LONDON, April 19. /TASS/. Tehran does not plan to immediately retaliate amid reports of an attack on Iranian soil, Reuters reported, citing an unidentified senior Iranian official.

"The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack," the news agency quoted him as saying.

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russia will not announce pauses in fighting if new talks on Ukraine begin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Sputnik, Govorit Moskva and Komsomolskaya Pravda radio stations.

He also noted that the Ukrainian authorities could not be trusted. "First, he (Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky - TASS) banned himself from holding talks," Lavrov noted, adding: "Second, they cannot be trusted."

ANKARA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye on Friday expressed its concern that tensions between Iran and Israel could turn into a wider conflict, calling on both countries to refrain from any steps that could escalate the conflict after an alleged Israeli attack against Iranian targets.

"In light of the latest developments, it is becoming increasingly evident that the tensions that were initially caused by Israel's illegal attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus risk turning into a permanent conflict," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

CARACAS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela on Thursday again rejected "the United States government's intention to monitor, protect, control and manipulate the Venezuelan oil industry."

At a press conference, Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil read a statement confirming that "Venezuela will never recognize and accept" the "illegal policy of imposing coercive measures and licenses" against the South American nation by the United States.

18 April 2024; AP: PARIS — Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem captured this year’s prestigious World Press Photo of the Year award Thursday with a depiction of loss and sorrow in Gaza, a heartrending photo of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her young niece.

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.

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated the West’s growing concern about the work of the BRICS countries to develop their independent financial mechanisms.

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.

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.