24 May 2023; MEMO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, attended a judicial hearing in Beirut on Wednesday where his Lebanese and French passports were confiscated following an Interpol Red Notice against him over embezzlement and money-laundering charges, Reuters reports.

24 May 2023; MEMO: Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki called on the Tunisian people to engage in "civil resistance" to put an end to the "absurdity" engulfing the country and the "accelerating slide towards the abyss".

In a post on Facebook, Marzouki said a black decade in Tunisia's history began in July 2021 and not in 2011 as the supporters of President Kais Saied claim.

SEOUL, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday denounced the establishment of a trilateral information-sharing mechanism among the United States, Japan and South Korea on the margins of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Japan's Hiroshima.

MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) - Russia moved ahead on Thursday with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, whose leader said the warheads were already on the move, in the Kremlin's first deployment of such bombs outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

The U.S. State Department denounced the deployment plan, but said Washington had no intention of altering its position on strategic nuclear weapons or seen any signs Russia was preparing to use a nuclear weapon.

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/: The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it plans to determine whether it makes sense for Russia to remain a part of some international organizations.

GENEVA, May 25 (NNN-ACN) — Cuban Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda and his Italian counterpart Orazio Schillaci penned a Memo of Understanding on bilateral cooperation in healthcare and medical sciences to further strengthen links between the two ministries.

At the meeting, which took place during the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Portal Miranda said that the accord backs the goal of Italy and Cuba to deepen cooperation in the benefit of their peoples.

MADRID, May 25 (Reuters) - Killer whales severely damaged a sailing boat off the coast of southern Spain, the local maritime rescue service said on Thursday, adding to dozens of orca attacks on vessels recorded so far this year on Spanish and Portuguese coasts.

In the early hours of Thursday, a group of orcas broke the rudder and pierced the hull after ramming into the Mustique on its way to Gibraltar, prompting its crew of four to contact Spanish authorities for help, a spokesman for the maritime rescue service said.

Madinah Munawawarah: May 25 (APP): The Pakistan Hajj Mission, Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony has established a dedicated helpline 800-11 666 22 in Saudi Arabia to provide facilitation and information to pilgrims, ensuring their convenience during the Hajj pilgrimage.

Director General Pakistan Hajj Mission has advised hajj pilgrims to utilize the toll-free Hajj helpline to register any grievances, as well as any other issues they may encounter during their time in Madinah Munawwarah and Makkah Mukarma.

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/: The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is becoming one of centers of the evolving multipolar world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"I note with confidence that cooperation within the Eurasian Union framework continues entrenching and our association is consistently taking up the position of one of independent and self-sufficient centers of the evolving multipolar world," the head of state said.

SYDNEY, May 25 (Xinhua) -- A major fire has broken out at a building in the suburb of Surry Hills in central Sydney on Thursday afternoon.

Fire and Rescue New South Wales (NSW) said emergency calls were received when flames started engulfing the building just after 4:00 p.m. local time. More than 100 firefighters and over 30 fire trucks are working on the scene to contain and extinguish the blaze.

The building partially collapsed, while the inferno spread to several neighboring buildings, including residential apartments.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden’s defense minister says the Nordic country is considering whether to let Ukrainian pilots test its JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets.

So far, Sweden has ruled out sending any Gripen fighters to Ukraine, saying it needs them for its own territorial defense. But Defense Minister Pål Jonsson told Swedish broadcaster TV4 that Sweden was looking with a “positive spirit” on a Ukrainian request to allow its pilots to try out the Swedish plane.

KAMPALA, May 25 (NNN-GNA) — The Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU) President Justus Cherop said engagements are underway to send some of the 3,000 well-skilled nurses who are not employed by the government to work abroad.

His remarks came following ongoing plans by some labour companies in the country to send nurses to work in the United Kingdom and the Middle East.

“We have about 5,000 nurses graduating from institutions and universities every year. The government can absorb around 2,000 every financial year,” Cherop said.