22 May 2024; MEMO: British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced on Wednesday that general election in the UK would be held on 4 July, Anadolu Agency reports.

During his address at Downing Street, Sunak said that the country will head to polls on Thursday, 4 July.

“Earlier today, I spoke with His Majesty, the King (Charles) to request the dissolution of parliament. The King has granted this request and we will have a general election on the fourth of July,” he announced.

22 May 2024; MEMO: High-ranking officials from at least 68 countries attended a ceremony in Tehran on Wednesday to pay respect to Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, and his companions killed in a helicopter crash this weekend, Anadolu Agency reports.

The ceremony was held hours after hundreds of thousands of people took part in a funeral procession in the Iranian capital for Raisi and others killed in Sunday’s accident, including Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

22 May 2024; AA: US Senator Bernie Sanders expressed support for the requests by International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders and urged the US to respect international law.

"The ICC as I see it is trying to uphold international law and minimum standards of decency. Our government should do no less," Sanders told the Senate floor Tuesday night.

22 May 2024; MEMO: If the International Criminal Court’s judges move forward and issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the officials would not be able to travel to 124 countries including the UK.

22 May 2024; MEMO: Israel reversed its decision to shut down an Associated Press (AP) live video feed of war-torn Gaza on Tuesday, following protests from the US news agency and concerns from the White House.

21 May 2024; MEMO: France backs the International Criminal Court and the “fight against impunity”, its Foreign Ministry said after the ICC Prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.

On Monday, ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan, said he had requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his Defence chief, Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders, including its chief, Yahya Sinwar.

22 May 2024; AA: The Israeli government instructed its negotiating team to resume negotiations for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap deal, according to local media on Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the War Cabinet ordered the negotiating team “to continue negotiations for the return of the hostages.”

22 May 2024; AA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that the US will "take action" against a contentious bill adopted last week by the former Soviet republic of Georgia’s parliament, which triggered mass protests.