20 March 2024; MEMO: Israel yesterday announced that it has informed the United States of its opposition to Qatar’s involvement in building and operating a floating pier in the Gaza Strip that will bring humanitarian aid into the Strip.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said the US had invited Qatar to be involved in constructing the pier in spite of Tel Aviv’s objection.

RAMALLAH, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Wednesday welcomed the Canadian government's decision to halt arms exports to Israel amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

"Israel's genocide war requires a firm international stance to halt arming Israel and impose immediate sanctions to prevent it from continuing its crimes," Shtayyeh said in a statement.

20 March 2024; MEMO: Yemen’s Houthi group yesterday rejected a statement issued by the UN Security Council condemning the group’s operations against Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea, Anadolu agency reported.

Beijing, Mar 21 (PTI) China on Thursday condemned the Baloch militants' attack on Pakistan's Gwadar Port, which is part of the multi-billion dollar CPEC, saying Beijing firmly backs Islamabad’s efforts to fight terrorism and defend national security.

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) increased 10 percent year on year to 149.64 billion yuan (about 21.09 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months of the year, official data showed Thursday.

Non-financial ODI in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative came in at 33.18 billion yuan during the period, an increase of 0.6 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The turnover of contracted projects overseas grew 9 percent year on year to 138.06 billion yuan, the ministry said.

Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) The Election Commission on Thursday transferred district police chiefs in Assam and Punjab, including the brother of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and shunted out "non-cadre" district magistrates and superintendents of police in some states.

20 March 2024; MEMO: Half the workers at Israel’s Eilat Port are at risk of losing their jobs after the seaport took a major financial hit due to the crisis in Red Sea shipping lanes, Reuters reported officials saying today.

Eilat sits on a northern tip of the Red Sea and was one of the first ports to be affected as shipping firms rerouted vessels to avoid attacks on Israel-linked vessel by the Houthis in Yemen.

New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed applications seeking a stay on the appointment of two new election commissioners, saying it would lead to "chaos" and "uncertainty" as the elections are round the corner.

Observing that the Election Commission is not under the "thumb of executive", the apex court also refused to grant any interim stay on the operation of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023.

20 March 2024; AP: Authorities are searching for a white supremacist Idaho prison inmate and an accomplice who fled after the accomplice shot and wounded corrections officers as they were transporting the inmate from a Boise hospital, according to police.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ plans to arrest migrants suspected of entering the U.S. illegally were again on hold Wednesday after setting off uncertainty along the border and anger from Mexico flared during a brief few hours that the law was allowed to take effect.

19 March 2024; MEMO: The leader of the opposition in Israel, Yair Lapid, yesterday called on the Knesset to vote in favour of withdrawing confidence from the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Lapid described Netanyahu’s government as “most insane government in the country’s history.”

19 March 2024; MEMO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman yesterday expressed their willingness to continue developing friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries and coordination in OPEC+.