RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Pope Francis praised Morocco as a model of religious moderation and migrant welcome as he kicked off a trip to the kingdom Saturday, warning that border walls and fear-mongering won’t stop people from exercising their rights to seek a better life elsewhere.

King Mohamed VI welcomed Francis as he arrived during an unusual rainstorm and began a visit aimed at boosting Christian-Muslim ties and showing solidarity with Morocco’s growing migrant community.

BEIRUT, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Khaled Hanafy, secretary general of the Union of Arab Chambers, said Saturday that China's trade with the Arab world will exceed 300 billion U.S. dollars before 2025.

"China is the world's second biggest economy after the United States and it is considered a good partner by Arab countries who wish to diversify export sources and attract Asian investments," Hanafy said during the China Lebanon Investment Forum.

He added that Chinese products are also popular in the Arab world, including Morocco and Tunisia.

MOSCOW, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday warned the United States against further interfering in Venezuela's domestic affairs and stirring up speculations about Russia conducting military operations in the South American country.

"We recommend that the United States stop threatening Venezuela, strangling its economy and pushing it towards civil war, which is in open violation of international law," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

GAZA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- At least four Palestinians were killed and 316 injured on Saturday during day-long clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.

Gaza's health ministry said in a statement that Bilal al-Najjar, 17, was critically wounded earlier on Saturday and succumbed to his sustained wounds later at night.

Al-Najjar joined the protests and rallies in the east of Kahn Younis town, close to the border with Israel in southern Gaza Strip.

30 Mar 2019; DW: Liberal lawyer Zuzana Caputova won Slovakia's second-round presidential run-off Saturday, after the ruling party-backed candidate Maros Sefcovic conceded defeat.

Victory for the anti-corruption activist breaks a trend of populist, euroskeptic politicians gaining traction across the European Union.

Election results

PARIS, March 30. /TASS/. The twentieth wave of Yellow Vest manifestations in France this Saturday has gathered 33,700 people, a report by the French Interior Ministry informs.

The report claims that out of this figure, around 4,000 people protested on the streets of Paris. Last Saturday, nearly 40,500 people took part in the protest, out of them 5,000 protested in Paris, the ministry added.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Using an airborne telescope on a jetliner, astronomers captured a cosmic light show sparked by the forming stars almost 17,000 light years away.

Learning how massive stars form in our Milky Way Galaxy helps scientists understand how these stars form in distant galaxies that are too far away to see in detail.

31 Mar 2019; DW: Ukrainians were at the polls in presidential elections on Sunday, choosing from among 39 candidates, including a comedian, a chocolate manufacturer and a former prime minister.

If no candidate gets an absolute majority of votes on Sunday — something that seems likely given the results of pre-election surveys — a runoff between the top two will be held on April 21.

The frontrunners

TOKYO (AP) — North Korea said Sunday it wants an investigation into a raid on its embassy in Spain last month, calling it a “grave terrorist attack” and an act of extortion that violates international law.

The incident occurred ahead of President Donald Trump’s second summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. A mysterious group calling for the overthrow of the North Korean regime has claimed responsibility.

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal may not be dead after all — even though lawmakers voted to reject it for a third time Friday — the day Britain had long been scheduled to leave the European Union.

The U.K. now faces a deadline of April 12 to present the EU with a new plan, or crash out of the bloc without an agreement.

But May’s government is considering a fourth vote on her deal, bolstered by their success in narrowing margin of defeat to 58 votes on Friday from 230 votes in January...

31 Mar 2019; AP: President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he reversed bans on offshore drilling in vast parts of the Arctic Ocean and dozens of canyons in the Atlantic Ocean, a U.S. judge said in a ruling that restored the Obama-era restrictions.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in a decision late Friday threw out Trump’s executive order that overturned the bans that comprised a key part of Obama’s environmental legacy.

SHANGHAI, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A 5G network in Shanghai's Hongkou District, backed by Chinese telecom giant China Mobile, started trial runs on Saturday.

Wu Qing, Shanghai's vice mayor, made the network's first video call using a Huawei Mate X, a foldable 5G smartphone, at the launch ceremony.

A total of 228 5G base stations have been deployed in Hongkou, making it the first district in Shanghai fully covered by a 5G network and a gigabit broadband network.