DUBLIN, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Ireland has become a globally recognized centre for specialist international financial services (IFS) with over 200 foreign-owned IFS companies having established their presence in the country, said an Irish minister here on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The top United Nations political official told the Security Council on Wednesday that the Secretary-General had concerns about the situation in Idlib in recent weeks amid escalating violence.

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The Kremlin is not commenting on the issue of anti-satellite weapon tests held by India and on whether Russia possesses such weapons, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

Responding to a question about whether Russia has tested anti-satellite weapons as the US intelligence reported earlier, the Kremlin spokesman said as follows: "You should address this question to US intelligence, the Americans should explain what they mean."

Three Kashmiri separatists were killed by India security forces in an alleged encounter in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Thursday.

India security forces allege to have launched an anti-separatists operation in Yawran forests in the district following information about their presence, a J&K police spokesperson said.

The slain separatists have been identified as “Sajad Khanday, Aqib Ahmad Dar and Basharat Ahmad Mir, all residents of Pulwama," the spokesperson said.

28 Mar 2019; AFP: Australian police on Wednesday said they had apprehended a British suspected drug offender, who tried to flee to Papua New Guinea on a jet ski.

Border police said they received a tip-off that "a man, possibly armed with a crossbow and carrying additional fuel and supplies, had been seen launching the jet ski" from a peninsula in the far northeast of the country.

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Syria has requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting after the United States recognized Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights, AFP said on Wednesday citing diplomatic sources.

France, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, will appoint the date of the meeting soon.

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The Basmanny Court of Moscow took into custody ex-minister of open government affairs Mikhail Abyzov with charges of criminal community creation and theft of 4 bln rubles ($62 mln), TASS reports from the court room.

"The request of the investigation on selection of custodial restraint as the restrictive measure for Abyzov is satisfied," Judge Natalia Dudar said in the ruling.

According to the court decision, Abyzov will be under arrest until May 25. Attorneys will appeal against the court decision.

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Russian Space Systems (RSS) has developed a space system capable of taking hold of decommissioned satellites in the Earth’s orbit to grind and process them into fuel, Project Developer and RSS Research Engineer Marina Barkova told TASS on Wednesday.

The space debris disposal system will be able to capture "decommissioned small satellites in low orbits (from 500 to 700 km)," the engineer said.

28 Mar 2019; DW: A US jury has awarded $80 million (€71 million) in damages to a California man who blamed Roundup weed killer for causing his cancer.

The ruling is a blow to German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer, whose subsidiary Monsanto makes the herbicide. The trial could pave the way for more cases linking Roundup's main ingredient, glyphosate, to cancer.

Safe, or 'probable human carcinogen'?

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The annual Russian-Chinese Maritime Cooperation-2019 naval exercise will be held in late April and early May, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The Russian Navy will get over 180 warships and vessels of new Projects under the state armament plan for 2018-2027, Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting with defense chiefs on Wednesday.

"We will begin today’s meeting with the discussion of the draft program on the development of the moorage space of the Navy’s bases through 2030. In accordance with the 2018-2027 state armament program, the Navy is to get over 180 ships and vessels of new Projects," the defense minister said.

BISHKEK, March 27. /TASS/. Russia and Kyrgyzstan have signed an agreement on cooperation in the area of hydropower industry worth $1.5 bln, a source in the Kyrgyz Economy Ministry’s press service told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Investment Promotion and Protection Agency and Russia’s Ruselprom have signed a memorandum on cooperation worth $1.5 bln," the source said.