Europe

LONDON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Proposals to force British Prime Minister Theresa May to delay the date of Brexit -- again -- on Monday were approved by both the House of Lords and House of Commons.

With just days to go before the Brexit deadline, April 12, the prime minister will now have to ask the European Union (EU) to extend Article 50 in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

The cross-party proposal was raced through the House of Commons in a single day last week and completed its journey through the House of Lords on Monday night.

MOSCOW, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Turkey will enhance investment cooperation and start more joint projects in various fields, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

"Much is being done to deepen the economic ties between Moscow and Ankara... Further activation of investment cooperation will be promoted by the launch of new joint projects in various sectors of the economy - industry, metallurgy, agriculture and the high-tech sector," Putin said following talks with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

BRUSSELS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here Monday for the 21st China-European Union (EU) leaders' meeting.

China and Europe are two major forces and markets in the international arena, and are important cooperation partners to each other, Li said upon his arrival.

Li said he looks forward to having an in-depth exchange of views with the European side on bilateral ties and other issues of common concern on the basis of mutual respect, consultation, coordination and win-win outcomes.

7 Apr 2019; DW: Last week, authorities in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg deported Vietnamese dissident and Nobel Prize-nominated writer Nguyen Quang Hong Nhan together with his wife.

The activist, who spent nearly 20 years in a Vietnam prison for spreading "propaganda against the socialist state," applied for asylum in Nuremberg in 2015. Germany's Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), however, rejected their application and denied subsequent appeals.

7 Apr 2019; DW: Britain's Prince William has finished a three-week attachment with the country's security services, Kensington Palace said Sunday.

The Duke of Cambridge spent time at the domestic intelligence service MI5, foreign intelligence MI6 and the cybersecurity agency GCHQ.

"Spending time inside our security and intelligence agencies, understanding more about the vital contribution they make to our national security, was a truly humbling experience," William said.

7 Apr 2019; DW: Charlie Rowley, 45, whose partner, Dawn Sturgess, died last year after being exposure to the nerve agent Novichok, held a 90-minute meeting on Saturday with ambassador Alexander Yakovenko at Russia's embassy in London. The meeting was arranged by Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper.

7 Apr 2019; DW: British Prime Minister Theresa May warned Saturday that the United Kingdom risks reversing its exit from the European Union if the country's two major parties fail to agree on a compromise withdrawal deal on time.

The prime minister said her Conservatives and the opposition Labour party had agreed on the need to end free movement for EU citizens in the UK, protect British jobs and leave the bloc with a deal.

SKOPJE, April 6 (Xinhua) -- North Macedonia's authorities are monitoring the situation at the southern border with Greece and are ready to face with increased pressure, North Macedonia's Defense Minister Radmila Shekerinska said on Saturday.

Shekerinska was responding to reporters following the protests staged on Friday by hundreds of refugees and migrants in Greece, near the border with North Macedonia.

GENEVA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations (UN) expert plans to meet WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London on April 25 after receiving complaints of privacy violations, a statement released Friday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

This move was made after the expert received two separate complaints made by Assange and Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno, according to the statement.

PARIS, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries agreed on many issues , but the difference on issues related to the conflict in the Middle East and ties with Iran remains, French top diplomat Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday.

"There is a very long, positive and comprehensive press release. Nevertheless, it shows some differences of opinion...," Le Drian told reporters at the end of a two-day meeting in Dinard in western France.