Europe

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/: It will be absurd and wrong to expel all bona fide Russian journalists from the United States following the arrest of The Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich in Russia, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media, while commenting on WSJ calls for such a measure.

MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/: President Vladimir Putin has approved a new version of Russia’s Concept of Foreign Policy. He announced the signing of the relevant decree at a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on Friday.

This document defines the priority areas, goals and objectives of the country's international activities, it will be a road map for the Russian Foreign Ministry and other ministries and departments.

MINSK, March 31. /TASS/: Negotiations on settling the Ukraine crisis should start as soon as possible, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in his address to the nation and the parliament on Friday.

"It is necessary to start the negotiations today, not tomorrow. Today, while it is possible. It is necessary to stop now until an escalation begins," the Belarusian leader stressed.

LONDON, March 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Heathrow airport has said that some passengers may face longer queues to get through security during the Easter holiday period after it was unable to strike a deal with security worker unions over pay.

More than 1,400 security officers in the Unite union, who work for Heathrow Airport, are going ahead with a ten-day strike beginning on Friday. Eleventh-hour talks on Thursday broke down without a resolution. It threatens disruption at the UK’s largest airport at the start of the Easter school holidays.

COPENHAGEN, March 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pirates who seized a Danish oil tanker off Congo last week have abandoned the ship and taken some crew members with them, while the rest were found in good health, the ship’s owner said Friday.

The Monjasa Reformer, which had 16 crew on board when it was boarded by pirates on March 25, was found on Thursday by the French navy off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe in the Gulf of Guinea.

March 31 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that a ceasefire in Ukraine would not enable it to achieve the goals of its "special military operation" at the moment.

The Kremlin was reacting after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko - Russia's closest ally - called for an immediate ceasefire, without preconditions, and for both Moscow and Kyiv to start negotiations on a lasting peace settlement.

PARIS, March 31 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron will head to China next week for a rare visit to the rising superpower, in an awkward balancing act between his global statesman ambitions and his struggle to contain embarrassing pension protests at home.

The French leader, whose decision to ram much-disputed pension legislation through parliament earlier this month sparked clashes and violence in French cities, is trying to keep his busy diplomatic schedule on track.

BRUSSELS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The share of renewable energy in the European Union's (EU) overall energy consumption should be raised from 32 percent to 42.5 percent by 2030, according to a provisional deal reached here on Thursday by the negotiators of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament.

The agreement, which will still have to be endorsed by both EU institutions, also foresees an additional 2.5 percent indicative top up that would allow the share of renewables to reach 45 percent.

GENEVA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials from across the globe have expressed concern over human rights issues at the ongoing 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The officials voiced their opposition to the "politicization, weaponization and instrumentalization of human rights issues."

The right to survival and the right to development are basic human rights, they emphasized, calling for international dialogue and cooperation on these issues to be reinforced.

COUNTRIES SHOULD CHOOSE THEIR OWN PATH

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — The cratered roads have been repaved and the damaged houses are gradually being repaired. But the scenes that emerged from this town near Kyiv a year ago, after it was retaken from Russian forces, have indelibly linked its name to the savagery of war.

On the northwestern fringes of the Ukrainian capital, Bucha had been occupied by Russian troops for about a month, taken as they swept toward Kyiv at the start of the invasion of Ukraine that began in late February 2022. When they withdrew, they left behind scenes of horror.