CARACAS, March 24. /TASS/. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said the country’s security forces have foiled a plan to assassinate him masterminded personally by the opposition’s leader Juan Guaido.

"The North American imperialism wants to kill me. We have just exposed a plan to kill me, which was personally led by the devil’s puppet [Guaido]," Maduro said, noting that the prosecutors had made serious progress in investigating this case and would soon start arresting "new terrorists."

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Russia’s Aerospace Force has twice scrambled the on-duty Su-27 fighter jets over the past 24 hours to intercept US Air Force (USAF) B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers operating in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, Russia’s National Defense Control Center said on Saturday.

"Two US aircraft had been detected by the Russian airspace monitoring system at a considerable distance from the state border of the Russian Federation and then were taken to escort," the statement says.

24 Mar 2019; DW: Isabelle Darras donned her yellow security jacket once again on Saturday, joining friends to march across the French capital on a sunny afternoon. 

"People give the yellow vests a very negative image," said Darras, a music professor, as she scanned the crowd slowly moving down the Boulevard Saint Michel, in Paris' Latin Quarter. "But look at this — it's peaceful."

Washington, March 23; AFP/GANASHAKTI: The United States on Friday slapped sanctions on a key Venezuelan bank, BANDES and four affiliates over their support for President Nicolas Maduro.

The US move came just hours after Maduro's regime defied the United States and arrested a top aide of opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington recognizes as the crisis-hit country's interim leader.

CARACAS, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Saturday the arrest of a "powerful Colombian paramilitary leader" in the Venezuelan state of Carabobo.

Maduro did not reveal the name of the person arrested, simply referring to him as the "head of the Rastrojos," a criminal group in neighboring Colombia.

However, he did say the Colombian was "providing testimony and proof of who hired him and who brought him to Venezuela."

Moscow, Mar 23; AFP/GANASHAKTI:  Several thousand supporters of Russia's Communist Party rallied in Moscow against government policies, with some attacking President Vladimir Putin who they said was personally responsible for entrenched corruption and rising prices.

The Communists had called on Russians to take to the streets across the country to protest the latest raft of repressive laws and falling living standards.

The Moscow rally featured both young and elderly protesters and was led by veteran Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, 74.

BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A signed article by Chinese President Xi Jinping titled "Move Together Toward Common Development" was published Saturday in leading French newspaper Le Figaro ahead of his state visit to the European country.

An English version of the full text of the article is as follows:

Move Together Toward Common Development

Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

Invited by President Emmanuel Macron, I will soon pay my second state visit to France.

Worries about economic growth prospects hit global stock markets on Friday, causing sharp price drops on both sides of the Atlantic.

In bloodletting on Wall Street, US stocks suffered their worst day since early January.

The closely watched "yield curve" flashed a warning sign that a recession could be looming while monthly US, French and German manufacturing indices all fell -- rattling investors who were already uneasy after this week's surprisingly weak outlook from the Federal Reserve.

Gurgaon, 23 Mar 2019; Two days after a group of Hindutva activists terrorised a Muslim family, vandalised their house, beaten the family members and their guests, and stole jewellery and cash, community members assembled outside the house of Shamshad, the victim.

Tension has prevailed in the area since the horrific attack even as police arrested six accused.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Some civil society groups launched a campaign in several states on Saturday to ensure issues such as unemployment, agrarian crisis and sluggish economy are discussed in the run-up to the parliamentary election.

The campaign, titled 'Desh Mera, Vote Mera, Mudda Mera' (my country, my vote and my issues), was launched on the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh.

New Delhi, Mar 23; PTI/GANASHAKTI: President Ram Nath Kovind Saturday  administered the oath of office to Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose as the country's first Lokpal.

The oath was administered at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a communique issued by the President's office said.

Justice Ghose, a former Supreme Court judge, was Tuesday named the country's first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman.

23 Mar 2019; DW: Pakistan's military paraded missiles, tanks and aircraft on Saturday in an apparent show of strength towards neighboring India following last month's deadly attack in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Troops marched through the streets of the capital, Islamabad, while warplanes staged acrobatic flyovers, to mark the country's Republic Day.