14 Jan 2019; AFP: US President Donald Trump declared Monday that he has "never" worked on behalf of Russia after bombshell reports were published on his alleged ties to the Kremlin.

"I never worked for Russia and you know that answer better than anybody," Trump told reporters at the White House. "It's a disgrace that you even ask that question. It's all a big fat hoax."

BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday expressed stern opposition to participation by the United States and other countries in Taiwan's submarine production project.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks when responding to media reports saying the United States has permitted some of its military enterprises to export technology to help Taiwan build submarines.

Enterprises from the United States, Europe, Japan and India have reportedly demonstrated their interest to take part in the project.

15 Jan 2019; AFP: Hong Kong scientists claim they have made a potential breakthrough discovery in the fight against infectious diseases -- a chemical that could slow the spread of deadly viral illnesses.

A team from the University of Hong Kong described the newly discovered chemical as "highly potent in interrupting the life cycle of diverse viruses" in a study published this month in the journal Nature Communications.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. Washington cannot force Moscow to change its policy and Russia does not have tools either to influence the US political course, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty weekly newspaper published on Tuesday.

"Despite the fact that the United States is the world’s largest economy, it does not have tools that could force Russia to abandon its sovereign policy," Peskov said commenting on Washington’s sanctions.

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described as unacceptable the actions of US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell who earlier sent letters to German companies warning them of possible US sanctions over their participation in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

"Of course, this is unacceptable. This is not part of the ambassador's responsibilities, to say the least. In fact, it contradicts them," Zakharova told Rossiya-1 TV channel.

SANAA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile toward a Saudi Arabian military base in the kingdom's southern border region of Najran on Monday, the Shiite rebels said in a statement.

"The Badr-1-P ballistic missile targeted a gathering of Saudi troops in the military base in Bir Askar area," according to the statement released by the rebel-controlled Saba news agency.

The statement said the missiles hit the target accurately. There was no comment yet from Saudi government.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- American and Dutch scientists found that yearly ice mass loss in Antarctica increased sixfold in the past 40 years.

The study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed the accelerated melting elevated global sea levels more than 1.2 centimeters during 1979 to 2017.

It is the longest-ever assessment of Antarctic ice mass, covering 176 basins and surrounding islands.

The researchers compared snowfall accumulation in interior basins with ice discharge by glaciers at their grounding lines.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is in New York on Monday for a takeover of the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G77) developing countries.

Abbas is expected to attend a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday for the handover of the G77 chairmanship from Egypt to Palestine for the year 2019.

15 Jan 2019; AFP: A small green shoot is growing on the moon in an out-of-this-world first after a cotton seed germinated on board a Chinese lunar lander, scientists said Tuesday.

The sprout has emerged from a lattice-like structure inside a canister since the Chang'e-4 lander set down earlier this month, according to a series of photos released by the Advanced Technology Research Institute at Chongqing University.

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine in detail "on the earliest possible date" a plea seeking a court-monitored CBI or SIT probe into incidents of alleged police encounters and killings in Uttar Pradesh.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi perused the materials on record and said the issues raised in the petition of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) required "serious consideration" and fixed the hearing on February 12.

15 Jan 2019; DW: President Ali Bongo has returned to Gabon after receiving treatment for a stroke he had in October. His reappearance came a week after a coup attempt was thwarted and days after he appointed a new government.

Gabon's ailing President Ali Bongo arrived back in Gabon after spending three months receiving medical treatment abroad, according to sources quoted by news agencies Reuters and Agence France Presse (AFP).

Bulandshahr (UP), Jan 14 (PTI) The Bulandshahr district administration on Monday invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against seven people arrested in connection with the alleged cow slaughtering incident in Siyana tehsil last month, officials said.

Cattle carcasses were found strewn in the fields outside village Mahaw in Siyana on December 3 after which a mob went on the rampage, attacking the local Chingrawathi police post.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, 44, and civilian Sumit Kumar, 20, of Chingrawathi village were killed of gunshot injuries in the ensuing violence.