07 June 2023; MEMO: US Vice President Kamala Harris said that Israel's democracy requires an "independent judiciary", adding her name to the controversy over the judicial amendments proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which sparked massive protests in Israel.

OTTAWA, June 7 (Reuters) - Hundreds of uncontrolled forest fires blazed across Canada on Wednesday, threatening critical infrastructure, forcing evacuations and sending a blanket of smoky air wafting over U.S. cities.

Wildfires are common in Canada's western provinces, but this year flames have mushroomed rapidly in the country's east, making it the worst-ever start to the season.

About 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) have already burned, some 15 times the 10-year average, said Federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair.

07 June 2023; MEMO: US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had an "open, candid" conversation with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the early hours of Wednesday about a wide range of bilateral issues, a US official said.

The top US diplomat arrived in Saudi Arabia late on Tuesday for a much anticipated visit amid frayed ties due to deepening disagreements on everything, from Iran policy to regional security issues, oil prices and human rights, Reuters reports.

07 June 2023; MEMO: The UK government has announced major changes to visa requirements for the six countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Jordan. Nationals of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, UAE and Jordan will be offered an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) lasting two years for just £10 ($12), according to a report in Arabian Business.

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's White House Pride Month celebration, expected to be the largest in history, will be postponed from Thursday evening until Saturday, officials said, as Washington is enveloped in a cloud of smoke from Canadian wildfires.

"Today’s Pride event on the White House South Lawn will be postponed until Saturday based on the projected air quality in the region," the White House said in a statement.

NEW YORK (AP) — On air quality maps, purple signifies the worst of it. In reality, it’s a thick, hazardous haze that’s disrupting daily life for millions of people across the U.S. and Canada, blotting out skylines and turning skies orange.

With weather systems expected to barely budge, the smoky blanket billowing from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia and sending plumes of fine particulate matter as far away as North Carolina and northern Europe should persist into Thursday and possibly the weekend.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed Dilawar Syed as deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration, ending more than two years of delays after a blockade by Republicans in the last Congress.

Syed will be the highest-ranking Muslim official in the U.S. government.

BEIJING, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The United States would become the biggest debtor responsible for excessive levels of CO2 emissions by 2050, said a recent study.

Global North countries hold "overwhelming responsibility" for climate breakdown, and could be liable to pay 170 trillion U.S. dollars in compensation by 2050 to ensure climate targets are met, said the study published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability.

07 June 2023; MEMO: Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said yesterday, that Israel will sever relations with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) if it is blacklisted by the UN over its mistreatment of Palestinian children.

07 June 2023; MEMO: An army base in the south of Israel was robbed yesterday with some 20,000 bullets taken from the site.

An army spokesperson said that ammunition was stolen from a military bunker at the base in the south of Israel and that more than 20,000 bullets were missing.

He added that the police and military police had opened a joint investigation to uncover the details.

DENVER (AP) — A woman who received a desperate text from her husband indicating he had been taken hostage said Tuesday that she called 911 but that police did not respond until about an hour later, by which time he had been shot and killed.

On its online police blotter, the Colorado Springs Police Department said it found two deceased adult males on Friday at the location that Talija Campbell said she feared her husband Qualin Campbell was being held by another man. It said the officers responded to a report of a shooting there at 2:09 p.m.

NEW DELHI, June 8 (Reuters) - India's foreign minister on Thursday hit out at Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the 1984 assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, perceived to be glorification of violence by Sikh separatists.

"I think there is a larger underlying issue about the space which is given to separatists, to extremists, to people who advocate violence," S. Jaishankar told reporters in New Delhi while commenting about the tableau in a parade.

"I think it is not good for relationships, not good for Canada," he said.