JERUSALEM/GAZA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Israeli fighter jets struck on Tuesday night a Hamas military compound in Gaza after "explosive balloons" from the Palestinian enclave reached southern Israel, the Israeli army said.

Israel Defense Forces fighter jets and aircraft struck a number of targets in a "Hamas military compound in the northern Gaza Strip," a military spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson said that the strike was carried out in response to balloons carrying explosive material launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory earlier on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Back in January, the Democrats welcomed their brash young newcomers to Congress with smiles and hugs. That was before the new colleagues dragged the party’s simmering divisions over Israel out in the open.

05 Mar 2019; DW: German political leaders have reacted positively to a raft of suggestions by French President Emmanuel Macron for strengthening the European Union.

In an official statement by Angela Merkel's government to Reuters news agency, a spokesperson said: "It's important ahead of the European election (in May) for pro-European forces to present their ideas. The German government supports the lively discussion about the orientation of the European Union."

06 Mar 2019; DW: North Korea has started restoring part of a long-range rocket launch site it dismantled last year, according to a report published on Wednesday by Washington-based think tank 38 North.

Satellite evidence suggests that work had begun at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the run-up to a summit in Vietnam between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, 38 North said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former lawyer is returning to Capitol Hill for a fourth day of testimony as Democrats pursue a flurry of investigations into Trump’s White House, businesses and presidential campaign.

Michael Cohen became a key figure in those investigations after turning on his former boss and cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. He was interviewed behind closed doors by both the Senate and House intelligence committees last week and is due for another private, daylong meeting with the House intelligence panel on Wednesday.

06 Mar 2019; DW: EU lawmaker Manfred Weber pledged to "try one last time" to keep Hungary's Fidesz party in the European People's Party (EPP), the association of center-right parties in the European Parliament, as it prepares to debate Fidesz's exclusion.

The EPP, which also includes Germany's Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union, has more lawmakers than any other group in the Brussels assembly. German-born Weber leads the conservative faction.

06 Mar 2019; DW: Two manufacturers of seatbelts, airbags and steering wheels were fined €368 million ($416 million) by the European Commission on Tuesday, in the latest antitrust case against car-part suppliers.

The US, Michigan-headquartered TRW Automotive will pay €189 million, while Autoliv, based in Stockholm, Sweden, has been fined €179 million penalty.

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The top U.S. military commander for Europe said here on Tuesday that the United States should not sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey if Ankara buys Russian air defense system.

Testifying in a hearing of Senate Committee on Armed Services, General Curtis Scaparrotti, head of U.S. European Command, suggested that the United States should cut the sale of F-35 fighters to Turkey if the latter adopts Russian-made S-400 air defense system.

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Automobile Workers (UAW) called for more effort to fix a trade deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico, after its officials met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer near Detroit on Tuesday.

Gary Jones, president of the UAW, which represents U.S. and Canadian auto workers, issued a statement following the meeting in Dearborn, in the state of Michigan, expressing the group's dissatisfaction with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

05 Mar 2019; DW: Time is up for European Union-mandated daylight savings time. The European Commission and European Parliament have agreed on that. All the relevant committees in Parliament are for the change, according to Germany's conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) MEP Peter Liese, who has devoted a lot of time to the issue.

GENEVA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet announced Tuesday, "with deep regret," that the UN Human Rights Office in Burundi has closed at the insistence of the Central African nation's government.

UN rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani at a media briefing here quoted Bachelet as saying, "It is with deep regret that we have had to close our office in Burundi after a 23-year presence in the country" from Feb. 28.

DAKAR, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Constitutional Council of Senegal announced on Tuesday the official final results of the presidential election held on Feb. 24, proclaiming Macky Sall re-elected president of Senegal.

According to the results verified by the Constitutional Council, Macky Sall obtained 2,555,426 votes, or 58.26 percent of the valid votes. Idrissa Seck came second with 899,556 votes, or 20.51 percent.