Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours

    
     FGN35 LANKA-POLICE CHIEF
* Sri Lanka's police chief surrenders
     Colombo: Deshabandu Tennakoon, the suspended inspector general of police, surrendered to the court on Wednesday after evading arrest for over two weeks in a case related to a shooting incident in 2023. *
    
     FGN13 BANGLA-POLITICS-NCP
* Student-led NCP doesn't want Bangladesh Awami League’s participation in polls
     Dhaka: The student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) said that they don't want the party of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh Awami League to participate in the elections. *
    
     FGN33 LANKA-RAJAPAKSA-PROTECTION
* Lanka court rejects Rajapaksa plea for restoring personal protection
     Colombo: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed without a hearing the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s plea for restoring his security contingent. *
    
     FGN36 PAK-WB
* World Bank approves USD 102 million to boost Pakistan's microfinance sector
     Islamabad: The World Bank has approved USD 102 million for cash-strapped Pakistan for a project that aims to enhance access to microcredit and support the resilience of the microfinance sector and its borrowers, particularly in the face of climate-related shocks. *
    
     FGN43 RUSSIA-UKRAINE-LD WAR
* Zelenskyy says Putin's vow not to hit Ukraine's energy infrastructure 'at odds with reality'
     Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that a vow by Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin not to attack energy infrastructure was “very much at odds with reality” following an overnight barrage of drone strikes across the country. (AP) *
    
     FGN17 WASIA-WARS-GAZA
* Israel's surprise bombardment plunged Palestinians back into 'hell'
    Deir El Balah: The Israeli bombs began falling before dawn, lighting the sky with orange flares and shattering the stillness. (AP) *

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)