DOHA, March 4. /TASS/. The statement made by US National Security Advisor John Bolton that Russia is allegedly not supplying drugs to Venezuela is wrong, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a joint news conference with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

04 Mar 2019; AFP: The United States and China are close to reaching a major trade deal that would see both sides lower some of the tariffs imposed during an often-bitter trade war, a report said Sunday.

Negotiators for the two sides have made substantial progress and a final accord is close to being hammered out, according to the Wall Street Journal, which quoted anonymous sources on both sides.

04 Mar 2019; DW: A spacecraft built by Elon Musk's spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, in the second stage of a critical test of the private company's technology.

The capsule, named Dragon, gradually climbed toward the ISS, which is orbiting the Earth at a distance of around 400 kilometers (248 miles) and a speed of 28,000 kilometers per hour.

04 Mar 2019; DW: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said individuals calling for his party to be expelled from the center-right group in the European Parliament were "useful idiots" for the left.

The populist leader and his Fidesz Party have come under fire for a poster campaign that accuses European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Junker of working with Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros to promote illegal migration into Hungary.

THE HAGUE; 03 Mar 2019; AA: A mosque in the Netherlands was attacked by members of the Islamophobic German group Pegida, who defaced the building with racist banners, according to a mosque official on Sunday. 

At the entrance of the As Soennah mosque, frequented by Moroccan worshippers, the attackers hung banners and figurines including insults to the Prophet Muhammad.

TUNIS, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The 36th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council kicked off on Sunday in Tunis to discuss the common interests in strengthening Arab security cooperation.

"The Arab region is facing serious security challenges, especially terrorism crimes, cybercrimes, illegal immigration and human trafficking," said Tunisian Interior Minister Hichem Fourati at the opening.

These crimes threaten Arab security, and further work is needed to develop means of fighting them, Fourati added.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The family of a dual Saudi-U.S. citizen imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for more than a year are claiming that he has been subjected to routine torture and is on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

After months of quietly trying to secure his release, the family of Dr. Walid Fitaihi is now seeking to publicly pressure both the Saudi government and the Trump administration on the issue.

Jakarta, Mar 4 (AFP) Indonesia and Australia on Monday signed a long-awaited trade deal after months of diplomatic tension over Canberra's contentious plan to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

Indonesian trade minister Enggartiasto Lukita and his Australian counterpart Simon Birmingham wrapped up the multi-billion-dollar agreement in Jakarta, some nine years after negotiations first started.

03 Mar 2019; DW: Estonia's opposition Reform Party won the country's parliamentary election on Sunday, pulling off a surprising upset over center-left Prime Minister Juri Ratas's Center Party.

The economically liberal Reform Party secured 28.8 percent of the vote, according to final results posted online by the State Electoral Office.

MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. The US-led coalition once again carried out airstrikes on the inhabited community of al-Baghouz in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province on Sunday using white phosphorus munitions, the SANA news agency reported.

According to the Syrian news agency, civilian casualties are reported.

A resolution was submitted in Pakistan Parliament to endorse Imran Khan for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for de-escalating tensions with India. Responding to the submission, PM Khan said in his tweet that the person worthy of the award would be “the one who solves the Kashmir dispute”.

Congress leaders Navjot Singh Sidhu and Kapil Sibal on Monday joined the growing chorus of Opposition leaders expressing skepticism over the impact of the February 26 IAF airstrikes in Pakistan’s Balakot.

Sibal wants PM Modi to respond to international reports claiming there were hardly any casualties in the IAF’s Balakot airstrike, while Sidhu asked the Centre to come clear if indeed 300 terrorists were killed.