UNITED NATIONS, March 22 (Xinhua) -- A Syrian envoy said Friday that the Syrian Golan will always remain an Arab Syrian territory, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise tweet that the United States would recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

23 Mar 2019; DW: A petition asking the British government to reverse its course on Brexit has received more than 4 million signatures in only three days.

The official parliamentary petition launched on Wednesday is calling for the government to revoke Article 50, the mechanism that governs Britain's departure from the European Union.

BEIRUT, March 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the U.S. will continue to use all peaceful means to deter Hezbollah and Iran's influence in the region, local TV Channel OTV reported.

"Hezbollah is stockpiling its rockets in Lebanon to use them against Israel. It is working under the authority of Iran, while Iran believes that Lebanon's stability threatens its dominance in the region," Pompeo said during a joint press conference with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

Chimanimani, Mar 21; AP: A week after Cyclone Idai lashed southern Africa, flooding still raged Thursday as torrential rains caused a dam to overflow in Zimbabwe, threatening riverside populations. The confirmed death toll in Zimbabwe, neighboring Mozambique and Malawi surpassed 500, with hundreds more feared dead in towns and villages that were completely submerged.

Aid agencies and several governments continued to step up their deployments, with helicopters in short supply for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the cyclone.

Members of a Muslim family in Gurgaon’s Dhamaspur village and guests were beaten with sticks and rods, allegedly by 20-25 men, who barged into their home and attacked them on Holi evening.

Incident happened after some of the accused approached the boys from the family, who were playing cricket outside. They harassed the boys  and told them to “go to Pakistan and play” there.

New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) The Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) was banned on Friday for "promoting" secession of the militancy-hit state from the Union of India, officials said here.

Banning the outfit under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after a high-level meeting on security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said the Centre is of the opinion that the JKLF is "in close touch with militant outfits" and is supporting extremism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere.

New Delhi, March 22; PTI/GANASHAKTI: In a press conference conducted by Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Friday, the party accused several BJP leaders of receiving bribes.

Referring to a story by The Caravan magazine, the Congress leader said that former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa bribed top leadership of the government in 2009.

Srinagar, 23 Mar 2019; A Kashmiri separatist by Indian security forces on Friday in an alleged in Shopian district of the Indian controlled Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

According to a PTI report; the Indian security forces have alleged that a cordon and search operation in Imamsahib area of Shopian in south Kashmir following information about presence of Kashmiri separatist there, an Indian army official said.

XIANGSHUI, Jiangsu, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from an explosion in a chemical plant in east China's Jiangsu Province has risen to 64 as of 7 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.

One person was rescued alive on Saturday morning thanks to an around-the-clock search, about one and a half days after the devastating blast. But 28 people are still unaccounted for, Cao Lubao, mayor of the city of Yancheng, said at a press conference.

Among the dead, 26 people have been identified, and their next of kin have been notified and offered with comfort and assistance, Cao said.

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Jimmy Carter on Friday passed George H. W. Bush to become the longest-living U.S. president at an age of 94 years and 172 days.

Bush, the 41st U.S. president, died Nov. 30, 2018, 171 days after he reached the age of 94.

Carter, born Oct. 1, 1924, served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 after being the 76th governor of the southern state of Georgia for several years.

HANOI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will be one of the first countries in the world to roll out 5G, the latest generation of mobile communications, its minister of information and communications said here on Friday.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung made the remarks at the ASEAN Conference on 5G in Hanoi, regarding the role of 5G as a pillar of digital economy due to its greater bandwidth, higher speeds and lower latency, Vietnam News Agency reported.

23 Mar 2019; DW: Seven right-wing presidents of South American nations gathered in Chile's capital Santiago on Friday to announce a new political association dubbed Forum for the Progress of South America, or Prosur.

The bloc would function "without ideology and bureaucracy, but with a total commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights," Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said.