AYBAK, Afghanistan, May 12 (NNN-ANA) – Former governor of Afghanistan’s central Bamyan province, during the then Afghan government, Mohammad Tahir Zuhair, has surrendered to authorities in the northern Samangan province, provincial Director for Information and Culture, Firuzudin Munib, said today.

Munib said, Zuhair surrendered to security forces in the Dara-e-Suf Bala district, yesterday and has been shifted to the provincial capital, Aybak City.

NIIGATA, Japan, May 12 (Reuters) - Finance leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies discussed the need to make global supply chains more resilient by reducing over-reliance on China, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Friday.

Japan, which is hosting a three-day G7 meeting to debate key global themes in the city of Niigata, has been leading fresh efforts to diversify supply chains away from China by building partnerships with low- and middle-income countries through investment and aid.

MINSK, May 12. /TASS/: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has vowed that his country will take part in the UN Sustainable Development Summit, the presidential press service said on Friday.

"The head of state thanked the UN Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] for the invitation to the summit and assured that Belarus will actively contribute to its preparation and will take part in this important event at an appropriate level," it said.

11 May 2023; MEMO: Israel has taken no accountability for its killings of 20 journalists over the past two decades, a press watchdog's report has revealed on the first anniversary of Al Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh's killing by Israeli forces.

VIENTIANE, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China and Laos launched a joint military exercise on Thursday at the Kommadam Academy of the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) in Laos, aimed at enhancing capabilities of the two militaries to combat terrorism.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia is on track to achieve its gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of between 4 and 5.0 per cent this year, said central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

Governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said the growth would be anchored by firm domestic demand amid a challenging global environment.

“Risks to the growth outlook are fairly balanced.

STOCKHOLM, May 12 (Reuters) - The European Union needs to be prepared for the fallout from a potential deterioration in relations with China, such as might happen if conflict were to erupt over Taiwan, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Friday.

Landsbergis said he was not advocating a "de-coupling" from China, but pointed to the break with Moscow over Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as the type of risk for which the bloc needed to be prepared.

Nobody had called for a decoupling from Russia, yet "here were are", he said.

VOLOS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s prime minister says his government is exploring a “win-win” solution to one of the world’s most intractable cultural heritage disputes: The fate of the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum. But he rules out any deal that would include the word “loan.”

ANKARA, May 12 (Reuters) - Kemal Kilicdaroglu, main challenger of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said on Friday his party has concrete evidence of Russia's responsibility for the release of "deep fake" online content ahead of Sunday's presidential elections.

Kilicdaroglu, who has a slight poll lead over Erdogan two days ahead of the election, told Reuters in an interview it was unacceptable for Russia to interfere in Turkey's internal affairs, but added that should he become president he would maintain Ankara's good ties with Moscow.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: The European Union has proposed formalizing a halt of supplies of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline to Germany and Poland that refused to purchase it earlier at the national level, within the framework of the 11th package of sanctions, Bloomberg said on Friday citing documents seen by the agency.

Meanwhile, exemptions allowing flows through the southern branch of the oil pipeline, which supplies Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will remain in place.

11 May 2023; MEMO: European welcomes to Turkiye's invitation to "security and cooperation" to monitor the elections in a statement by the European Commission spokesperson, Peter Stano, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the report, European Commission spokesman, Peter Stano, said during a press conference on Thursday, "Turkiye is a major partner of the European Union in many ways, and we are closely following the elections in the country."

KHARTOUM, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have promised to protect civilians and achieve a short-term ceasefire to facilitate emergency humanitarian assistance, as they signed the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan.