22 May 2023; MEMO: Israel's occupation government held a cabinet meeting on Sunday in a tunnel underneath Al-Aqsa Mosque in an attempt to demonstrates the Zionist state's sovereignty over the occupied city of Jerusalem and its holy sites. The tunnel in question is located under Al-Buraq Wall (the "Western Wall") of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa.

22 May 2023; MEMO: A fire at a hotel in the Muslim holy city of Makkah killed at least eight Pakistani pilgrims and injured six others on Friday, a month before the annual Hajj pilgrimage is set to begin.

In a statement, Pakistan's Foreign Office said: "We have reports of eight deaths and six injured Pakistanis in the incident. Our Mission in Jeddah is in contact with local authorities to provide relief to the victims and their families."

22 May 2023; AA: Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein achieved a significant victory in Northern Ireland's local elections, becoming the largest party for the first time, according to local media reports.

Following the completion of vote counting late Saturday, Sinn Fein, which advocates for the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, secured 144 out of 462 local government seats.

This marked an increase of 39 seats compared to the previous local government elections in 2019.

Kanpur: The weather remains extremely hot here. The maximum temperature was recorded at 45 degrees Celsius at the Meteorological Center of the Air Force and 39.8 degree Celsius at the Meteorological Center of Chandrashekhar Azad Agricultural University respectively.

According to meteorologists, Kanpur was the fourth hottest city in the state.

SN Sunil Pandey, head of the Meteorological Department of Chandrashekhar Azad Agricultural University, sees no respite from the scorching sun and humid heat.

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/: The activities of the Group of Seven is a key factor of the escalation of global problems as it cannot reflect interests of other centers of development, the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"It is obvious that the Group of Seven is a major factor of the aggravation of global problems. It cannot represent interests of other centers of development, especially countries of the Asia Pacific region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America," it said.

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy huddled with some of his biggest backers as the Group of Seven summit closed in Hiroshima on Sunday, building momentum for his country’s war effort even as Russia claimed a symbolic victory on the battlefield.

HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 21 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that it was time to reform both the Security Council and Bretton Woods to align with the "realities of today's world".

Speaking at a press conference in Hiroshima, Japan, where the Group of Seven summit meeting had been held, Guterres said both institutions reflected the power relations of 1945 and needed to be updated.

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — President Joe Biden said Sunday that Republicans in the U.S. House must move off their “extreme positions” on the now-stalled talks over raising America’s debt limit and that there would be no agreement to avert a catastrophic default only on their terms.

20 May 2023; MEMO: Orthodox Jewish parties threatened to quit the coalition government if their budget demands were not met, Hebrew media reported on Friday.

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — The Group of Seven wealthy democracies united in urging China to pressure its strategic partner Russia to end its war on Ukraine and resolve territorial disputes peacefully, and China lashed back.

In a joint statement, the G7 leaders emphasized they did not want to harm China and were seeking “constructive and stable relations” with Beijing, “recognizing the importance of engaging candidly with and expressing our concerns directly to China.”

HIROSHIMA /Japan/, May 21. /TASS/: US President Joe Biden said that the country will allocate $375 million as part of the new military aid package to Ukraine, the White House reported on Sunday.

The document published on the White House’s website informs about "today’s announcement of an additional $375 million in ammunition and equipment" to Kiev, which, among other things, will go for training of the Ukrainian servicemen.

WASHINGTON, May 20 (NNN-XINHUA) – More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2022, according to data released this week, from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The year 2022 was the deadliest on record, for drug overdoses, which claimed the lives of an estimated 109,680 people, according to numbers posted Wednesday, by the CDC.

Overdose deaths in the United States surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The death number rose from 71,000 in 2019, to over 90,000 in 2020, and surpassed 100,000 in 2021, for the first time.