International news brief: Proposed gun laws in NY include social media check

Washington: July 02: New York's legislature approved a sweeping overhaul Friday of the state's handgun licensing rules, seeking to preserve some limits on firearms after the Supreme Court ruled that most people have a right to carry a handgun for personal protection.

New York's proposed gun laws include 'character and conduct' social media check

New York would require people applying for a handgun license to turn over a list of their social media accounts so officials could verify their "character and conduct" under a bill being considered Friday by the state Legislature. The provision was part of a proposed redesign of the state's firearms licensing laws hammered out by lawmakers after the US Supreme Court struck down rules severely limiting who could get a permit to carry a handgun outside their home.

12 US Congressmen urge Biden to hold India accountable in WTO for 'trade-distorting practices'

A group of US lawmakers has urged President Joe Biden to file a formal request for consultations with India at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over its "dangerous trade-distorting practices". The 12 Congressmen, in a letter to Biden, stated that current WTO rules allow governments to subsidise up to 10 per cent of the value of commodity production. However, the Indian government continues to subsidise more than half of the value of production for several commodities, including rice and wheat, they said.

Monkeypox cases triple in Europe, WHO says, Africa concerned

The World Health Organization's Europe chief warned Friday that monkeypox cases in the region have tripled in the last two weeks and urged countries to do more to ensure the previously rare disease does not become entrenched on the continent.

And African health authorities said they are treating the expanding monkeypox outbreak as an emergency, calling on rich countries to share limited supplies of vaccines to avoid equity problems seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strong earthquake kills 5 in southern Iran

Five people were killed and 44 others injured in a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in southern Iran on Saturday, state television reported.Rescue teams were deployed near the epicenter, Sayeh Khosh village, which is home to around 300 people in Hormozgan province, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of the capital, Tehran, the report said.

Seeking parole Pistorius meets with girlfriend's father

South African former track star Oscar Pistorius has met with the father of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman he shot to death in 2013, as part of his parole process, the Steenkamp's family lawyer told The Associated Press on Friday. Lawyer Tania Koen said in a text message that Pistorius and Barry Steenkamp met face-to-face on June 22 as part of what's known in South Africa as a victim-offender dialogue. It gives victims of crimes or their relatives a chance to meet with the offenders, if they choose to, before the offender can be eligible for parole.