Europe

24 Mar 2023; MEMO: Hundreds of people gathered outside Downing Street today in the British capital, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met his British counterpart Rishi Sunak.

The protest was called for by the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Stop the War Coalition, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain (MAB).

24 Mar 2023; MEMO: Most of the roughly 2.5 tons of natural uranium ore concentrate (UOC) recently declared missing from a site in Libya have been found at that site, the UN nuclear watchdog told member states on Friday in a statement seen by Reuters.

PARIS, March 24. /TASS/: Russia’s permanent envoy to UNESCO, Rinat Alyautdinov, highly assessed the prospects for cooperation with the Chinese delegation within the framework of the organization, noting that the two countries’ priorities are similar.

"Since my arrival, I have already had several meetings with China’s permanent envoy to UNESCO," he said in an interview with TASS, adding that his Chinese colleague has extensive experience in the field of education and is highly knowledgeable about the work of the organization itself.

MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/: The upgrade of the Tu-160M strategic missile-carrying bomber will enable it to carry new weapons, including advanced armaments, Russia’s state corporation Rostec said on Friday, following a trip by its Director General Sergey Chemezov to the Gorbunov Aviation Plant in Kazan.

MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/: No country is currently protected from "hostile raids" by the United States and its allies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an article for the Razvedchik (Intelligence Officer) magazine on Friday.

"In general, nobody today is safe from hostile `raids’ by the Americans and their NATO allies," he opined, saying that "apart from Russia, numerous countries are currently being threatened and blackmailed."

MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/: Russia is not going to lose its leading constructive role in the settlement of conflicts in the post-Soviet space, as it is Moscow’s historical duty, the director of the pan-European cooperation department at the Russian Foreign Ministry Nikolay Kobrinets told TASS in an interview.

"We are not going to lose our constructive role in settling conflicts in the post-Soviet area. This is our historical responsibility. And we will satisfy it despite any obstacles the European Union throws our way," he said.

MOSCOW, March 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Russian deputy prime minister said Thursday he hoped Moscow and Beijing would sign a contract to build the massive Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline by the end of the year.

Moscow is looking to pivot gas exports to countries which have not imposed sanctions targeting its energy sector, one of many hit by the measures since the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine last year.

COPENHAGEN, March 24 (Reuters) - Air force commanders from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark said on Friday they have signed a letter of intent to create a unified Nordic air defence aimed at countering the rising threat from Russia.

The intention is to be able to operate jointly based on already known ways of operating under NATO, according to statements by the four countries' armed forces.

The move to integrate the air forces was triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, commander of the Danish air force, Major General Jan Dam, told Reuters.

MADRID, March 24 (Reuters) - The world should listen to China's voice in order to find a way out of the war in Ukraine, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday, ahead of his state visit to Beijing next week.

"China is a global actor, so obviously we must listen to its voice to see if between all of us, we can put an end to this war and Ukraine can recover its territorial integrity," Sanchez told a news conference in Brussels following a meeting of the European Council.

He is set to visit the Chinese capital on March 31 for talks with President Xi Jinping.

MOSCOW, March 24 (Reuters) - Russia wants to create demilitarised buffer zones inside Ukraine around areas it has annexed, an ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, saying it might be necessary to push deeper into Ukraine if such zones cannot be set up.

More than a year into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Putin's core war aims remain unfulfilled despite Russian control of nearly a fifth of the country.