WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday he strongly supports a proposal from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending crucial bipartisan support to the precarious effort to approve $95 billion in funding for the U.S. allies this week.

18 April 2024; MEMO: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, on Thursday accused the US of “taking hostage” the entire Middle East region, where tensions have escalated between Iran and Israel besides the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Anadolu Agency reports.

NEW YORK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. side returned 38 pieces of Chinese cultural objects to the Chinese side on Wednesday.

At a handover ceremony at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office handed over the cultural objects to a delegation from China's National Cultural Heritage Administration.

OUAGADOUGOU, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Three French diplomats have been declared "persona non grata" in Burkina Faso "for subversive activities," according to a note released by the Burkina foreign ministry on Thursday.

The note to the French embassy in Burkina Faso, dated Tuesday, said the three diplomats were ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.

The three diplomates were identified as Gwenaielle Habouzit, and two political counsellors, Herve Fournier and Guillaume Reisacher, according to the note.

UNITED NATIONS, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on Wednesday launched a flash appeal worth 2.822 billion U.S. dollars for the occupied Palestinian territory.

The money will be used to provide assistance to 3.1 million people in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, through the end of the year, said UNOCHA.

BEIJING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, calling on the two sides to carry forward the distinctive characteristics of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes and achieve mutual success.

18 April 2024; MEMO: The Israeli Ministry of Defence’s Rehabilitation Department said it has received 7,209 wounded soldiers since the beginning of the war on Gaza on 7 October, and that 30 per cent of them had developed psychological issues as a result of the war.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Defence said about 60 per cent of the wounded soldiers had psychological trauma as the primary form of injury.

18 April 2024; MEMO: Iran could review its “nuclear doctrine” amid Israeli threats, a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander said on Thursday, raising concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme which it has always said was strictly for peaceful purposes, Reuters reports.

“A review of our nuclear doctrine and politics as well as considerations previously communicated is entirely possible,” Ahmad Haghtalab, the Commander in charge of nuclear security said, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency.

18 April 2024; AP: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would decide whether and how to respond to Iran’s major air assault earlier this week, brushing off calls for restraint from close allies.

BEIRUT, Apr 17 (NNN-NNA) – Two Hezbollah fighters and an Amal Movement member were killed, and three civilians wounded last night, in an Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese town of Shehabiya, Lebanese military sources said.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said, Israeli drones fired three air-to-surface missiles towards the centre of the town, causing casualties and damage to several shops, and over 22 homes.

OTTAWA: At least two Indian-origin men are among six persons arrested in connection with a brazen multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport last year, the biggest gold theft in Canada's history.

The Canadian authorities also issued warrants for three more persons in the case, Peel Regional Police (PRP) said.

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky admitted that Russian forces were advancing and asked the West to provide his country with everything that can help Ukrainian troops hold the frontline.

"They are putting pressure on us at the front and are gradually moving [forward]," Zelensky said in his address to European leaders during an informal summit in Brussels.

He also said that Russia is feeling its strength in almost everything related to the armed component, including artillery, equipment and ability to operate in the sky.