16 May 2023; MEMO: Over 936,000 people have left their homes in Sudan as fighting continues between rival military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.

The violence has raged for four weeks, with roughly 736,200 displaced internally and 200,000 fleeing for neighbouring countries.

OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — In a modern conservation laboratory on the grounds of the former Auschwitz camp, a man wearing blue rubber gloves uses a scalpel to scrape away rust from the eyelets of small brown shoes worn by children before they were murdered in gas chambers.

Colleagues at the other end of a long work table rub away dust and grime, using soft cloths and careful circular motions on the leather of the fragile objects. The shoes are then scanned and photographed in a neighboring room and catalogued in a database.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled his country with an increasingly firm grip for 20 years, was locked in a tight election race early Monday, with a make-or-break runoff against his chief challenger possible as the final votes were counted.

GENEVA (AP) — The 175 member countries of the U.N. migration agency were casting ballots on Monday to choose its leader for the next five years — an unusual contest between its European director-general and his American deputy who’s looking to oust him from the job.

International Organization for Migration director-general Antonio Vitorino of Portugal was looking at a possibly tough contest against his Biden administration-backed deputy, Amy Pope.

BANGKOK, May 15 (Reuters) - Thailand's two main opposition parties agreed on Monday to form a ruling coalition after they trounced in a weekend election military-backed rivals that have controlled government for nearly a decade.

The Move Forward party and opposition heavyweight Pheu Thai dominated Sunday's ballot in a stunning rout of army-backed parties, but they could face challenges in mustering enough support, with parliamentary rules drafted by the military after a 2014 coup skewed in favour of its allies.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s presidential elections appeared headed for a runoff Monday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulling ahead of his chief challenger, but falling short of an outright victory that would extend his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.

14 May 2023; MEMO: Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza on Saturday agreed to an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire set to go into effect at 10 p.m., Anadolu reports.

Egyptian media including Al-Qahera News TV quoted Egyptian sources as confirming both sides' commitment to the cease-fire proposal.

"In light of the agreement of both sides, Egypt announces a cease-fire between the Palestinian and the Israeli side has been reached," read the text of the agreement seen by Anadolu.

15 May 2023; MEMO: Polling stations across Turkiye closed on Sunday as voting in the country's presidential and parliamentary elections ended at 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT), Anadolu reports.

More than 64.1 million people were registered to vote, including over 1.76 million who cast their ballots abroad and 4.9 million first-time voters.

A total of 191,885 ballot boxes were set up for voters in the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has made it a mission for the U.S. to build friendships overseas — and the next few weeks will offer a vivid demonstration of the importance he’s placing on a relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

KYIV, May 15 (Reuters) - Ukraine's state security agency has served businessman Dmytro Firtash and top managers of companies he controls with "notices of suspicion" of embezzlement, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement on Monday.

A representative for Firtash, who is currently in Vienna, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Tehran (ISNA) – The secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi said that the atrocities of the US against nations are unprecedented during the human history.

Kazem Gharibabadi declared, "In domestic arena, people should know that what crimes America has committed against us because its crimes have directly targeted our people. We should remind repeatedly this issue and the matter is nothing to do with our macro policies with the US. The one who commits crimes should be highlighted and we would go after with them".

BEIJING (AP) — China sentenced a 78-year-old United States citizen to life in prison Monday on spying charges, in a case that reflects the deterioration in ties between Beijing and Washington over recent years.

Details of the charges against John Shing-Wan Leung, who holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, have not been publicly released.