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23 Mar 2019; DW: A petition asking the British government to reverse its course on Brexit has received more than 4 million signatures in only three days.

The official parliamentary petition launched on Wednesday is calling for the government to revoke Article 50, the mechanism that governs Britain's departure from the European Union.

23 Mar 2019; DW: Speaking on commercial radio in London on Friday, Tom Watson said he would support Prime Minister Theresa May's deal, or a revised deal going through parliament, but only if the public was allowed to vote on it too.

He also said he would take part in Saturday's second People's Vote march. The last such march was the country's second-biggest protest since more than a million people turned out for the 2003 Stop the War demonstration against the invasion of Iraq.

23 Mar 2019; DW: Seven right-wing presidents of South American nations gathered in Chile's capital Santiago on Friday to announce a new political association dubbed Forum for the Progress of South America, or Prosur.

The bloc would function "without ideology and bureaucracy, but with a total commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights," Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said.

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury said on Friday that it had slapped sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities for their involvement in a defense research organization of Iran that assisted Tehran's past nuclear weapons program.

HANOI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will be one of the first countries in the world to roll out 5G, the latest generation of mobile communications, its minister of information and communications said here on Friday.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung made the remarks at the ASEAN Conference on 5G in Hanoi, regarding the role of 5G as a pillar of digital economy due to its greater bandwidth, higher speeds and lower latency, Vietnam News Agency reported.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders worried about China’s growing power are devising plans to counter the ambitions of a country they describe as a “systemic rival.”

The European Council will discuss on Friday a 10-point strategy set out by the European Commission before an EU-China summit next month.

The EU wants to “fully address the distortive effects of foreign state ownership” and “achieve a more balanced and reciprocal economic relationship.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned two Chinese shipping companies suspected of helping North Korea evade sanctions — the first targeted actions taken against Pyongyang since its nuclear negotiations with the U.S. in Hanoi last month ended without agreement.

“The maritime industry must do more to stop North Korea’s illicit shipping practices,” Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton tweeted. “Everyone should take notice and review their own activities to ensure they are not involved in North Korea’s sanctions evasion.”

22 Mar 2019; AFP: Around four in 10 British adults have been left feeling powerless, angry or worried by Brexit in the past year, according to a poll out Friday.

The Mental Health Foundation (MHF) charity commissioned the survey to look at the impact of Britain's impending departure from the European Union on how people feel, their sleep and their relationships.

The poll found that Brexit had made 43 percent feel powerless, 39 percent feel angry and 38 percent feel worried.

22 Mar 2019; AFP: The five largest publicly listed oil and gas majors have spent $1 billion since the 2015 Paris climate deal on public relations or lobbying that is "overwhelmingly in conflict" with the landmark accord's goals, a watchdog said Friday.

BUENOS AIRES, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's gross domestic product (GDP) fell 2.5 percent in 2018, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) said Thursday.

During the last quarter of 2018, Argentina had a reduction of 1.2 percent in GDP compared with the previous quarter, which marks the second largest economic contraction, preceded by the 3.8-percent decline in the second quarter in which the U.S. dollar appreciated against the peso and the economy began reporting negative numbers.