RUSSIA: A Russian court on Tuesday extended the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by three months in a closed-door hearing.

Mr Gershkovich is the first correspondent from the United States since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying charges.

Mr Gershkovich was ordered to be held until August 30. He, his employer and the US government have denied the charges.

UNITED STATES: New York’s Mayor Eric Adams asked a judge on Tuesday to let the city suspend its long-standing “right to shelter” obligation, saying officials are no longer able to house every homeless person because of the arrival of tens of thousands of international migrants.

The right to shelter has been in place for more than four decades in New York, after a court in 1981 required the city to provide temporary housing for every homeless person who asks for it. 

ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra right-wing government today passed a new two-year budget that pushed ahead with its ultra- Orthodox religious and pro-settlement agenda.

Critics have accused Mr Netanyahu of increasing spending on his ultra-Orthodox allies for religious programmes that have little benefit for broader society.

IRAN: The head of Iran’s nuclear programme insisted today that his government would cooperate with international inspectors on any “new activities.”

Speaking to journalists, Mohammad Eslami of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (IAEA) said: “The Islamic Republic of Iran is working under the IAEA safeguards, and whenever it wants to start new activities, it will coordinate with the IAEA, and act accordingly.”