by Congress.

NEW YORK, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Drawing on the experience of the global war on terror, defense hawks in the U.S. Congress have figured out an accounting gimmick to protect increases in military spending, according to an article published by The Hill on Tuesday.

After weeks of partisan debate, the United States avoided a default thanks to a deal that limits some federal spending in exchange for eliminating the debt ceiling for two years. Defense spending emerged largely unscathed, however, and is set to rise to nearly 900 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal year 2025.

14 June 2023; MEMO: Kuwait has concluded a contract worth $367 million with Turkish defence firm, Baykar, to buy its TB2 drones through direct negotiations between the two governments, the Kuwaiti army said in a statement on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

The statement did not reveal how many drones would be delivered to Kuwait or when.

WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives committee on Wednesday narrowly voted to raise the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age to 67 from 65.

Members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 32 to 31 for the pilot age amendment to a proposed five-year bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation safety and infrastructure programs for the next five years.

LONDON (AP) — Lawmakers in Europe signed off Wednesday on the world’s first set of comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence, clearing a key hurdle as authorities across the globe race to rein in AI.

The European Parliament vote is one of the last steps before the rules become law, which could act as a model for other places working on similar regulations.

A yearslong effort by Brussels to draw up guardrails for AI has taken on more urgency as rapid advances in chatbots like ChatGPT show the benefits the emerging technology can bring — and the new perils it poses.

13 June 2023; MEMO: One hundred and thirty-five prominent figures and several human rights groups have sent a letter today to Karim Khan, urging the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to discharge his duty and address the ongoing breaches of international humanitarian law committed by the state of Israel against Palestinians living under its occupation.

14 June 2023; MEMO: The discovery of a Chinese component in an Iranian drone has implicated Beijing in Tehran's production and supply of armed combat drones to Russia, revealing the speed at which the UAVs are built and provided to Moscow during its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

HONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) co-founder, is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday during his visit to China, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The meeting will mark Xi's first meeting with a foreign private entrepreneur in recent years. The people said the encounter may be a one-on-one meeting. A third source confirmed they would meet, without providing details.