SYDNEY, May 13 (NNN-AAP) – Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Justin Tkatchenko, has stepped aside and Prime Minister, James Marape, will oversee the foreign ministry in the interim.

The announcement of the office of the Prime Minister, late yesterday afternoon, came, after Tkatchenko’s daughter faced criticism for social media videos she made, while accompanying the minister to London, for King Charles’s coronation, and the foreign minister’s defence of his daughter, drew further harsh criticism from the public.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — A raid on militants in Pakistan’s southwest in response to an earlier attack on soldiers left seven troops, six militants and a civilian dead, the army said Saturday.

The operation continued for two days after a group of militants attacked a camp of soldiers in the Qila Saifullah district of northern Balochistan province early Friday. The militants also held hostage three families, including women and children, at the residential area of the army camp, the army said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.

KARACHI, Pakistan, May 13 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday gave authorities 72 hours to identify and arrest all those involved in violent acts after former Prime Minister Imran Khan's arrest this week sparked deadly unrest.

Sharif said the cases would be tried by anti-terrorism courts.

"All available resources including technological aid and intelligence are being deployed to chase down these elements. Bringing these people to justice is a test case for the government," said the premier.

13 May 2023; MEMO: Bahrain's educational institutions have been ordered by King Salman Al Khalifa not to implement any changes to the curriculum that are "not compatible with Bahrain's national values designed to protect religion and its core pillars."

According to Alarabiya News, the announcement came on Tuesday following issues raised by critics regarding the inclusion of Israel and changes to the maps of the contested Israeli-Palestinian territories.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Volunteers in Bangladesh’s coastal districts were using loudspeakers to urge people to seek shelter on Saturday as the delta nation braced for an extremely severe cyclone, which is expected to slam ashore in Bangladesh and Myanmar in the next 24 hours.

U.N. agencies and aid workers prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances with mobile medical teams in sprawling refugee camps with more than 1 million Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s populist leader has sharply denounced opposition plans to block a key bridge and motorway in Belgrade on Friday to press their demands in the wake of last week’s mass shootings in the Balkan country that left 17 people dead, including many children.

President Aleksandar Vucic said that the planned opposition protest later on Friday amounted to “violence in politics” and “harassment” of citizens. But, Vucic said, police would not intervene to prevent it “unless people’s lives are in danger.”

11 May 2023; MEMO: Pakistan's top court, on Thursday, ordered the authorities to produce the country's former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, before the Court within an hour, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The order comes after Khan was arrested from Islamabad High Court premises on Tuesday, triggering nationwide protests.

Miami Gardens, Florida (AP) —Elon Musk said Thursday he has found a new CEO for Twitter, or X Corp. as it’s now called — and it’s a woman. He did not name her but said she will be starting in about six weeks.

Musk, who bought Twitter last fall and has been running it since, has long insisted he is not the company’s permanent CEO. The Tesla billionaire said in a tweet Thursday that his role will transition to being Twitter’s executive chairman and chief technology officer.

11 May 2023; MEMO: Iran's Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs arrived in Jeddah, a Saudi Arabian port city on the Red Sea, on Thursday, in the first visit to the Kingdom by a senior Iranian official since the restoration of diplomatic relations, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Ehsan Khandouzi is leading a high-level economic delegation to Saudi Arabia, according to state media, as the two countries move to rejuvenate economic ties.

May 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Virginia has struck down federal laws that block the sale of handguns to buyers under the age of 21, ruling they violate constitutional rights to possess firearms.

The ruling, which the Justice Department is expected to challenge, will not take effect until judge Robert Payne, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, issues his final order in the coming weeks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is putting new restrictions into place at its southern border to try to to stop migrants from crossing illegally and encourage them instead to apply for asylum online through a new process.

The changes come with the end of coronavirus restrictions on asylum that have allowed the U.S. to quickly turn back migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border for the past three years. Those restrictions are known as Title 42, because the authority comes from Title 42 of a 1944 public health law allowing curbs on migration in the name of protecting public health.

12 May 2023; MEMO: The United States stands by Israel's right to defend itself, the American ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, announced yesterday.

"Concerned about the continuing rocket launches today," Nides said on Twitter, referring to recent rockets that were fired from the besieged Gaza Strip.

The US envoy added that his country was working to achieve a "quick de-escalation."