MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: The decisions adopted at the G7 summit in Hiroshima pursue the goal of dual containment of Russia and China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the 31st Assembly of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy on Saturday.

"Could you take a look at those decisions which are being debated and adopted at the G7 summit in Hiroshima and which are aimed at dual containment of Russia and the People’s Republic of China?" he said.

SEOUL, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of South Koreans gathered in central Seoul on Saturday to voice their opposition to Japan's planned discharge of radioactive wastewater from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

"Stop Japan's dumping of nuclear contaminated water into ocean. Oppose the dumping from Fukushima," protesters shouted in unison with civic activists and politicians joining the rally.

ISTRA /outside Moscow/, May 20. /TASS/: The congress of the A Just Russia - For Truth political party have reelected Sergey Mironov as chairman, and Zakhar Prilepin and Gennady Semigin as his co-chairs, TASS reported on Saturday.

Voting was conducted by secret ballot. Under the party’s charter, the chair and co-chairs are elected for 2.5 years.

VIENTIANE, May 20 (NNN-KPL) – Laos recorded a trade surplus of 1.39 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, and the total value of the country’s imports and exports was 15 billion dollars.

In 2022, the country’s exports were worth about 8.19 billion dollars, while imports were valued at 6.8 billion dollars, the Lao Economic Daily reported, yesterday.

Thailand was the largest export market for Laos in 2022, followed by China, Vietnam, Australia and Cambodia.

Thailand was also Laos’ largest source for imports, followed by China and Vietnam, according to the report.

19 May 2023; MEMO: As Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad addressed Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia on Friday, a group of Syrian refugees was in Germany learning to use international law to prosecute war criminals – which they hoped to apply to him some day, Reuters reports.

MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Friday that the city of Bakhmut was unlikely to fall to his mercenary forces in the next two days as fighting raged around Ukrainian soldiers holed up in a makeshift "fortress" in the south of the city.

The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, known in Russia by its Soviet-era name of Artyomovsk, is in ruins after months of intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces who call it the "meat grinder".

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tens of thousands of people rallied in Serbia’s capital on Friday for a third time in a month in protest at the government’s handling of a crisis after two mass shootings in the Balkan country earlier this month, even as officials rejected the criticism and ignored their demands.

In a show of defiance, the nationalist right-wing party of autocratic Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic organized a counter-protest in a town north of Belgrade attended by thousands of his supporters.

GENICHESK, May 20. /TASS/:The Russian aircraft supporting the Dnepr grouping has destroyed up to 20 Ukrainian troops that taken civilian buildings on Cherkessky Island on the Dnieper River near Kherson, a spokesperson for the regional emergency services told TASS on Saturday.

"Militants of the Ukrainian armed forces had occupied civilian constructions on Cherkessky Island on the Dnieper near Kherson, but were destroyed by the aircraft supporting the Dnepr grouping," he said adding that up to 20 militants were eliminated.

BELGRADE, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The newly elected president of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic took the oath of office on Saturday at the country's parliament in Podgorica.

Milatovic said that he will serve as the president of all citizens, emphasizing economic development and ties with the neighboring countries, as well as the country's path to full membership in the European Union (EU).

TOKYO, May 20 (NNN-NHK) – Major Japanese companies raised wages by an average 3.91 percent, following this year’s spring wage negotiations, marking the largest jump in 31 years, Japan’s biggest business lobby said, yesterday.

The average wage hike was equivalent to 13,110 yen (95 U.S. dollars) per month, up 5,680 yen from the previous year, according to preliminary data, from Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren.

19 May 2023; MEMO: The inclusion of the term "Islamophobia" in a UNESCO draft resolution on discrimination and racism is a positive step for all Muslim communities and humanity at large, Turkish First Lady said on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Emine Erdogan, in a tweet, said the development, which was made possible at the initiative of Turkiye, is "promising" and will "undoubtedly accelerate the fight against crimes committed openly against our religion".

May 19 (Reuters) - Germany's interior ministry published draft legislation aimed at making it easier for people to apply for citizenship, as Berlin seeks to boost migration and open up the job market in Europe's biggest economy.

The draft proposes a multiple citizenship option and cuts the required residency years before naturalization down to five or three years from the previous eight.