World News in Brief: March 29

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday reaffirmed the world body's solidarity with Africa in the fight against terrorism, while warning "trail of terror" is widening across the continent.
Thailand's central bank on Wednesday decided to raise its key policy rate for a fifth consecutive meeting, by another 0.25 percentage point, to ease inflation growth while supporting economic growth.
Thailand's central bank on Wednesday decided to raise its key policy rate for a fifth consecutive meeting, by another 0.25 percentage point, to ease inflation growth while supporting economic growth.

* Iranian foreign minister said on Wednesday that Tehran and Moscow are taking the final step toward the signing of a long-term cooperation agreement.

* Greece's general elections will be held on May 21, the country's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Tuesday.

* Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday issued a presidential decree replacing five ministers whose ministries connect with the country's economy.

* The Israeli measures and actions against the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem "won't lead to any calm or stability at all," said a senior Palestinian official on Tuesday.

* The South Sudanese government should restore peace and security in order to win crucial financial assistance from the international community in 2023 and beyond, a visiting top European Union (EU) envoy has said.

* European Union (EU) member states on Tuesday agreed to ban the sale of new CO2-emitting cars by 2035. The decision came after the European Commission and Germany reached a compromise on the exemption of internal combustion engine cars run on e-fuels from the ban.

* Russia's Strategic Missile Forces have launched a large-scale command-and-staff exercise that will involve the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

* Visiting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi has arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine, the country's state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom said Wednesday.

* Romania and Poland have agreed to establish a joint technical committee on the defense industry, to develop the production of military hardware, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced in Bucharest on Tuesday.

* Greece will not change its position on non-recognition of the secessionist province of Kosovo, the presidents of Greece and Serbia said at a meeting in Belgrade on Tuesday.

* An object found close to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea appeared to be a maritime buoy and does not pose a safety risk, the Danish Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

* The German government has agreed to send an additional 12 billion euros ($13.01 billion) worth of military support to Ukraine.

* Poland's government has adopted a resolution to increase ammunition production and wants to allocate 2 billion zlotys ($463.32 million) for such investments, the prime minister said on Wednesday, as Ukraine's allies seek to increase supplies.

* European Union (EU) member states on Tuesday reached a political agreement to extend a voluntary 15 percent gas demand reduction target for one year.

* China's centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have expanded effective investment in the first two months of 2023, said the country's top state-asset regulator.

* India's overall exports, including services and merchandise, have crossed the all-time high of 750 billion USD during the current financial year 2022-23 (April 2022-March 2023), said federal Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday.

* Pakistan has been removed from the European Union's (EU) list of high-risk third countries, and this means opportunities for the South Asian country to increase exports to the EU markets, Pakistan's Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar told media in Islamabad on Wednesday.

* Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said on Wednesday that fuel prices will be reduced in the country from March 29 at midnight.

* The Canadian government on Tuesday unveiled its 2023 federal budget with higher deficits, as economists expected a shallow recession in 2023.

* The massive oil leak from a tanker that sank off Oriental Mindoro province a month ago has affected at least 63 tourism sites and 1,000 tourism workers, the Philippines' Department of Tourism said.

* Panama opened its top three trade fairs on Tuesday in the Panama City, each highlighting Latin America's potential to attract investment, the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (CCIAP) said.

* At least 39 people died Monday night in a fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez in northern Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed Tuesday.

Xinhua/Reuters/VNA