HOUSTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. natural gas consumption increased by 10 percent in 2018, reaching a record high of 82.1 billion cubic feet (about 2.32 billion cubic meters) per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Monday.

New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday favoured increasing the random physical verification of VVPAT slips in the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls and told the EC that "no institution should insulate itself from improvement, including the judiciary".

It was not the question of "casting aspersions", rather a matter of "satisfaction" of the electorate, the top court said.

It asked the EC to file response as to whether it can increase the number of sample surveys of VVPAT slips from one in each assembly segment for the upcoming general and assembly elections.

Islamabad, Mar 25 (PTI) Pakistan on Monday received USD 2.1 billion from its all-weather ally China to help it in making international payments mainly on import and debt repayment counters.

Finance Ministry Spokesperson Khaqan Hassan Najeeb said the funds deposited in the State Bank of Pakistan would strengthen the stability of the country.

"Deposit of RMB 15Bn equivalent to USD 2.1Bn received in State Bank of Pakistan account on March 25th 2019 from China," Najeeb tweeted.

New Delhi, Mar 25 : In a big poll promise that he described as a "groundbreaking" measure to end poverty, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Monday said 20 per cent families in poorest of the poor category will be given Rs 72,000 each annually as a minimum income.

Making the announcement at a press conference here, Gandhi said, "The time for change has come". Five crore families and 25 crore people will directly benefit from the scheme, he claimed, terming it is a "final assault" to eradicate poverty in the country.

26 Mar 2019; DW: Spanish King Felipe VI and Pope Francis should apologize for the 16th-century conquest of Mexico, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday.

The populist leftist Mexican president has sought to cast himself as a champion of Mexico's indigenous peoples and until now, he had cultivated cordial relations with both Spain and the Vatican.

Obrador seeks 'historic reconciliation'

PARIS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- "It is a pleasure to have friends coming from afar," the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius said in The Analects of Confucius, a collection of his ideas and sayings.

This Chinese classic has now been given to a friend from afar as a national gift of France. That friend is Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on a state visit to the European country.

Customs officials in China have destroyed 30,000 copies of world maps printed in the country for not showing Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory. The maps were meant for export to an unspecified country, state-run Global Times reported on Tuesday.

China claims the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, and objects Indian leaders visiting that area to highlight its stand.

KIEV, March 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people died and more than 32,000 were infected in a major measles outbreak in Ukraine in the past three months, the country's Health Ministry said on Monday.

A total of 32,939 people, including 18,109 children, were infected from December 28, 2018 to March 12, 2019 by measles in Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Russian and Chinese scientists will organize joint studies of the Arctic and Antarctic, they will explore mineral and biology resources in the global ocean, the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Vice President Andrey Adrianov told TASS after the first meeting between representatives of the Russian and Chinese Academies of Sciences in Beijing on Sunday.

SEOUL, March 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Tuesday condemned Japan's primary school textbooks unjustly claiming sovereignty over the disputed islets, called Dokdo here and Takeshima in Japan.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that South Korea strongly denounced Japan's authorization of primary school textbooks laying an unjust territorial claim over the Dokdo islets, which are South Korea's territory historically, geographically and according to international law.

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Damascus believes that US President Donald Trump’s move to sign a proclamation recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights is a blatant attack on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported, citing a source in the country’s Foreign Ministry.

"The US President has recognized the Zionist occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights, attacking Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," the source said.

Jaipur, Mar 26 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday promised a "surgical strike" on poverty and said his party had been working on how to eradicate it for the last six months.

Addressing a rally in Suratgarh a day after declaring his party would roll out a minimum income guarantee scheme for the poorest 20 per cent households if voted to power, Gandhi said only the rich could dream under the Narendra Modi rule.