Europe

PARIS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged countries around the world to make concerted efforts in four aspects and jointly shape the future of mankind in the face of severe global challenges.

Xi made the remarks at the closing ceremony of a global governance forum co-hosted by China and France in Paris. Besides Xi and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, the event was also attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

26 Mar 2019; DW: Prosecutors have launched an investigation into a submarine deal between German firm ThyssenKrupp and the Israeli military. Persistent bribery accusations linked to the sale have dogged Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

27 Mar 2019; DW: The leader of a North Korean dissident group raided the North Korean Embassy in Madrid last month and offered stolen materials to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a Spanish court has said.

Mexican citizen Adrian Hong Chang contacted "the FBI in New York five days after the assault to facilitate information related to the incident in the embassy," Spain's National Court said Tuesday.

27 Mar 2019; DW: The alleged shooter in Christchurch donated money to the far-right Identitarian movement in early 2018. The movement, which repeated messages in the killer's so-called manifesto, has denied any link.

An Austrian far-right political group denied links to the alleged Christchurch terrorist after it emerged he donated money to the group.

27 Mar 2019; DW: The European Union's mission "Sophia" to curtail migrant smugglers in the Mediterranean will no longer deploy naval ships, in a decision aimed at resolving a dispute with Italy over where rescued asylum-seekers disembark.

Negotiations in Brussels on Tuesday resulted in the operation being granted another six-month mission without the two remaining navy ships in service but with strengthened air surveillance instead, according to news agencies citing unnamed EU sources.

26 Mar 2019; DW: The European Parliament on Tuesday voted with a large majority to end daylight savings time in the EU by 2021. 

Under the proposals, each member state would decide whether to continue with twice-a-year clock changes or stick permanently to summer or winter time.

Clock ticking

26 Mar 2019; DW: The military presence "is regulated by an agreement" between Moscow and Caracas, said the foreign ministry. Opposition leader Juan Guaido has rejected the deployment, saying it violates the constitution.

Russia on Tuesday defended its decision to deploy military personnel to Venezuela last week in a move that drew criticism from the US-backed opposition.

MOSCOW, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Russian astronauts will carry out an experiment on controlling a propeller-driven drone on board the International Space Station (ISS), local media reported Wednesday.

"The experiment was introduced into the program. During experiments with the propeller-driven drone, it is first planned to work out the design of its body and propulsion system," Sputnik news agency quoted Alexander Bloshenko, advisor to the head of the Roscosmos state corporation, as saying.

PARIS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- French European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau on Tuesday announced she quit office to head President Emmanuel Macron's party list for the European elections in May.

"I send my resignation to the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic... It will take effect after the cabinet meeting tomorrow when I will take part for the last time," Loiseau said while she started the European campaign.

"A number of populist forces are going up in Europe and we are going to fight them," she warned.

PARIS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China and France have pledged to jointly safeguard multilateralism and improve global governance, according to a joint statement issued Tuesday during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the European country.

The two countries believe that in the current situation, upholding multilateralism is the best way to advance international cooperation in tackling growing common risks and challenges as well as in safeguarding world peace and prosperity, the joint statement said.