26 March 2024; MEMO: A UK High Court ruling on Tuesday granted WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, the right to appeal his extradition to the US and set a new hearing date for the case in May before adjourning it, Anadolu Agency reports.

In a partial victory for Assange, the UK High Court has decided against his immediate extradition to the US, where he is wanted on espionage charges.

27 March 2024; MEMO: Israel’s President Isaac Herzog defied the UN and called on Tuesday for the offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to continue until the Hamas leader in the territory, Yahya Sinwar, is captured “dead or alive” and the Israeli hostages are freed.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Massive barges carrying cranes streamed toward Baltimore on Thursday to begin the challenging work of removing twisted metal and concrete in an attempt to open a key shipping route blocked by the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore promised that “the best minds in the world” were working on plans to clear the debris, move the cargo ship that rammed into the bridge from the channel, recover the bodies of the four remaining workers presumed dead, and investigate what went wrong.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin scoffed at the possibility of his country launching an attack on a NATO member, calling it “sheer nonsense,” but warned that any Western air base hosting U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets that are slated for deployment in Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for the Kremlin’s forces.

“Their statements about our alleged intention to attack Europe after Ukraine is sheer nonsense,” Putin said late Wednesday, referring to warnings in the U.S. and Western Europe that Russia could turn its sights on other countries unless it’s stopped.

28 March 2024; MEMO: The Islamic Group in Lebanon has denounced the Israeli air strike on an ambulance station in southern Lebanon in which seven paramedics were killed and wounded others including civilians, Quds Press reported.

28 March 2024; MEMO: The Israeli Prime Minister faces a challenge within his coalition government as tensions escalate over proposed legislation exempting the ultra-Orthodox, known in Hebrew as Haredim, from military service, threatening the coalition’s rule collapse, Anadolu Agency reports.

27 March 2024; MEMO: Palestinians are describing a temporary pier being constructed by the US on the shores of Gaza City as an “occupation port”, Anadolu Agency reports.

US President Joe Biden, on 7 March, announced that he had tasked the US military with building a temporary pier off Gaza for the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid, as Israel continues to let only a trickle of aid into the enclave by land.

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural Bank of China, one of the country's four big state-owned lenders, reported net profit growth of 4.2 percent in 2023.

The bank raked in 269.8 billion yuan (about 38 billion U.S. dollars) in net profit attributable to shareholders in the period, according to its annual financial report.

Its non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.33 percent at the end of 2023, down 0.04 percentage points from the end of 2022.

According to the bank, its risk offset capability remains strong, with a provision coverage rate of 303.87 percent.

Islamabad, Mar 28 (PTI) Pakistan on Thursday clarified that it has no plan to resume trade relations with India which has been "non-existent" since 2019 after the Indian government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The clarification from Pakistan's Foreign Office comes days after the new Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in London that Pakistan will seriously consider restoring trade ties with India that have remained suspended since August 2019.

27 March 2024; MEMO: Hamas vowed, Wednesday, that it will not release any Israeli hostage in its captivity until its demands are fulfilled, Anadolu Agency reports.

Hamas demands an end to Israel’s deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Territory for any hostage-prisoner swap deal with Tel Aviv.

27 March 2024; MEMO: Indonesia’s military has introduced tanks into its military that it jointly developed with Turkiye, in the latest advancement of defence cooperation and production between the two countries.

Colombo, Mar 28 (PTI) A firebrand Sri Lankan Buddhist majority hardliner monk was on Thursday sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment for his Islamophobic comments made in 2016.

Galagodatte Gnanasara, 49, was additionally fined Rupees 1,00,000 by the High Court here.

The monk, who was running an anti-Muslim minority campaign since 2012, was charged for comments made at a press conference held in March 2016.