Europe

LONDON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of thousands of people on Saturday marched through central London calling for another referendum on Brexit as the country is caught by the Brexit impasse again.

The campaign, "Put it to the people", reportedly attracted over 1 million people

It came after the European Union agreed to delay the Britain's departure from the EU

BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A signed article by Chinese President Xi Jinping titled "Move Together Toward Common Development" was published Saturday in leading French newspaper Le Figaro ahead of his state visit to the European country.

An English version of the full text of the article is as follows:

Move Together Toward Common Development

Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

Invited by President Emmanuel Macron, I will soon pay my second state visit to France.

ROME, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte held talks here Saturday on jointly elevating the China-Italy relations into a new era and witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to advance the construction of the Belt and Road.

During their talks, Xi noted that the China-Italy relations are rooted in the history of the two countries' thousand-year-old exchanges, with strong public support.

Moscow, Mar 23; AFP/GANASHAKTI:  Several thousand supporters of Russia's Communist Party rallied in Moscow against government policies, with some attacking President Vladimir Putin who they said was personally responsible for entrenched corruption and rising prices.

The Communists had called on Russians to take to the streets across the country to protest the latest raft of repressive laws and falling living standards.

The Moscow rally featured both young and elderly protesters and was led by veteran Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, 74.

Paris, Mar 24 (AFP) Chinese President Xi Jinping heads to the French Riviera on Sunday for the final leg of his European tour, as France's Emmanuel Macron looks to forge a united European front to contend with China's global ambitions.

Xi's trip will begin in the Mediterranean city of Nice and a stop in the nearby principality of Monaco before face-to-face talks with Macron.

23 Mar 2019; AFP: France's foreign ministry said Friday that it had summoned the Israeli government's representative in Paris over what it called an "intrusion" by Israeli forces at its cultural centre in Jerusalem.

In a rare move, police entered the building Thursday to cancel an event with a women's group which Israel claims is sponsored or financed by the Palestinian Authority.

23 Mar 2019; DW: A 46-year-old woman and 59-year-old man went on trial in the German city of Darmstadt on Friday on murder and arson charges.

The two parents are accused of killing their 10- and 13-year-old children in their house in the town of Mörlenbach last August, shortly before they were due to be evicted.

23 Mar 2019; DW: A petition asking the British government to reverse its course on Brexit has received more than 4 million signatures in only three days.

The official parliamentary petition launched on Wednesday is calling for the government to revoke Article 50, the mechanism that governs Britain's departure from the European Union.

23 Mar 2019; DW: Speaking on commercial radio in London on Friday, Tom Watson said he would support Prime Minister Theresa May's deal, or a revised deal going through parliament, but only if the public was allowed to vote on it too.

He also said he would take part in Saturday's second People's Vote march. The last such march was the country's second-biggest protest since more than a million people turned out for the 2003 Stop the War demonstration against the invasion of Iraq.

23 Mar 2019; DW: Prosecutors in Frankfurt issued a statement on Friday to say the suspects were detained in police raids involving 200 officers in the Frankfurt region earlier in the day.

Commenting on the raids, Hesse state interior minister Peter Beuth said: "Police intervened in a timely manner to prevent possible attack plans at an early stage."