Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday that repeatedly responding to questioning over a smear campaign scandal involving her election team was cutting into her time for prime ministerial duties, a response that drew widespread criticism.

Japan's weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun has recently published a series of reports, citing evidence including emails and audio recordings, alleging that Takaichi's campaign team instructed an IT firm to use artificial intelligence to create and spread defamatory videos attacking rival candidates during last year's ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership race and the February general election.

During a session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Monday, opposition Centrist Reform Alliance lawmaker Yuichi Goto pressed Takaichi on her camp's connection to the alleged activities.

Rather than addressing the question directly, Takaichi said that having to respond to the allegations had made it increasingly difficult to secure sufficient time for her prime ministerial duties.

The response triggered a public backlash. Shunichi Mizuoka, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters that opposition parties had been notifying the government of their questions well in advance and said it was deeply regrettable and frustrating that Takaichi had repeatedly deflected by claiming she had only seen the questions late at night.

Criticism also mounted on social media. Jiro Yamaguchi, a professor at Hosei University, called Takaichi's attempt to shift responsibility onto others "extremely immature."

Former Japanese foreign ministry official Magosaki Ukeru criticized her responses as "evasive and perfunctory," noting that the scandal continued to deepen precisely because Takaichi had yet to provide a clear account of what actually happened.

Takaichi has faced repeated opposition scrutiny over the smear video reports and calls for her publicly funded first secretary, who is alleged to be a central figure in the scandal, to appear before lawmakers.

A Kyodo News poll released Sunday suggested that Takaichi's explanations have failed to convince much of the public. The survey found that 49.7% of respondents were dissatisfied with her explanation, while 38.9% said the matter had been sufficiently explained.

A stronger ASEAN-China partnership is necessary amid growing global uncertainty, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said on Monday in Jakarta, calling on the two sides to deepen cooperation to promote peace, prosperity and sustainable development in the region and beyond.

Kao made the remarks at the Jakarta Forum 2026, held in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

He said ASEAN-China relations have shown a consistent capacity to evolve and become more dynamic. China and ASEAN have remained each other's major trading partners, with bilateral trade exceeding 1 trillion US dollars in 2025.

Kao noted that geopolitical tensions are becoming more complex, economic fragmentation is accelerating, climate pressures are intensifying, and technological advances are outrunning many governance frameworks. Against this backdrop, he said, a stronger ASEAN-China partnership "is not merely desirable - it is indeed necessary."

Looking ahead, Kao said ASEAN and China should focus on five priorities: peace and stability, digital transformation and innovation, energy cooperation, resilience against transnational threats, and people-to-people connectivity.

A more robust and productive ASEAN-China partnership must be forward-looking, practical, inclusive and people-centered, he said.

Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Wang Qing said in his remarks that China and ASEAN are close neighbors with a shared future, and only by pulling together can the two sides promote sound and steady development.

Wang said China and ASEAN should remain committed to openness and cooperation, accelerate the implementation of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol, build a more open regional common market, and enhance regional food and energy security as well as supply chain stability through mutually beneficial cooperation.

He called on the two sides to expand cooperation in the digital economy, artificial intelligence, climate response, clean energy, the blue economy and agriculture, so that all people in the region can benefit from inclusive development and modernization.

International Refugee Day was marked around the world on Saturday, June 20. One business in New York is determined to change the narrative around refugees.

It's called "Eat OffBeat," a food company showcasing cuisines from around the world through immigrant and refugee chefs.

CGTN's Mitch McCann reports.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

Cuba has rolled out a wide-ranging package of economic reforms aimed at pulling its struggling economy out of a deep crisis worsened by U.S. sanctions.

The new measures considerably expand the role of private initiative, encourage foreign investment in a wide range of sectors, and extend operational autonomy to state companies and municipal administrations, among other far-reaching reforms.

CGTN's Luis Chirino reports from Havana.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

Haiti was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup against Brazil.

The game fell on Juneteenth, the U.S. federal holiday that recognizes the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Given the history of both Haiti and Brazil, some fans say the significance of the game extends beyond the sport.

CGTN's Walter Morris has the details.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

Based on the initial ballot count, Colombians have a new president. But the result is contested.

The deeply polarized country appears to have elected political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella by less than one percent of the runoff vote.

De la Espriella, a lawyer endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump, campaigned on law and order at a time when many Colombians feared the resurgence of civil armed conflict.

CGTN's Michelle Begue has more from Bogota.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday, with a new leader to be in place by the time parliament returns in September, paving the way for Britain to have its seventh leader in 10 years.

Less than two years after he won a landslide election victory that promised to end chaos in British politics, Starmer said it was clear that his party wanted him to go.

He said nominations for anyone to replace him would open on July 9.

"The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election," Starmer said, as senior ministerial colleagues looked on.

"I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.

"Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labor Party," he added.

Starmer thanked his colleagues for their support, his voice cracking with emotion as he also paid tribute to his wife and children.

The speech, on the steps of Downing Street, came just days after Starmer insisted he would fight any leadership battle.

The threat to Starmer, which had been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster, beating a candidate from Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.

That victory gave hope to Labour lawmakers that Burnham could transform the fortunes of a party that has lost support under Starmer, whose popularity ratings have sunk to the lowest for any British leader.

Meanwhile, British former health minister Wes Streeting said in a letter on Monday he would back Burnham to replace Starmer.

Streeting had previously said he would challenge any leadership contest.

The pound and British government bonds were steady in the immediate aftermath of Starmer's announcement, which investors had widely expected.

Whoever replaces Starmer will become Britain's seventh prime minister since the Brexit vote to leave the European Union which took place 10 years ago this week.

That level of turnover - the highest in Britain in nearly two centuries - underlines the struggle of maintaining the support of voters angry at successive failures to improve living standards, public services and tackle illegal immigration.

The political advisory group Eurasia had said the best outcome could be for Starmer to say he will step down in September, enabling him to attend a UK-European Union reset summit in July and give Burnham time to prepare for government.

Britain's national weather service on Monday issued a rare red extreme heat warning for Wednesday and Thursday, as forecasters said the country's all-time June temperature record was very likely to be broken during an exceptionally hot and humid spell.

The Met Office said the red warning, covering parts of England and Wales, comes alongside existing amber extreme heat warnings that run from Monday through Thursday across much of southern and central England and large parts of Wales.

Temperatures are forecast to rise quickly on Monday, reaching 34 degrees Celsius in southern England, with a chance of thundery showers in some areas. The heat is expected to intensify on Tuesday, with highs of 37 degrees Celsius in southern England and 35 degrees Celsius in southeast Wales.

The peak of the heatwave is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, when temperatures are expected to climb to at least 39 degrees Celsius, with a chance of even higher readings in some places, according to the Met Office.

The current UK June temperature record is 35.6 degrees Celsius, recorded in Southampton in June 1976 and at Camden Square in London in June 1957. The Met Office said the record is now very likely to be broken. The June temperature record for Wales, currently 33.7 degrees Celsius set in 2000, is also likely to be surpassed.

British media reported that this is only the second red warning for extreme heat ever issued by the Met Office, and the first to include Wales.

"Red warnings are reserved for the most severe events and we're expecting severe and significant impacts from this heatwave, with health impacts likely for many, even beyond those who are normally more vulnerable to the heat," said Mark Sidaway, deputy chief forecaster at the Met Office.

Sidaway also warned that this week's heat would be accompanied by high humidity and consecutive very warm nights, making it harder for people to recover from daytime heat.

The Met Office said the combination of extreme heat and humidity could affect public health, transport, power and water supplies. It also warned of increased risks around coastal areas, lakes and rivers as more people are likely to seek relief from the heat.

The UK Health Security Agency has separately issued heat health alerts, highlighting potential impacts on health and social care services.

China on Monday urged Japan to confront its wartime history and fully break with militarism after Japanese media reported newly uncovered evidence suggesting that the Japanese army conducted live human experiments involving animal-to-human blood transfusions during its invasion of China.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China had noted the reports, which cited records from a 1940 meeting of Japanese military doctors. According to the reports, the experiments were carried out multiple times in the autumn of 1938, with 23 unidentified individuals believed to have been used as subjects.

Guo said the invading Japanese army conducted large-scale live human experiments and germ warfare during its aggression against China, describing the crimes as brutal and inhumane.

He noted that the Khabarovsk Trials held in 1949 left behind extensive audio recordings, written records and physical evidence, forming a complete chain of evidence regarding Japan's germ warfare crimes. The trials complemented and expanded upon issues that had not been fully addressed during the Tokyo Trials.

According to Guo, an increasing body of evidence continues to reveal the crimes committed by Japanese militarism, while more people, including members of the Japanese public, are learning about this dark chapter of history. Only by respecting established historical facts, addressing historical shortcomings and upholding the bottom line of peace can the tragedy of war be prevented from recurring.

Guo also warned against Japan's remilitarization, saying it's treading a path of no return. We urge Japan to sincerely reflect on its crimes of aggression, make a clean break with militarism, and earn the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community through concrete actions, he said. 

Maintaining and implementing the recently signed peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran will help consolidate the hard-won ceasefire, open up new prospects for Iran-US relations, and bring peace back to the Middle East, China's top diplomat Wang Yi said on Monday.

Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, made the remarks while meeting with Qadir Nizamipour, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in New Delhi.

Wang said China welcomes the launch of follow-up talks between Iran and the United States on the MoU under the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar, and the consensus reached on the next negotiation mechanism.

The 14-point draft MoU is hard-won, explicitly proposing an immediate and permanent end to hostilities, a halt to the use or threat of force, mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and refraining from interfering in each other's internal affairs, he said, adding that it is consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and is in line with the norms of international relations.

He said maintaining and implementing the MoU not only serves the fundamental interests of Iran and its people, but also meets the common expectations of the international community.

As Iran's comprehensive strategic partner, China has always upheld a fair and just stance, Wang said, adding that China supports all efforts conducive to peace, supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and national dignity, and supports Iran in improving its relations with Gulf countries and other regional countries.

China stands ready to continue to provide assistance in its own way and play a constructive role in restoring regional peace and tranquility at an early date, Wang noted.

China has always viewed and advanced China-Iran ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, and is willing to work with Iran to strengthen high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, and deepen practical cooperation to promote the steady and long-term development of bilateral ties, he added.

Briefing on the latest developments in the Middle East situation and Iran-US talks, Nizamipour said Iran appreciates China for its efforts to promote peace and cease hostilities, voicing expectations that China will continue to play an important role to facilitate the effective implementation of the first-phase MoU.

Iran attaches great importance to its relations with China, and highly appreciates China's positive role in international and regional affairs, Nizamipour said, adding that Iran firmly adheres to the one-China principle and is ready to work with China to further strengthen exchanges at all levels, enhance mutual support, explore cooperation potential, and enhance collaboration within multilateral frameworks such as BRICS to jointly address common challenges.

As the world's first national-level exhibition themed on supply chains, the fourth China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) is being held in Beijing from June 22 to 26. Please answer the following questions and share your views.

(Cover: The 4th China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) opens in Beijing, China, June 22, 2026. /VCG)

US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz is open and crude oil and natural gas are flowing through.

"We wanted to build a mechanism for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. It is open," said Vance as he delivered remarks after the first session of US-Iran talks concluded at central Switzerland's Buergenstock resort.

Gas prices and oil prices come down, millions and millions of barrels of crude and natural gas are flowing through the Strait of Hormuz that weren't flowing before, he added.

The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of the world's seaborne oil flows. Iran tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz after Israel and the US launched their joint strikes on Iran on February 28. The US imposed a naval blockade targeting ships going to and from Iran.

Vance also said that the Iranians have agreed to invite the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into their country.

Calling this "a major milestone," Vance said it is the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.

US and Iranian negotiators, under Qatari and Pakistani mediation, began their talks on Sunday at the Buergenstock mountain resort in central Switzerland, marking the first direct talks between the two sides since the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last week.

According to the MoU, the United States and Iran declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and commit to negotiating and achieving the final peace agreement in maximum 60 days.

Vance said the US negotiating team working with the Iranians, the Qataris and the Pakistanis made great progress on Sunday.

The teams will continue to work at the technical level at Buergenstock and technical negotiations will continue over the weeks and days to come, he said.

"We laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal," said Vance, adding that there is still a lot to do regarding the nuclear and economic talks as well as demining the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that the flow of traffic continues to pick back up.

Read more:

Iran-US talks in Switzerland conclude, parties set 60-day roadmap for final deal

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday for a one-day visit, official sources told Xinhua News Agency on Monday.

"The president is expected to stay for a few hours in Islamabad during which he will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir to discuss the next steps in the US-Iran peace process," the sources said on condition of anonymity.

According to the sources, the visit is part of ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at advancing dialogue between Washington and Tehran and promoting regional peace and stability.

The expected visit comes a day after the first session of US-Iran talks held in Switzerland under the facilitation of Pakistan and Qatar.

Both mediators described the discussions as positive and constructive, saying encouraging progress had been made, including the establishment of a mechanism for further technical-level talks.

China hopes that Lithuania will take early and decisive action to correct its mistakes, return to the right track of adhering to the one-China principle, and create conditions for the normalization of China-Lithuania relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing on Monday.

Guo said the current difficulties and underlying issues in China-Lithuania relations stem from Lithuania's violation of the one-China principle and its breach of the political commitments made by itself in the joint communique of establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries, adding that China's door to communication with Lithuania remains open.

At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh Tarique Rahman will pay an official visit to China from June 24 to 26, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Monday.

Rahman will also attend the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC) in Dalian, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular media briefing.

China and Bangladesh are traditional friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners, Guo said, adding that bilateral relations, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, have continued to move forward in recent years.

He added that political mutual trust between the two countries has been deepened, and practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples.

China hopes that Iran and the United States will maintain the momentum of negotiations and continue to make concerted efforts to achieve positive progress in the talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday.

China supports the mediation efforts made by Pakistan, Qatar and other parties, Guo said at a regular news briefing when asked to comment on the Iran-US talks in Switzerland.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that he would resign as leader of the Labour Party, with a new leader to be in place by the time Parliament returns in September.

In a statement outside No. 10 Downing Street, Starmer said he has asked the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to set out a timetable with nominations opening for the leadership on July 9 and the process completed by the summer recess.

He said a new leader would be in place before Parliament returns in September and that he would remain in post as prime minister in the meantime.

Starmer also said he had spoken to King Charles III earlier in the day to inform him of his decision.

Following Starmer's announcement of his resignation from his position as the leader of the Labour Party, Andy Burnham, the current member of parliament (MP) for Makerfield, has already confirmed that he would enter the race to succeed him.

"I will put myself forward as part of this process," he said, adding that the transition should be conducted in an orderly and responsible manner and become a period of renewal for Labour and the country.

Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, is seen as the clear frontrunner among candidates to succeed Starmer.

Last week, he decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster, ​beating a candidate from Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.

His victory gave Labour lawmakers hope that Burnham, known for his communication skills, could turn the party's fortunes around after it lost support under Starmer.

Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who had previously said he would stand in any leadership contest, announced that he would not run against Burnham and urged other senior Labour figures to support him.

"We can roll up our sleeves and help him to deliver the change our party and our country need," Streeting said.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage demanded a general election on the day. Writing on X, Farage said Reform UK "demands an election" and was "ready to deliver radical change."

Starmer's resignation marks the sixth time a UK Prime Minister has stepped down from the top job in the past decade.

The political instability in the country reflects the structural crises that the UK is currently facing both domestically and internationally, which include persistent low growth, high inflation, expanding fiscal deficit and the need to maintain its influence in the transatlantic alliance, according to Dong Yifan, an associate research fellow at the Academy of International and Regional Studies at the Beijing Language and Culture University.

These challenges will not be resolved simply by a change in leadership, but call for its leaders to look beyond short-term promises aimed at winning elections, Dong said.

(With input from agencies)

Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC) in Dalian from June 23 to 24, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. During the event, he will attend the opening plenary and deliver a special address, meet with foreign dignitaries, and hold a dialogue with representatives of the business community.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tarique Rahman, Prime Minister of Guinea Amadou Oury Bah, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Kim Minseok, Prime Minister of Mongolia Uchral Nyam-Osor and Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajić will attend the AMNC. 

More than 1,700 representatives from the political, business, academic and media communities from over 90 countries and regions will take part in the meeting.

When Moldovan sailor Stanislav Lungu arrived at Shanghai's Changhai Hospital, he was facing a medical emergency in a country far from home. Yet as doctors explained the treatment plan, his anxiety began to ease.

"I trusted them because they said I wasn't the first patient they'd treated this way. They had performed this procedure many times before," he said.

The encounter lasted only a few moments, but it captured something that vascular surgeon Xiao Yu has come to understand over years of medical practice: trust can transcend language. For Xiao, an attending physician at Changhai Hospital and a Communist Party of China (CPC) member for nearly two decades, that sense of responsibility recently took her far beyond the operating room.

From a hospital ward to the high seas

In April, she returned from a deployment aboard the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's Silk Road Ark, China's second domestically designed and built hospital ship. The voyage, known as Mission Harmony-2025, took medical personnel across the South Pacific and Latin America, delivering free healthcare services, conducting medical exchanges and building people-to-people ties.

The mission marked the first overseas deployment of the Silk Road Ark since its commissioning in 2024. Over the course of eight months, the ship traveled more than 36,000 nautical miles, visiting countries including Brazil, Chile, Fiji, Tonga, Jamaica and Nauru. The medical team completed more than 26,000 outpatient consultations and over 2,700 surgical procedures.

For Xiao, however, the significance of the journey cannot be measured by the distance travelled alone. As a CPC member, she saw the mission as an opportunity to answer a call to serve. And as a member of a team pushing the boundaries of modern medicine, she carried with her some of China's latest advances in vascular treatment.

Bringing Chinese innovation to the world

One of the mission's most memorable stops came in Brazil, where Xiao participated in academic exchanges with local medical professionals. There, she introduced Chinese innovations in vascular surgery, including an endovascular assistant robot developed by her team at Changhai Hospital.

The technology is designed to help surgeons perform delicate procedures inside blood vessels with greater precision. Built on years of clinical research and practical experience treating complex vascular diseases, the system represents a shift toward smarter surgery that can improve outcomes and shorten recovery times.

Leading the effort is Lu Qingsheng, director of Changhai Hospital's Department of Vascular Surgery.

"We have now entered an era of precise, intelligent and minimally invasive surgery, which is aimed at a higher success rate. Promoting this from China to the world demonstrates China's leading role in this field," Lu said.

For Xiao, sharing those achievements overseas was as important as the treatments themselves.

"After our robot is officially launched, it won't need to invite our Director Lu over. By using 5G signals, Director Lu can perform surgery on patients in Brazil from China. This is a leap forward," she said.

A journey of duty and growth

While the mission showcased China's growing medical capabilities, it also became a deeply personal journey. When the ship crossed back into the Northern Hemisphere, Xiao began drawing a map by hand, tracing the route of the Silk Road Ark across oceans and continents.

"It was all for the children. I wanted to go home and let them know where I had been, which countries I had visited, and what my journey had been like," she said.

The map would eventually become a keepsake for her family, a way of explaining months spent away from home. The 234-day deployment is longer than any previous mission by a Chinese naval hospital ship.

"I have a new understanding of my country. Patriotism has become tangible for me, and I can influence my children," she said.

Back at Changhai Hospital, Xiao has resumed the rhythm of daily clinical work. As a member of the CPC, she remains guided by the belief that professional excellence carries with it a broader responsibility to serve society.

"As our generation went out, we also learned that each generation has its own responsibilities. The task of Mission Harmony is to implement a community with a shared future for humanity, and it reflects our responsibility," she said.

From a hospital ward in Shanghai to ports across the Pacific and Latin America, Xiao's journey has connected people with different languages, cultures and homelands. What they do share is the trust in a doctor, in a treatment and in the possibility that care can travel across oceans.

(Li Siqi, Bai Jin and Tang Lei also contributed to this story.)

The stable and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains requires concerted efforts from all countries, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said on Monday.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Fourth China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing.

As a responsible major country, China has given full play to its complete industrial system and vast market to facilitate steady global economic operations, Ding said, adding that China's concrete actions have provided solid support for the stability and smooth functioning of global industrial and supply chains.

Ding called on all countries to enhance mutual trust, treat industrial and supply chains as a global public good, and keep trade flows unimpeded. He stressed the need to uphold true multilateralism and advance integrated development, so that scientific and technological innovation can deliver benefits to more countries and people worldwide.

He also underscored that all parties should work together to strengthen resource sharing, advance mutually beneficial cooperation on key mineral products, and ensure their peaceful utilization.

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile, as well as leaders of the International Chamber of Commerce and the Sustainable Markets Initiative, also attended and addressed the opening ceremony.

The expo, held from June 22 to 26 at the China International Exhibition Center (Shunyi Venue) in Beijing, has attracted 676 companies, industry organizations and specialized, refined, innovative SMEs from 85 countries, regions and international organizations. Foreign exhibitors account for 36.5% of all participants, while over 65% are Fortune Global 500 enterprises and industry leaders. This year's event covers six industrial chain exhibition areas and one official Supply Chain Service Exhibition Area, featuring the debut of a dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) section. The new section gathers leading players including NVIDIA, Intel, Qualcomm and Alibaba to showcase full-spectrum innovations and applications across the AI ecosystem.

The opening day also saw a think tank exchange session and the official release of the 2026 Global Supply Chain Promotion Report, as well as an expanded global supply chain resilience index matrix. Organizers note that the expo is hosting more than 60 business exchange activities throughout the event, with over 160 new product and technology debuts set to be unveiled, demonstrating emerging trends and vast opportunities for global industrial and supply chain cooperation.

(With input from Xinhua)

As a premier global gathering at the forefront of economic innovation, the 2026 Summer Davos is counting down to its opening.

Also known as the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), this year's forum will be held from June 23 to 25 in the port city of Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province.

While the global economy is navigating rising economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological changes, the event will convene over 1,700 representatives from business, government, social organizations and academia, as well as fast-growing companies to focus on practical solutions to new growth challenges.

"The WEF has always brought leaders together to tackle the biggest challenges affecting the world and used dialogue and collaboration to look at solutions," said Alois Zwinggi, interim president and chief executive officer of the WEF.

Here are things to know about the 2026 Summer Davos.

Five key questions on the agenda

Under the theme "Innovating at Scale," this year's forum will examine how emerging technologies can be transformed into broad-based economic and social progress.

The agenda is built around five key themes – shifting trade, China's next chapter, technology in the real economy, jobs for the next generation, and the energy transition as a source of competitiveness.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Gim Huay Neo, managing director of the WEF, said rapid advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum technologies, bio-manufacturing and other frontier innovations are reshaping industries ranging from manufacturing and transportation to healthcare and media.

"Technology has fundamentally changed how we produce, consume, work and live, pushing the boundaries of what was once considered science fiction," she said, noting that achieving innovation at scale requires coordinated efforts in policymaking, infrastructure, talent development and cross-sector partnerships.

The forum will spotlight the practical application of artificial intelligence through MINDS, a program that identifies and showcases artificial intelligence solutions.

Human interaction, including trust, communication, collaboration, and teamwork, is becoming more important than ever amid rapid technological progress, Neo said.

Days before the forum, the WEF has announced its 2026 Technology Pioneers and is set to soon release its latest Top 10 Emerging Technologies report.

In addition to technology, discussions will explore how to cultivate entrepreneurship and future-ready skills, accelerate the global energy transition and restore ecosystems while maintaining economic competitiveness.

The forum has launched the Energy Transition Index 2026, the 17th edition of its kind, which assesses countries' readiness for energy transition by evaluating factors such as policy, standards, infrastructure, capital, talent and technology.

A first-hand look at China's economic landscape

With particular attention given to China and Asia's rapidly evolving innovation landscape, the meeting is also expected to offer international participants a first-hand look at China's economic transformation and its continued commitment to high-level opening up.

Neo noted that Asia contributes around 60% of global economic growth, and roughly two-thirds of the world's manufacturing bases are in the region, with China accounting for about 40%.

Asian markets are vibrant and vast in scale, making them ideal for testing various innovative ideas and technologies, she added.

In more than 200 sessions held across the forum's five themes, discussions will include China's economic development strategy and the implementation of its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), alongside two sub‑forums on venture capital cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Gao Weiqi, deputy director-general of the Department of International Cooperation at China's National Development and Reform Commission, said the forum provides an important platform for China to share its development opportunities with the rest of the world.

She noted that 2026 marks the first year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period, during which the country will continue to pursue high-quality development by promoting both sustainable economic growth and industrial upgrading.

The blueprint for the 15th Five-Year Plan demonstrates China's confidence in its long-term development, Gao said, adding that the country's strong economic fundamentals, resilience and innovation capacity will continue to provide greater certainty and new momentum for the global economy.

Dalian opens doors as a global innovation hub

As the Summer Davos Forum is being held in Dalian for the ninth time, the event once again places the coastal city at the center of global attention. Leveraging its strengths in marine industries, advanced equipment manufacturing, and the digital economy, Dalian is welcoming global guests with openness and an innovative outlook.

Green development has been placed at the heart of this year's event.

According to Li Qiang, mayor of Dalian, the forum's main venue and other core facilities will operate entirely on renewable electricity, reducing carbon emissions by an estimated 800 tonnes.

The forum will also feature a predominantly new energy vehicle (NEV) fleet for transportation services, including 44 electric shuttle buses, 16 hydrogen-powered buses and six autonomous buses, with NEVs accounting for more than 80% of all service vehicles. The fleet will provide zero-emission, intelligent transportation across the core event area.

The Summer Davos Forum has become a powerful engine for Dalian's economic transformation and high-quality development, said Li, noting the city has attracted 50 major foreign-funded projects and 48 major domestic investment projects between 2015 and 2024. Global companies, including SK Group, Volkswagen and Pfizer, have expanded their presence in Dalian, helping optimize the city's industrial structure through technology spillovers and stronger industrial supply chains.

The city's research and development spending has risen from 1.39% to 3.12% of its GDP, while the added value of Dalian's core digital economy industries exceeded 75 billion yuan (about $10.4 billion) in 2025.

A court in Seoul on Monday sentenced a former justice minister to 25 years in prison for his role in ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of martial law in 2024. 

"Former justice minister Park Sung-jae gets 25 years in first trial for insurrection involvement," the Yonhap news agency reported from the Seoul Central District Court.

The heat was unavoidable in Miami, but so was the excitement surrounding Cabo Verde.

Hours before the Blue Sharks battled from behind to rescue a 2-2 draw against Uruguay on Sunday, supporters were already gathering outside the stadium under temperatures that climbed to 30 degrees Celsius.

Water bottles, handheld fans and sunscreen became essential items for many spectators. Others searched for patches of shade while waiting to enter the venue, knowing they would be spending much of the afternoon in the Florida sun.

The difficult conditions did little to dampen the mood.

Fans draped in Cabo Verde flags sang, danced and posed for photos, embracing another opportunity to watch the Atlantic island nation continue its remarkable first FIFA World Cup campaign.

The weather has become one of the major talking points at the expanded 48-team tournament, with players and coaches voicing concerns about how heat and humidity could affect performance.

Supporters, however, appeared unfazed.

For many, the chance to watch Cabo Verde share the stage with two-time World Cup champion Uruguay was more than enough reason to endure the uncomfortable conditions.

Their enthusiasm was rewarded.

After Kevin Pina scored the African side's first-ever World Cup goal and Helio Varela struck a second-half equalizer, celebrations erupted around the stadium as the Blue Sharks earned another memorable result.

Two matches into its debut appearance at international football's highest level, Cabo Verde remains unbeaten and firmly in the hunt for a place in the knockout phase.

And under Miami's blazing sun, its fans made sure the world knew they were enjoying every minute of the journey.

Alireza Beiranvand delivered another outstanding World Cup performance on Sunday, making seven saves to help Iran battle to a 0-0 draw against Belgium in Group G in Los Angeles.

The Iranian goalkeeper repeatedly frustrated the Belgian side's attacks and helped Team Melli collect a second consecutive draw, but the result will leave a sense of frustration after the Red Devils were reduced to 10 men in the second half.

Belgium defender Nathan Ngoy was shown a straight red card in the 66th minute after a costly mistake. His attempted back pass fell short before he brought down Mehdi Taremi to prevent the Iran forward from bursting through on goal.

The Iranians were unable to turn their numerical advantage into a winning goal, needing instead to once again rely on Beiranvand late in the match. The shot-stopper denied Maxim De Cuyper on two occasions, including a close-range opportunity in the 86th minute.

A second straight draw extended a difficult run for the Belgians, who have yet to score through their own efforts at this tournament, after opening with a 1-1 stalemate against Egypt that featured an own goal. Despite controlling possession for much of the opening hour, Belgium once again lacked a cutting edge in front of the net.

Despite the off-field challenges surrounding the team, Iran once again showed resilience on the pitch. With two draws from two matches, the squad will head into its final game in Group G knowing that a place in the knockout phase remains within reach.

Iran and Belgium both have two points after back-to-back draws, while Egypt now leads the group with four points following a 3-1 triumph in Vancouver that left bottom side New Zealand stuck on one, behind goals from Mostafa Zico, Mohamed Salah and Trezeguet.

In the day's other high-profile match, Spain bounced back emphatically from its disappointing opening draw by thrashing Saudi Arabia 4-0 in Group H in Atlanta. Lamine Yamal scored his first World Cup goal and Mikel Oyarzabal struck twice as the European champions rediscovered their attacking rhythm.

Yamal gave the Spaniards an early breakthrough in the 10th minute after arriving at the back post to convert Oyarzabal's pass. The Saudis struggled to cope with La Roja's movement and quickly fell further behind, with Oyarzabal finding the net twice in the space of three minutes before halftime to put the result beyond doubt.

An own goal shortly after the break completed the scoring as Spain cruised through the remainder of the contest. Yamal's opener also earned him a place in the record books, as the 18-year-old became the second-youngest Spanish scorer at a World Cup, as well as the second-youngest player to notch the first goal for a team at the tournament behind Brazil legend Pele.

Cabo Verde, meanwhile, continued its run as one of the tournament's biggest surprises after fighting back to earn a 2-2 draw against Uruguay in Group H in Miami. The result came just days after the Blue Sharks held Spain to a scoreless draw in their World Cup debut.

Kevin Pina put Cabo Verde ahead with the country's first-ever World Cup goal, before La Celeste responded through Maximiliano Araujo and Agustin Canobbio prior to halftime. The African side refused to back down, however, with Helio Varela restoring parity in the second half to clinch another valuable point.

The draw leaves Cabo Verde firmly in contention for a place in the knockout phase heading into its final group match against Saudi Arabia. With two points from two games, the Atlantic island archipelago has already turned heads by standing toe-to-toe with two former World Cup champions.

Cabo Verde and Uruguay both have two points after their stalemate, behind top-of-the-table Spain with four, while Saudi Arabia brings up the rear with one.

Several European countries have issued heat warnings as a prolonged spell of high temperatures sweeps across the continent.

Spain's national weather agency said on Sunday that the first heatwave of the summer had spread across the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands and is expected to last through June 25. Temperatures in many parts of the country reached between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius that day.

The agency warned that outdoor activities around midday could pose significant health risks, particularly for older adults and people with cardiovascular conditions. The risk of wildfires is also expected to increase as temperatures remain elevated.

In France, authorities issued the highest-level red heat alert for Paris and 34 other departments on Sunday. According to the national weather service, the warning covers more than one-third of metropolitan France, with temperatures in some areas forecast to reach 41 degrees Celsius on June 22.

France's state-owned railway operator advised at-risk passengers to avoid train travel during the peak of the heatwave.

In Italy, meteorological data showed temperatures climbing to as high as 39 degrees Celsius in inland regions on Sunday. On June 19, the country's Health Ministry had issued red heat alerts for five cities, including Turin and Florence, due to severe heat conditions. By June 21, the ministry had expanded the number of cities under the highest heat alert level to eight as the heatwave intensified.

Meteorologists say large parts of southern and western Europe are expected to remain under unusually hot conditions in the coming days.

An explosion at a factory in Qatar injured 54 people and left 18 missing, the interior ministry said Monday.

"A total of 54 people were injured in the incident that occurred at a factory in the Ras Laffan Industrial City," the ministry posted on X, adding that authorities were searching for 18 missing people. 

Iran's negotiating delegation and US Vice President JD Vance were set to begin talks in Switzerland on Sunday for the first time since a preliminary deal was signed, even as Tehran again declared the Strait of Hormuz closed over what it said was Washington's failure to stop Israeli military operations in Lebanon.

The Iranian team arrived in Zurich on Sunday and was heading to the Buergenstock resort as part of the implementation of a memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran earlier this week, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a social media post. A spokesperson for Vance said the vice president departed Washington on Saturday for Switzerland to attend the negotiations.

Tehran's delegation comprised chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, and senior officials from the security, financial and energy sectors, Iranian media said. On the US side, Vance was joined by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran would use the talks to press the United States over its commitments under the agreement and to clarify how Iran would fulfill its own obligations. He warned that the memorandum risked collapsing unless Washington took immediate steps.

Separately, Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters announced that the Strait of Hormuz was closed to all shipping, saying the move was a response to what it described as Washington's failure to implement the first provision of the MOU, which called for ending hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.

The statement also accused Israel of repeatedly violating a ceasefire in Lebanon through continued attacks and its refusal to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon. It warned that further measures could follow if "aggression" continued.

The US military disputed Iran's claim that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed, saying 55 merchant vessels carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil transited the waterway on Saturday. It added that US forces would ensure commercial traffic continued.

In a social media post on Saturday, Trump said ships would continue to pass through the strait free of charge during or after the 60-day ceasefire, but suggested Washington could introduce fees if negotiations break down.

He said any such charges would compensate the US for acting as the Middle East's "Guardian Angel."

Fighting in Lebanon

In his Saturday statement, Baghaei said the commitment to end the war on all fronts, particularly in Lebanon, formed the core of the US-Iran understanding. He said Tehran had upheld its obligations, while Washington had failed to compel Israel to halt military operations, amounting to a breach of the agreement.

His remarks came as Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley killed at least 20 people on Saturday, according to Lebanon's state news agency NNA, a day after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect.

Israel said the attacks were carried out in response to more than 50 projectiles fired by the Iran-aligned group at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah accused Israel of repeated ceasefire violations and called on Washington to pressure Israel to halt its attacks. Israel said its forces remained committed to the truce and were acting defensively within what it calls a security zone, while Hezbollah said it would continue to resist as long as Israeli troops remained in Lebanese territory.

The latest flare-up in Lebanon has highlighted the increasingly complex and pivotal role Israel plays in shaping the prospects for any broader US-Iran understanding.

US intelligence agencies have reportedly warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing domestic political pressure and elections later this year, could take steps that undermine Trump's efforts to secure a long-term peace arrangement with Tehran.

Colombians are heading out to vote this weekend in what some call the most polarized election in years.

The second-round vote is between two candidates with sharply contrasting views on how to solve the country's most pressing issues.

CGTN's Michelle Begue has more from Bogota.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

The technical talks between the United States and Iran will be held on Sunday in Switzerland, according to a statement by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

Walk past and you might think this is a nightclub or an arena. Yet, the Gen Z buzz here is all about farming and food – how do we grow it, how do we secure it and how do we make sure everyone can afford it?

If the China-US Sub-national Cooperation Dialogue can predict a future trend, it's this: more and more young people care about agriculture. And they want to join hands across the Pacific to plant the seeds of the future now. Join CGTN reporter Wang Tao for a closer look.

Iran's main military command Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters announced Saturday the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, citing US "breach" of the newly-signed peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) and Israel's ceasefire "violations" in southern Lebanon, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei was quoted by Mehr as saying that the Iranian negotiating team will leave Tehran for Switzerland in a few minutes.

According to a report by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, the team will follow up on and demand the fulfillment of US commitments, including forcing Israel to stop its attacks on Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, Lebanon's National News Agency reported that at least five people were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks across southern Lebanon overnight and early Saturday, whereas the Israeli military said Saturday in a statement that Hezbollah launched over 50 projectiles toward its soldiers in southern Lebanon throughout the night.

The developments came despite a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel that took effect on Friday afternoon. The truce followed the signing of the MoU between the United States and Iran aiming to end conflict on all fronts, including Lebanon.

British Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure from within his party after Andy Burnham's victory in the Makerfield by-election reignited debate over Labour's future leadership.

Burnham's return to Parliament has fueled speculation about a possible leadership challenge and prompted renewed calls from some Labour figures for Starmer to consider setting out a timetable for his departure.

According to British media reports, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander recently suggested that Starmer outline a timetable for stepping down to allow an orderly transition. Other senior Labour figures have also been reported as urging the prime minister to reflect on the party's future direction following recent political setbacks.

The pressure intensified after Burnham won the parliamentary by-election in Makerfield, returning the former Greater Manchester mayor to Westminster after nearly a decade away from Parliament. Burnham has previously indicated that he would consider entering a Labour leadership contest if one were to take place.

Several Labour lawmakers have publicly called for an orderly transition, while others have argued that any leadership change should be decided through a formal contest rather than behind-the-scenes negotiations. Potential contenders frequently mentioned in British media coverage include Burnham and former health secretary Wes Streeting.

Despite the growing speculation, Starmer has rejected calls to step aside.

Asked whether he would set a timetable for his departure, Starmer said he had been elected with a mandate to serve the country and intended to continue doing so. He pointed to what he described as achievements in economic stability and immigration policy and said there was more work to be done.

The prime minister also made clear that he would contest any leadership challenge.

"If there is a contest, yes, I will run. I will stand," Starmer said, adding that he was "not going to walk away" from the job. He also urged Labour members to avoid internal divisions and focus on governing rather than party infighting.

Attention is now turning to next week's Cabinet meeting, which is expected to provide a clearer indication of the level of support Starmer retains among senior ministers as Labour weighs its next steps following the Makerfield result.

(With input from agencies)

Editor's note: Biljana Vankovska is a political scientist, international relations expert and media commentator. She also serves as executive director of Skopje-based think tank Synegia Orbi: The Institute for Global Analysis. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

In an era marked by polycentric shifts and compounding crises – from climate disruption and demographic pressures to widening inequality and technological transformation – many concerned intellectuals pose a fundamental question: What is democracy if it fails to improve everyday lives? For decades, the dominant governance narrative has equated political legitimacy primarily with electoral procedures and institutional checks. In the post-socialist Balkans, we were repeatedly told to be patient – that democracy required a "transition." Yet multiparty elections often deepened societal fragmentation without delivering tangible improvements in living standards. The TINA (there is no alternative) doctrine prevailed. Today, ordinary citizens remain alienated from political elites who have consistently fallen short on social promises. Many are still waiting for a better future that never arrives.

The central question is no longer how governments are chosen but how effectively they improve citizens' material conditions and long-term well-being. This tension between procedural legitimacy and performance-based legitimacy can no longer be ignored.

China's governance model offers a different metric. Through continuous policy feedback, grassroots consultation and sustained delivery of public goods, legitimacy is measured not by periodic electoral cycles but by sustained social outcomes. This is the essence of "whole-process people's democracy" – a framework that emphasizes implementation, responsiveness and participatory governance over formalistic procedures. As political science has long distinguished between formal and substantive democracy, China's praxis bridges the two by treating legitimacy as an ongoing relationship between state and society, evaluated through tangible results.

Scholars such as Professor Zhang Weiwei have highlighted China's "selection plus election" model, which combines meritocratic appointment with democratic consultation. The success of this approach is measurable not through media but through public trust and satisfaction with governance from local to central levels. The eradication of extreme poverty stands as its most compelling illustration: a multi-decade achievement rooted in strategic planning, targeted policy implementation and institutional continuity rather than short-term political visibility. In peace studies, this aligns with Johan Galtung's concept of "positive peace," meaning human emancipation from need and fear, enabling genuine development and civic participation. It is a governance philosophy that prioritizes long-term objectives over electoral theatrics.

As China advances through successive development strategies, public policy has gradually shifted from rapid growth alone toward broader goals: common prosperity, ecological sustainability and balanced regional development. In 2026, amid accelerating geopolitical fragmentation, supply chain restructuring and intensified competition over green and digital transitions, long-term institutional capacity has emerged as a critical dimension of governance effectiveness worldwide. China's five-year planning cycles demonstrate how strategic continuity can navigate uncertainty without sacrificing social cohesion.

This people-centered approach is also reflected in evolving domestic governance metrics. The performance evaluation of local officials increasingly incorporates indicators beyond GDP growth, including environmental protection, social welfare provision and rural revitalization. This broader framework has accelerated investment in social protection systems, green energy and technological upgrading. It illustrates a model in which human development and ecological sustainability are integrated into the very criteria of governance success – another dimension of positive peace, reflecting harmony between society and nature.

The relevance of China's governance experience extends well beyond its borders, particularly for countries in the Global South and transitional economies seeking diversified development pathways. In some Western countries, external policy prescriptions have often prioritized geopolitical alignment or conditionality-driven frameworks over domestic well-being. China's cooperation model, by contrast, operates without political strings attached, offering infrastructure-driven partnerships that enhance regional connectivity, industrial modernization and economic resilience. For smaller and transitional states, reclaiming policy autonomy means recognizing that governance must be people-centered, not donor-driven. Rebuilding domestic planning capacity – a strength of the former Yugoslavia, despite its historical imperfections – is a vital lesson for the present.

Ultimately, the debate is not about ranking political systems but rethinking governance itself. The central challenge of the 21st century is whether states possess the institutional capacity to address long-term collective problems while maintaining social cohesion and improving citizens' quality of life. In this context, the question is not only who governs but how governance effectiveness should be assessed. These are not abstract academic exercises; they have direct, daily consequences for every household, especially for younger generations.

Today, the capacity to think and act beyond immediate political horizons has become a universal imperative. Long-term planning, social investment and sustainable development are no longer merely national policy choices – they are emerging as essential components of effective governance in an age defined by uncertainty. Within this broader debate, China's experience offers a valuable reference point for rethinking how legitimacy itself is defined in the 21st century.

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha stunned Spain with seven crucial saves and a clean sheet. But away from the spotlight, his mother was unable to travel to the US at the time.

While international media were still making plans to reach Cape Verde... A Chinese man had already arrived at his family's doorstep.

What happened next helped make it possible for Vozinha's mother to travel to Miami and watch her son's match in person.

CGTN has an exclusive story behind that moment that runs far deeper than many people realize.

Officials, scholars, and civil society representatives have called for reforming the global human rights governance system and improving its effectiveness at a United Nations meeting in Geneva, stressing the need to strengthen cooperation, reduce politicization, and ensure human rights are better integrated into global governance through development-oriented approaches.

The call came during a side event of the UN Human Rights Council's 62nd session on June 16. Titled "Human Rights in Global Governance," the event was co-hosted by the United Nations Association of China (UNA-China) and the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations at Geneva, bringing together about 50 participants from governments, international organizations and academia.

Speakers warned that geopolitical conflicts, uneven global development, and emerging technological challenges are bearing down on the international human rights system, making cooperation both more pressing and more difficult.

Participants agreed that countries should pursue human rights development paths suited to their own conditions and reject uniform models. They also cautioned against politicization and instrumentalization of human rights and called for solidarity over division.

The newly released white paper "More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China's Principles, Proposals and Actions" was discussed at the meeting. Delegates noted China's vision for development-based human rights, with an emphasis on the implementation of national action plans and international cooperation.

Participants also stressed the importance of the Global Governance Initiative, describing it as a framework for advancing reform of global human rights governance. They called for a stronger focus on implementation, efficiency, and practical outcomes that improve people's livelihoods and development.

They stressed that global human rights governance should be rooted in extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits while increasing the representation and voice of developing countries. They also called for greater exchanges, mutual learning and capacity-building in developing countries to enhance the effectiveness of international cooperation.

Participants further urged the UN Human Rights Council to return to its founding mandate of promoting and protecting human rights, upholding universality, impartiality and non-selectivity, and serving as a platform for dialogue and cooperation rather than geopolitical confrontation.

As the world marks World Refugee Day, the latest figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) paint a sobering picture of a crisis that continues to deepen despite decades of international humanitarian efforts.

By the end of 2025, a total of 129.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced or stateless, according to UNHCR. This includes 41.6 million refugees, 9 million asylum seekers and 68.7 million internally displaced persons, meaning one in every 70 people globally has been forced to flee their homes. Nearly 45 million of them, or 3%, are children under the age of 18.

At the same time, humanitarian resources are under increasing strain. UNHCR expenditure fell to $3.83 billion in 2025, down 22% from the previous year, highlighting widening funding gaps even as displacement continues to rise.

The contrast raises an increasingly urgent question: why are record numbers of people still being displaced even as the international humanitarian system has become more sophisticated?

A growing crisis beyond humanitarian relief

Over the past several decades, the international community has steadily expanded its capacity to respond to refugee emergencies. Relief networks have grown, logistics have improved and multilateral mechanisms have become more established.

Yet displacement has continued to rise year after year.

In Gaza, an estimated 1.9 million Palestinians are displaced and confined to overcrowded tent camps. Current international efforts have largely focused on delivering food, medicine and emergency supplies to civilians. However, negotiations towards a lasting ceasefire and political settlement have repeatedly stalled, leaving humanitarian agencies to respond to growing needs while the conflict remains unresolved.

A similar pattern has emerged in Sudan, now regarded by the United Nations as one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. More than 11.5 million people have been displaced since 2023, yet the conflict has attracted far less sustained international attention than other geopolitical flashpoints.

Elsewhere, protracted conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sahel region and Somalia continue to generate new waves of displacement as armed conflict, violent extremism, escalating disease outbreaks and food insecurity reinforce one another.

Cui Zheng, a professor at Liaoning University, told CGTN that this trend reflects a fundamental shift in the nature of the refugee crisis. He said the issue is no longer simply a humanitarian challenge, but a concentrated manifestation of imbalances in global governance.

While wars, poverty, climate change and food shortages remain the immediate drivers of displacement, Cui argued that deeper structural deficits in peace, development, security and governance are preventing the international community from breaking the cycle.

"In many conflict-affected regions, it is difficult to sustain long-term ceasefires, reconstruction is slow and development remains constrained," Cui said. "Even when refugees return home, they still face insecurity, limited job opportunities and damaged infrastructure."

He added that today's displacement crises show that humanitarian aid alone cannot resolve the problem and that the persistence of global displacement exposes weaknesses in the current international refugee governance framework.

"The international community often focuses on helping refugees after they have fled," Cui said. "But it pays insufficient attention to creating conditions that allow people to remain safely in their homes or return with dignity."

From managing refugees to reducing displacement

Experts argue that addressing the crisis requires not only improving humanitarian assistance but also preventing displacement from occurring in the first place.

On Friday, China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Sun Lei, highlighted two key challenges in global humanitarian efforts: a widening funding shortfall that weakens the capacity of the United Nations and the fact that underdevelopment remains a root cause of humanitarian crises.

He called on donor countries to honor their financial commitments and increase contributions, while urging the United Nations to allocate resources more fairly. He also emphasized the need for better coordination between humanitarian and development assistance in order to strengthen the long-term resilience of countries facing crises.

For Cui, refugee governance should evolve toward a more comprehensive framework covering conflict prevention, humanitarian assistance, post-conflict reconstruction and sustainable development. He said China's four global initiatives offer "a systematic approach that addresses both the symptoms and root causes" of displacement.

Between 2021 and 2025, China proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI), the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) and the Global Governance Initiative (GGI). The GDI focuses on poverty reduction, food security, infrastructure development and job creation. The GSI advocates resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation rather than confrontation. The GCI promotes mutual respect among civilizations and cultural dialogue, while the GGI calls for multilateralism, sovereign equality and international cooperation.

Cui said the GDI can help reduce displacement caused by economic hardship and uneven development; the GSI seeks to address armed conflict – the largest source of refugee flows – at its origin; the GCI can help reduce xenophobia, discrimination and social exclusion faced by refugees in host societies; and the GGI encourages more balanced responsibility-sharing among countries.

"The essence of addressing the refugee issue lies in reducing displacement at its root, shifting from crisis response to root-cause governance," Cui said, adding that this requires building a more just and equitable global governance system.

As the world marks World Refugee Day, the scale of global displacement suggests that humanitarian response alone is no longer sufficient. Beyond emergency relief, the deeper test for the international community may be whether it can build a system capable of reducing the very forces that drive people from their homes. The question now is not only how to help those who have fled, but whether the world can prevent the next wave from forming.

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz ‌declared a state of ​emergency early ​on Saturday in an attempt to end a ⁠blockade ​crisis that has ​ground the country's economy to a ​halt ​over the past 50 ‌days.

The ⁠move, in an address to the ​nation, ​clears ⁠the way for ​military deployment ​to ⁠restore order nationwide.

Since early May, road blockades in several parts of Bolivia have disrupted the transportation of fuel, food and medical supplies, causing shortages in some cities and dealing a heavy blow to economic activity.

In a message posted on social media, Paz said Bolivians could no longer remain "hostages" to road blockades that prevent people from working, studying, receiving medical care, obtaining essential goods and supporting their families.

"This state of emergency is not intended to take away normality but to restore it," the president said.

Paz also stressed that the government's doors would remain open to all those willing to engage in good-faith dialogue.

"Meanwhile, Bolivia needs to recover its roads, guarantee supplies and return to normality," he said.

On Thursday, the Bolivian government signed an agreement with the trade union federation Bolivian Workers' Central, a key participant in the protest movement, committing both sides to address pending demands through dialogue. The agreement has been viewed as an important step toward resolving the country's social unrest, which has lasted for about 50 days.

However, some farmers and indigenous groups continue to maintain road blockades, and transportation networks across the country have yet to fully return to normal.

The protests were initially launched by the trade union group, farmer organizations and indigenous groups over issues like fuel shortages and rising living costs. 

(With input from agencies)

Twin roadside blasts killed at least seven people in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said on Saturday.

"A private pickup truck carrying passengers was targeted with a remote-controlled IED ... the injured were being transported to hospital in a car for emergency treatment when a second IED exploded," said Yasir Afridi, a police officer in Bannu district, adding that three people were wounded.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the IED explosion in Bannu District and expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of innocent civilian lives, according to a statement.

(With input from AFP)

Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), which oversees traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, announced Friday that all vessels must now submit transit requests at least 48 hours in advance.

In a post on social media platform X, the PGSA said that only vessels that comply with the requirements will be "cleared for passage promptly."

The authority also said that fees will be waived for 60 days under the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU), with Tehran covering security, safety, environmental services and insurance costs.

As the two countries officially enter the countdown to a permanent agreement, US President Donald Trump said he expects Iran to close the deal within the 60-day negotiation window that started on Thursday.

If no permanent deal is reached within the time limit, "we will do things that won't make them happy," Trump said at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. "But I don't think it's going to get to that."

While the US-Iran signing ceremony in Switzerland, originally scheduled for Friday, was called off, Trump's special envoy ‌Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi are traveling to the country for the first round of talks on a potential nuclear deal, according to Axios, citing a US official. 

Following a military escalation between Israel and Lebanon that preceded the cancellation of the scheduled US-Iran meeting in Switzerland, Israel and Lebanon reached a new ceasefire deal, which came into effect around 4 p.m. Lebanon time on Friday. 

However, shortly after the ceasefire deal was announced, two Lebanese security sources said Israel carried out a dozen airstrikes, but none were recorded after 5 p.m.

Though the attacks were denied by an Israeli military official, a Reuters journalist in northern Israel witnessed airstrikes ​ongoing inside Lebanon at around 4:50 p.m.

(With input from agencies)

An influenza outbreak has struck Lackland Air Force Base in Texas over the past several weeks, with more than 160 military personnel infected, according to a report from China Media Group.

The Air Force said that mitigation measures are in place, including isolating symptomatic individuals, and that the situation is closely monitored.

Those showing symptoms are receiving "appropriate treatment" and will return to training once cleared by medical professionals.

It is unclear whether the death of a basic military trainee from the 737th Training Support Squadron on June 16 is linked to the outbreak. The cause is under investigation.

(Cover: VCG)

Would you, a 23-year-old American doctor with a degree from Geneva, choose to go to the toughest corner of China to heal the sick?

That is the question at the heart of Dr. George Hatem's life. Few foreigners have been so thoroughly woven into the fabric of China's revolution. Fewer still have looked back from their last breath and smiled, convinced they made the right choice.

In a quiet Beijing courtyard, Zhou Youma, Dr. Hatem's son, recounts his father's story. "He summarized his entire life with one word – splendid," Zhou noted. "And at the very end, he smiled. He was at peace."

That smile, Zhou believes, was earned through three hard choices.

'I'm not leaving'

Dr. Hatem arrived in China in 1933 with two friends, eager to see the world. He could have lived comfortably in Shanghai's International Settlement. Instead, after witnessing the suffering of ordinary Chinese, he chose to make a difference.

Madam Soong Ching Ling, wife of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and a forerunner of China's democratic revolution, told him the Red Army, which had just completed the Long March and reached northern Shaanxi, desperately needed a doctor. The land was parched, caves were homes and clinics lacked even iodine. Yet Dr. Hatem made Shaanxi, China's poorest, most barren region, his anchor. When his companion, US journalist Edgar Snow, returned as scheduled, Dr. Hatem stayed.

"My father believed the Communist Party of China (CPC), which led the Red Army, could help change China," Zhou said. "And there wasn't even a doctor. If they captured medical supplies, no one knew how to use them. So my father said, 'I'm not leaving. I'm joining your Red Army.'"

Dr. Hatem, who later renamed himself Ma Haide to help comrades remember him, became the Red Army's first Western-trained physician, treating typhus, dysentery and battle wounds with almost no supplies.

Joining the CPC, becoming Chinese

"All my father's patients were CPC members," Zhou explained. "Sharing their identity fostered deeper trust, which helped him treat them more effectively. So he went to Chairman Mao and said, 'I want to join the CPC.'"

Chairman Mao Zedong was delighted, declaring Dr. Ma Haide should join directly, without probation, like those who had survived the Long March.

Dr. Ma Haide formally joined the CPC in 1937. In Yan'an, he became Chairman Mao's personal physician. In 1940, he married Zhou Sufei, an actress who had fled an arranged marriage to join the revolution.

"Looking back, my father said, 'The ten years I spent in Yan'an were the happiest, most meaningful and most extraordinary years of my life. When I'm gone, please scatter some of my ashes back into the Yanhe River there,'" Zhou recalled.

After the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, Dr. Ma Haide applied for Chinese citizenship and became the first foreigner ever to receive it. It was no casual passport change – it meant committing his skills, his future and his family's future to a war-torn, impoverished country.

"My father said, 'I didn't come to observe China. I came to be part of it,'" Zhou said.

Fighting leprosy, a lasting legacy

After 1949, Dr. Ma Haide could have chosen a comfortable post as a health advisor. Instead, he led China's battle against leprosy.

For decades, leprosy was a hidden horror: patients exiled, families shattered and even some doctors refusing to admit them.

Dr. Ma Haide not only touched them – he examined their lesions, held their hands and feet and taught them that leprosy was curable. He led medical teams that drove thousands of miles across China, visiting the most isolated villages. He believed that the ultimate test of a revolution is how it treats its most vulnerable people.

He succeeded. By the late 1980s, leprosy in China was near elimination.

In 1986, Dr. Ma Haide received the Albert Lasker Public Service Award – "America's Nobel Prize" – the first Chinese citizen ever to do so. In 1988, Dr. Ma Haide passed away. A year later, his wife used the cash prize to establish the Ma Haide Foundation. Each year, it honors medical workers fighting leprosy, inspiring new generations to carry on the work.

The legacy continues. Ma Mingde, Ma Haide's great-grandson, has volunteered at a leprosy rehabilitation center every year since primary school. The family album holds two photos: Ma Mingde in first grade beside an elderly patient and as a college freshman beside the same patient, now smiling and healthy.

"Edgar Snow told my father shortly before he passed away in Switzerland, 'What you chose was right. If there were another life, I'd choose the same,'" Zhou said.

So back to the opening question: Would you, a young American doctor with a bright future, choose the hardest road in China?

Dr. Ma Haide did. And his answer still lives on – in the foundation that bears his name, in the awards that honor those who follow his path and in a smile that no grave can erase.

China views the remarks by a Foreign Ministry official of the Republic of Korea (ROK) positively, who has publicly reiterated in its entirety the language on Taiwan in the China-ROK joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

Nam Jin, director-general for Northeast Asian and Central Asian Affairs at the ROK's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told media on June 18 that the joint communique states "the government of the Republic of Korea recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and respects China's position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China," and that this stance of the ROK remains unchanged.

The spokesperson said that regarding the Taiwan question, before departing for China in January, ROK President Lee Jae Myung stated in an interview with Chinese media that "the fundamental positions underpinning ROK-China relations were established at the outset of diplomatic ties and are principled and foundational. It can be stated unequivocally that the ROK government has always adhered to this position and has never deviated from it."

President Lee also noted that "with regard to China's most core concern, the Taiwan question, the ROK will, as always, uphold its position of respecting the one-China stance." Later on his state visit to China, President Lee said that the ROK respects China's core interests and major concerns, and adheres to the one-China principle, said the spokesperson.

China hopes and believes that the ROK will stay true to the shared will that led to the establishment of diplomatic ties, honor its political commitments, and abide by the one-China principle to uphold the political foundation of China-ROK relations, the spokesperson stressed.

The opening round of matches at the expanded 48-team 2026 FIFA World Cup concluded, offering early evidence of the quality on display at the tournament.

Africa's representatives in many ways proved they are prepared to compete far beyond the role of underdogs, with the continent producing some standout performances.

With all 12 groups now having completed their opening fixtures, Africa's 10 representatives finished the first round with a return of two wins, four draws and four defeats across matches played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

While Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire secured Africa's only victories of the opening round, some of the continent's most impressive performances came in results that underlined its growing competitiveness on football's biggest stage.

They both produced disciplined 1-0 wins that could prove decisive in the race for the knockout rounds.

Ghana's Black Stars, entering the tournament amid managerial turmoil following Otto Addo's dismissal and the late appointment of veteran Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, showed resilience to overcome Panama despite arriving with low expectations after a difficult build-up.

Cote d'Ivoire were equally impressive against Ecuador, with teenage winger Yan Diomande delivering one of the breakout performances of the tournament to secure an important victory for the African champions.

Tournament debutants Cabo Verde produced arguably the biggest shock of the opening week after holding world number two Spain, to a historic goalless draw, with veteran goalkeeper Vozinha emerging as one of the early stars of the tournament following a string of crucial saves.

Morocco continued to reinforce their reputation as one of Africa's most tactically disciplined sides after frustrating Brazil to a 1-1 draw, while DR Congo announced themselves as genuine competitors by holding Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal to the same score line in one of the tournament's standout upsets.

Egypt also impressed after battling to a hard-earned 1-1 draw against Belgium, recovering after a physically demanding contest that again highlighted Africa's ability to compete toe-to-toe with elite opposition.

Pressure mounting for others

Not every African side enjoyed a positive start.

Senegal pushed France for long periods before eventually falling 3-1 to Kylian Mbappe's side, while Algeria were comfortably beaten 3-0 by defending champions Argentina.

Tunisia endured the continent’s heaviest defeat after suffering a punishing 5-1 loss to Sweden, while South Africa's 2-0 defeat to co-hosts Mexico leaves Bafana Bafana with little margin for error heading into the second round of group-stage fixtures.

Africa's overall showing has reinforced a growing sense that the continent's teams are no longer arriving simply to participate. They are increasingly capable of disrupting football's established order.

Africa's World Cup 2026 opening round results

Ghana 1–0 Panama

DR Congo 1–1 Portugal

Morocco 1–1 Brazil

Cote d'Ivoire 1–0 Ecuador

Cape Verde 0–0 Spain

Egypt 1–1 Belgium

Senegal 1–3 France

South Africa 0–2 Mexico

Algeria 0–3 Argentina

Tunisia 1–5 Sweden

For generations, Kenya's pastoralist communities have relied on seasonal migration, communal land management and traditional ecological knowledge to sustain their livelihoods in some of the country's harshest environments.

But a combination of climate change, land division and rapid development is increasingly threatening that way of life, particularly in Kenya's arid and semi-arid regions.

Among those feeling the impact are the Maasai, whose pastoral traditions have long been tied to open rangelands and livestock grazing. In Kajiado County, community elders say expanding settlements, private land ownership and fencing are steadily reducing access to traditional grazing routes.

"This land used to be open. We could walk for miles to feed our animals. Today, everywhere you look, there are fences and buildings,"  Singile Olengongone, a pastoralist in Kajiado said. "If the grass disappears completely, our way of life goes with it."

The challenge extends far beyond Kenya. According to Landscape Alliance, Africa's rangelands cover about 43% of the continent's land surface, support an estimated 250 million people and contribute nearly 40% of agricultural GDP.

Experts warn that these landscapes are increasingly under pressure from population growth, land-use changes and climate-related shocks.

In Kenya, prolonged droughts and erratic rainfall have intensified water shortages, forcing many pastoralist families to travel long distances in search of water for both people and livestock.

For pastoralist and mother Abigael Ngilinda, securing water has become one of the most difficult parts of daily life.

"We rely on this water for everything, from cooking and drinking to washing clothes. It sustains every part of our lives," she said.

Climate scientists have repeatedly identified East Africa as one of the regions most vulnerable to climate variability. Longer dry spells and increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns have reduced pasture availability and placed additional strain on already fragile ecosystems.

Researchers say protecting rangelands will require greater investment in community-led conservation and sustainable land management practices.

"Communities must be at the center of restoration. You cannot manage rangelands sustainably if you do not involve the very people who live on them," said Irene Ng'ang'a, a research officer with the Livestock, Climate and Environment Program at the International Livestock Research Institute.

As governments and conservation groups work to restore degraded landscapes, pastoralist communities are increasingly calling for policies that safeguard both the environment and their traditional livelihoods.

For many families across Kenya's drylands, the future of pastoralism may depend on whether climate adaptation efforts and land management reforms can keep pace with the growing pressures facing these vital ecosystems.

The human and economic toll of climate change has been laid bare in a new report. Extreme weather and climate-related events affected at least 13 million people and led to over 3,000 deaths across Africa in 2025, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has revealed.

Unveiled on Thursday, the "State of the Climate in Africa 2025" report said extreme weather events have affected all sectors of the economy and society across the continent, resulting in rising flood and sea levels and vanishing glaciers, including on iconic Mount Kilimanjaro.

The continent is warming faster than the global average, the report found. Africa's glaciers have lost more than 90% of their area since the late 19th century. On Mount Kilimanjaro, the glacier area has declined from 11.4 square kilometers in 1900 to less than one square kilometer in recent years.

Sea levels along African coasts rose from 1999 to 2025, exceeding the global average of 3.6 mm per year in several regions. Floods accounted for more than half of reported events, including severe flooding in Nigeria that killed over 200 people last May, and flooding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that killed over 160 people last April, according to the report.

Only 40% of African countries have multi-hazard early warning systems, the report said, noting a critical gap in systems needed to save lives and livelihoods.

However, the report also pointed to encouraging collaborations between meteorological services, disaster management agencies and local authorities to advance climate services and response capabilities.

"The signs of a changing climate are clear across Africa, from increasing temperatures and rising sea levels to damaging floods and drought. This report shows not only the scale of the risks, but also the growing importance of early warnings, climate services and coordinated action to protect lives and livelihoods," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

The United States and Iran digitally signed and released a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at ending the conflict between the two countries on Wednesday, with US President Donald Trump threatening to resume attacks on Iran if it failed to honor its commitments.

The memorandum came as leaders gathered at the G7 summit in France, where the group welcomed the interim deal while calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and stressing that follow-up negotiations must ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.

China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Sun Lei, called on the international community to unite and take stronger humanitarian action on Friday, warning that growing global crises are outpacing available resources.

During a general debate on humanitarian affairs, Sun said the world is facing an increasingly severe humanitarian situation, with armed conflicts causing widespread casualties and displacement, while climate change and natural disasters are worsening the hardships faced by vulnerable populations.

He said the widening gap between humanitarian needs and available resources requires an urgent and coordinated international response.

Sun urged all parties to uphold the fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence and comply with international humanitarian law. He stressed the importance of respecting the sovereignty of recipient countries, refraining from interfering in their internal affairs and avoiding the politicization or instrumentalization of humanitarian issues.

Sun also highlighted the growing global humanitarian funding shortfall, urging donor countries to honor their financial commitments and step up contributions. He called for humanitarian funding to be allocated fairly and expressed hope that the United Nations would distribute its limited resources in a balanced manner, with greater attention to underfunded and protracted humanitarian crises.

He said UN humanitarian agencies should strengthen coordination, improve efficiency while fulfilling their mandates and enhance communication with recipient countries to better respond to the needs of affected populations.

Sun added that underdevelopment remains one of the root causes of humanitarian crises and called on the international community to better coordinate humanitarian and development assistance to strengthen the long-term development capacity of countries facing humanitarian emergencies.

He said China, guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity, has provided support to developing countries in humanitarian relief and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. China will continue to make stable contributions to UN humanitarian agencies and work with the international community to help countries and people in need, he said.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

Iran says it is the World Cup’s “most oppressed” team after its opening match. Iran’s preparations have suffered a host of setbacks after the U.S. and Israel began a war against the country. 

Although a peace deal has since been signed by the U.S. and Iranian presidents, halting the war, the team continue to face upheavals, as CGTN’s Dan Williams reports from Tijuana.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

Mexico is turning to technology to help secure this year’s FIFA World Cup. In Monterrey, one of the tournament's host cities, police have deployed robotic dogs capable of patrolling crowds, streaming live video and entering dangerous areas. 

CGTN’s Alasdair Baverstock reports.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

Cape Verde’s 2026 FIFA World Cup opener ended in a historic 0-0 draw against European champions Spain, but one of the most emotional stories emerged after the final whistle.

Veteran goalkeeper Josimar "Vozinha" Diaz spoke openly about a personal setback off the pitch — his mother was unable to attend the tournament due to visa and financial challenges.

That has now changed. Ana Cândida Évora, with support from multiple parties, will be able to attend and watch the upcoming matches.

In an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG), she shared memories of her son's early love for football in Praia and reflected on what it means to finally see him compete on the world stage.

Heightened alert over Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has turned attention to a crucial but vulnerable group in East Africa’s transport network: long-distance truck drivers.

Thousands of cargo trucks continue to depart daily from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, for destinations across the region, including Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the DR Congo.

Drivers at a major logistics hub in the city have already introduced health protocols to help prevent the potential spread of the disease. Similar measures have been implemented at border crossings across the region.

"We no longer shake hands… we do fist bumps or just wave," said Stephen Kihima, a truck driver. He added that drivers have also adjusted their daily habits to reduce the risk of infection during their journeys.

Authorities in Kenya and neighboring countries have introduced temperature checks, health screenings and awareness campaigns at border crossings. Experts say informed drivers can help slow the spread of the deadly disease, while regional health officials emphasize the need for continued training and monitoring.

With cargo still moving across borders, truck drivers are increasingly being seen as part of the region’s first line of defense against Ebola transmission.

The 11th Our Ocean Conference, held in Mombasa, Kenya, concluded on Thursday with a call for African countries to accelerate fisheries transparency reforms as part of efforts to strengthen ocean governance, combat illegal fishing and protect the livelihoods of millions in coastal communities.

Held in Africa for the first time, the gathering provided a platform for governments, conservation groups and maritime stakeholders to highlight the growing role of transparency, technology and international cooperation in safeguarding marine resources.

Participants applauded countries such as Ghana and Cameroon for embedding transparency and accountability measures into national and regional fisheries policies.

These efforts are helping African governments translate commitments into concrete actions aimed at tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing while improving enforcement and promoting sustainable fisheries management.

"What we've seen in Mombasa is clear evidence that ocean transparency is becoming a global expectation," said Tony Long, Chief Executive Officer of Global Fishing Watch.

"From new government commitments and partnerships to advances in technology and data, momentum is building around a simple principle: we cannot sustainably manage what we cannot see. The challenge now is to turn that momentum into lasting action and make transparency the standard for every fishery, every vessel and every ocean around the world."

Technology driving transparency

A key focus of the conference was the growing use of technology to improve the visibility of fishing activities at sea.

Global Fishing Watch showcased new research using artificial intelligence and high-resolution satellite imagery to reveal small-scale fishing activities that have traditionally remained beyond the reach of conventional monitoring systems.

Presenting the findings, Chief Scientist David Kroodsma said the analysis identified more than 30,000 small-scale fishing vessels operating along Africa's coastline and highlighted areas where industrial and artisanal fisheries compete for the same resources.

Stakeholders said the data provides governments with valuable insights to support fisheries management, strengthen ocean governance, and safeguard the livelihoods of coastal communities.

"For the first time, satellite imagery and artificial intelligence are giving us an unprecedented view of small-scale fishing activity across African waters, revealing the people, places, and pressures that have long remained hidden," Kroodsma said.

"This is about more than technology. It is about empowering governments and communities with the information they need to make better decisions for the future of the ocean," he added.

From innovation to policy action

Beyond technological innovation, the conference underscored the growing importance of policy reforms, enforcement mechanisms and international partnerships in advancing fisheries transparency.

Global Fishing Watch joined partners in the Coalition for Fisheries Transparency to showcase Africa's growing leadership in promoting accountability at sea.

Participating governments endorsed the Mombasa Declaration, reaffirming their commitment to transparency, accountability and cooperation in protecting marine ecosystems and ensuring sustainable fisheries.

"The message coming out of Mombasa is clear," Long said. "The future of sustainable fisheries depends on making activities at sea visible and verifiable, and on holding fishers fully accountable."

A major outcome of the conference was the adoption of the Mombasa Declaration, an international call to action on fisheries transparency endorsed by 16 governments from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific.

The declaration commits signatories to improving public access to information on vessel ownership, licensing and fishing activities. It also seeks to strengthen global efforts to combat illegal fishing and promote more equitable and sustainable management of marine resources.

"From new transparency commitments on vessel tracking to deeper partnerships with governments in Africa and around the world, we're seeing growing recognition that sustainable fisheries begin with knowing who is fishing, where they are operating, and whether they are following the rules," Long added.

New commitments from Panama and Madagascar

Among the major announcements made at the conference was Panama's commitment to publicly share vessel monitoring system data from nearly 200 domestic fishing vessels through the Global Fishing Watch platform.

The move is expected to significantly increase the transparency and visibility of fishing activity in Panama's waters.

Global Fishing Watch's Head of Latin America, Mónica Espinoza Miralles, described the decision as a significant milestone in Panama's evolution into a leading advocate for fisheries transparency and accountability.

The announcement builds on a partnership launched in 2019 when Panama began publicly sharing tracking data from its international fishing fleet.

According to Espinoza Miralles, the country's commitment demonstrates how political will, technology**, and** open data can strengthen fisheries governance and sustainable ocean management.

Meanwhile, Madagascar's Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy announced plans to expand its partnership with Global Fishing Watch.

The initiative will focus on vessel tracking, joint research, capacity building and enhanced monitoring, control and surveillance operations, placing transparency at the center of the country's fisheries management strategy.

Building the world's most comprehensive fishing map

Conference participants also unveiled a new collaboration aimed at creating the first global map of fishing activity that includes both industrial fleets and small-scale fishing vessels.

The initiative will combine vessel-tracking data with advanced satellite imagery and analytics to map millions of artisanal fishing boats that are largely absent from existing datasets.

Scheduled for launch on July 1, 2026, the project is expected to provide governments and fisheries managers with a more complete understanding of human activity at sea.

Stakeholders say the enhanced visibility will support efforts to combat overfishing, improve fisheries management, and ensure the long-term sustainability of marine resources worldwide.

The 19th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Secondary School Students and the 6th Chinese Bridge Chinese Show for Primary School Students successfully concluded at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) on June 12.

During the event, cultural experience booths featuring Chinese tea art, calligraphy, and picture books attracted many teachers and students.

During the formal competition, contestants delivered themed speeches and talent performances, demonstrating young South Africans' enthusiasm for learning Chinese and their solid language skills, while also reflecting the growing influence of Chinese culture in South African educational institutions.

At the ceremony, contestants from primary and secondary schools across the country shared their Chinese-learning stories and aspirations through speeches and talent performances.

For the first time, the competition introduced an online track, attracting more than 30 submissions, including Chinese songs and recitations of classical Chinese poems.

The event highlighted the growing popularity of Chinese culture on South African campuses, drawing more than 100 attendees, including senior diplomats, education officials, contestants, and parents.

Among the attendees were Miao Miao, Acting Consul General of China in Durban, Hleki Ruthani Mabunda, Director of International Relations at the South African Department of Basic Education, and Dr. Lavern Samuels, Director of International Education and Partnerships at DUT.

They were joined by university leaders, representatives of Chinese enterprises, contestants, and parents.

In her remarks, Miao encouraged South African youth to use language as a bridge to promote China-Africa friendship. “Chinese is the golden key to opening the door to China,” she emphasized, urging students to serve as young diplomatic envoys connecting the two nations.

Hleki Ruthani Mabunda, Director of International Relations at South Africa's Department of Basic Education, highly praised Confucius Institute teachers for their outstanding ability to guide students from having no prior knowledge to achieving advanced proficiency.

She said the South African Department of Basic Education will continue to deepen bilateral education cooperation and support the promotion of Chinese language teaching in primary and secondary schools.

Marking a milestone for the competition, this year's edition featured concurrent offline finals for both primary and secondary groups, alongside a newly introduced online track.

Following an intense round of competition, Awethu Malusi (Confucius Classroom at the Cape Academy of Maths, Science and Technology) claimed the secondary school championship, while Aleah Ramouthar (a teaching site of the DUT Confucius Institute) took top honors in the primary school division.

As national champions, both winners will go on to represent South Africa at the global finals of the Chinese Bridge competition in China.

Despite recent improvements, critical operational constraints are currently undermining the continental Ebola response and preparedness efforts, as the death toll has surpassed 200 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, experts from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have warned.

During an online press briefing on Thursday evening, Africa CDC officials and experts highlighted positive developments in the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola response, including improvements in testing and treatment capacity. However, they voiced concerns over critical operational gaps, mainly related to limited contact-tracing capacity, insecurity and insufficient funding.

The two affected countries have recorded a cumulative 894 confirmed cases and 204 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 22.8%, including 19 cases and two deaths in Uganda, according to the latest data from the African Union's continental public health agency. Some 74 patients have recovered from the disease so far.

Wessam Mankoula, operations manager for the Ebola response at Africa CDC, highlighted significant improvements in the ongoing continental outbreak response and preparedness efforts since the DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak on May 15.

"Currently, there is almost no backlog and testing is conducted within 24 hours," he said, noting that 21,000 tests have been delivered to four countries, including the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan and Burundi, while more than 27,000 additional tests are in the pipeline for delivery to the two affected and at-risk countries.

During a high-level meeting held on Tuesday, African states and key multilateral and bilateral partners pledged a total of around $910 million for Ebola response efforts, he said. He called for the immediate release of the pledged funds to the affected countries and response partners, as only $90 million of the total pledges has been disbursed so far.

Meanwhile, Africa CDC officials and experts underscored that six "critical constraints currently determine whether transmission is interrupted." These include the lack of licensed medical countermeasures for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain, insecurity and armed conflict with attacks on health facilities, as well as healthcare worker infections and deaths, which have become "an emergency within the emergency."

Gaps in contact tracing, with only about 12% of expected contacts currently under active follow-up, are also considered a critical operational constraint, further compounded by intense cross-border movement and financing gaps.

Yap Boum II, head of the emergency preparedness and response division at Africa CDC, said that the Ebola outbreak is adding strain to the DRC's health system, which is already stretched by conflict, displacement and multiple disease emergencies.

"We are talking about an environment that is very complex, with over 900,000 displaced people and refugees. There was already a humanitarian challenge before Ebola arrived," Boum said, emphasizing the vital importance of integrating humanitarian and essential public health interventions.

Africa CDC also expressed concern over inadequate safe burial capacity, with only 84 personnel currently available out of the minimum required 540 in Ituri Province in eastern DRC, currently the epicenter of the outbreak.

It declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public health emergency of continental security on May 18, one day after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreaks in the two countries a public health emergency of international concern.

The Ebola virus is highly contagious and can cause symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized pain or malaise, and in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.

As China welcomes the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival, the three-day holiday is emerging as a barometer of both cultural resonance and consumer spending, as tourism-integrated festivities fuel new growth.

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday with a history of more than 2,000 years, traditionally commemorating the poet Qu Yuan. Its key customs include eating zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), dragon boat racing, and wearing or displaying herbal sachets believed to ward off illness and misfortune.

Data from third-party platforms shows that the number of holiday travelers is expected to rise 4% from last year. Short trips lasting two to three days, particularly among families, are expected to dominate this year's travel market, while more travelers are expected to choose new energy vehicles, with such trips projected to rise 32% year on year.

This year's Dragon Boat Festival also coincides with the end of the national college entrance examination, or gaokao, and the graduation season, making graduation trips a new holiday highlight. Since June 12, the number of student travelers has increased by 19% compared with the same period last year.

Bringing traditional heritage to life

With its deep-rooted traditions, the Dragon Boat Festival is no longer just a spectacle.

Across the country, traditional cultural motifs have been transformed into hands-on activities: wrapping zongzi, makinge herbal sachets, participating in hanfu parades, enjoying traditional music performances and trying their hand at traditional crafts.

From city streets to scenic spots, the festive atmosphere is on full display, and even the little animals are joining in.

Dragon-boat racing emerges as a tourism powerhouse

Once a traditional folk sport, dragon-boat racing has evolved into a major driver of local tourism, with races growing increasingly professional, youth-oriented and international.

The southern province of Guangdong is one of the hottest destinations, thanks to its spectacular dragon-boat events. The Diejiao Dragon Boat Drift Race in Foshan drew spectators from more than 200 cities nationwide, while the Upstream Dragon Boat Race in Yangjiang is expected to boost visitor numbers by 12% year on year.

In other race-hosting cities such as Suqian in Jiangsu Province, Haikou in Hainan Province and Tongren in Guizhou Province, foot traffic in surrounding commercial districts is expected to increase by 31% compared with last year's holiday period, underlining the powerful spillover effect on local retail and hospitality.

Diverse film lineup draws holiday crowds

While millions took to the roads and railways, many others headed to the cinema during the holiday, with nearly 20 films hitting screens over the three-day break – the highest number of releases for this period in a decade.

As of Thursday, China's 2026 box-office had surpassed 16.5 billion yuan (about $2.42 billion). By the afternoon of the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival ticket sales had already crossed 100 million yuan (about $14.8 million), according to Maoyan, a Chinese film industry data platform.

The holiday lineup spans sci-fi, romance, animation and action. Highlights include the domestic sci-fi film The Boy Who Counted Cars, which explores a world where the virtual and real intertwine, and Hollywood's Toy Story 5, the latest in the beloved franchise.

Traditional festival wins global hearts

Bolstered by China's expanding visa-free policies, the country's festival traditions are attracting growing numbers of overseas visitors. According to data from online travel platforms, inbound travel bookings for this holiday have surged more than sixfold from a year earlier, with hands-on cultural experience becoming a top draw for global travelers.

China's ports of entry will handle an average of 2.2 million inbound and outbound crossings per day during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, an 11.7% increase over last year, according to the country's National Immigration Administration.

Public health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced on Thursday that the country had recorded 896 confirmed Ebola cases and 232 deaths since the outbreak was officially declared on May 15.

The current outbreak, which is the 17th in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is driven by the Bundibugyo virus, a strain for which there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments, severely complicating containment efforts.

According to the health ministry, 21 new cases and six deaths were reported on Wednesday alone, centered in the volatile eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. The outbreak has now spread to 33 health zones across three eastern provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.

The strain on local healthcare facilities is mounting. A total of 383 patients are currently in isolation or receiving inpatient care.

At least 78 patients have successfully recovered, including 11 who were newly discharged after testing negative in follow-up examinations.

Another 151 suspected cases, including 35 deaths, were reported on Wednesday, suggesting the true toll could be significantly higher.

Health officials warn that community transmission is rising week by week.

"Rapid geographic spread remains possible if public health measures are not implemented swiftly," the ministry cautioned in its report.

Contact tracers are currently monitoring 6,367 individuals who interacted with infected patients, though insecurity in the region limited the follow-up rate to 71.1% during the latest reporting period.

The United Nations demanded that Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) halt preparations for what it described as an imminent military push toward El-Obeid, a key city in North Kordofan, amid fears of widespread civilian suffering. UN officials say recent weeks have seen a sharp rise in troop concentrations around the city, alongside drone strikes and sustained artillery fire.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued the warning while condemning what he described as a dangerous escalation. He stressed that the pattern of violence risked repeating earlier tragedies seen elsewhere in Sudan and appealed for immediate international pressure to prevent further deterioration.

"The states with influence have the duty to exercise it now to stop this madness in its tracks," Türk said.

El-Obeid, the administrative hub of North Kordofan, lies along a strategic corridor connecting western areas under RSF influence with eastern regions controlled by the Sudanese army. For months, the city has been effectively hemmed in, with humanitarian conditions deteriorating under what UN observers describe as a tightening siege.

Türk warned that an assault on the city could result in serious violations of international law, adding that the world had witnessed similar situations before.

The conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) broke out in April 2023 and has left tens of thousands dead while displacing more than 11 million people. UN assessments suggest that around 500,000 civilians could be exposed to extreme risk if the anticipated offensive goes ahead.

More than two dozen countries, including major Western allies, have also expressed alarm, warning of potential atrocities and calling for an immediate halt to the planned escalation.

Israel and Hezbollah have reached a ceasefire, Israel's Channel 12 reported Friday, citing an Israeli official.

The official said Israel would remain in the "security zone" in southern Lebanon. "If they attack us, we will respond," the official was quoted as saying.

Ibrahim al-Moussawi, a member of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc "Loyalty to the Resistance," said Friday that the group would continue to abide by the ceasefire agreement provided that Israel also respects its terms.

(With input from Xinhua)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday approved a new financial package worth about $211.5 million for Sierra Leone, aimed at boosting the country's resilience to climate-related shocks.

The support comes through the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), which will focus on climate-sensitive public investment, financial stability, and improved fiscal planning.

At the same time, the IMF completed its third review of Sierra Leone's Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program, allowing an immediate disbursement of around $31.7 million. The approval brings total disbursements under the arrangement to approximately $158.6 million.

The IMF noted that Sierra Leone's recent policy tightening has helped stabilize inflation and the exchange rate while improving credit conditions for the private sector. However, it warned that the West African country still faces significant vulnerabilities, including low foreign reserves and a high risk of debt distress.

The Fund also highlighted that while growth remains steady, it is expected to slow in 2026 due to global spillovers, with inflationary pressures persisting. It stressed the importance of maintaining fiscal discipline and implementing reforms to ensure long-term debt sustainability and economic stability.

Chinese doctors have helped improve healthcare services at a major Zambian hospital by introducing advanced digestive endoscopy technology and training local medical personnel, enhancing the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.

At the Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, the 26th Chinese medical team in Zambia has supported the establishment and development of gastrointestinal services, enabling local doctors to diagnose and manage complex digestive disorders more effectively.

Bright Nsokolo, a consultant gastroenterologist at the hospital, said that the technology transferred by the Chinese medical team has significantly strengthened the hospital's diagnostic capacity while equipping local doctors with new clinical skills.

"This technology has existed for some time, but it has not been widely available in developing countries. In Zambia, however, we are making significant progress because of the support from our cooperating partners," he said.

According to Nsokolo, the endoscopy equipment, which uses a flexible camera-equipped tube to examine internal organs, has made it possible to accurately diagnose conditions such as stomach ulcers, gastric cancer and colon cancer, which were previously difficult to detect.

He said the Chinese doctors not only introduced the technology but also helped establish the hospital's gastrointestinal services department and trained local medical practitioners, contributing to improved efficiency and quality of healthcare delivery.

The technology has also made specialized gastrointestinal services more accessible to patients, with the hospital currently attending to between 10 and 15 patients daily through the subsidized service.

Zhang Yingjian, leader of the Chinese medical team, said the team has worked closely with local doctors to strengthen medical capacity through technology transfer and professional training.

According to Zhang, about 300 local doctors have received training in endoscopic procedures so far, helping build a sustainable pool of skilled healthcare professionals in Zambia.

The health cooperation between China and Zambia has played an important role in enhancing the capacity of local medical personnel and improving healthcare services for the Zambian people, Zhang added. 

Editor's note: Xu Weijun is an associate research professor at the Institute of Public Policy, South China University of Technology. His research interests include East Asian international relations, nationalism, China's diplomacy and China-US relations. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

In recent years, Japan's defense policy has continued to move beyond the established boundaries of its post-war security system. The current round of revisions to the "Three Security Documents" (the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Buildup Program) promoted by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government is not merely a policy adjustment, but rather a redesign of Japan's military capabilities, strategic positioning and framework for external security cooperation.

These revisions will not only shape the future direction of Japan's defense buildup, but also have a far-reaching impact on the security structure in East Asia, the strategic assessments of neighboring countries, and the regional military balance. As the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated, Japan is attempting to "chip away at the constraints imposed by Japan's constitution, international law and domestic legislation, renounce their obligations under international law and challenge the post-war international order."

Japan's intentions are very clear and its ambitions laid bare. The international community needs to remain highly vigilant against this dangerous trend.

Compared with the 2022 edition of the "Three Security Documents," the new round of revisions launched in 2026 does not represent a complete overhaul, but rather a deepening and acceleration of the course set in 2022. The 2022 documents marked a significant turning point in Japan's post-war security policy, focusing on loosening political constraints on defense policy and allowing principles to be breached. The 2026 revision is the implementation and further upgrade of the previous documents. Its core aim is to turn the capability goals proposed in 2022 into real operational capabilities, institutional arrangements and regional security influence. This path will push Japan to further break through the constraints of the post-war peace system, accelerate its transformation into a major military power and consequently have a stronger impact on security and stability in East Asia.

In terms of security strategy positioning, although the 2022 documents had identified China as "the greatest strategic challenge," the overall narrative still focused on maintaining national security and the international order. The 2026 revision shows a strategic tendency to actively shape the regional security order, seeking to expand its strategic role in the so-called Indo-Pacific security architecture through multiple channels. These include defense capability building, alliance coordination, defense equipment exports and the construction of economic security systems. This marks a shift in Japan's security strategy towards a more proactive, expansionist and offensive direction.

In terms of defense policy ideas, the key breakthrough in the 2022 documents was the introduction of "counter-strike capabilities." However, the Japanese government still stressed that the use of such capabilities must comply with the Constitution and the principle of an "exclusively defense-oriented policy," making it clear that these capabilities should not be equated with preemptive strikes. In comparison, the 2026 revision focuses on upgrading counter-strike capabilities into combat-ready operational capabilities. The revision is expected to cover how strike targets are identified, how command authority is allocated, how Japan and the US make joint decisions, how Japan secures ammunition, bases, communications and logistics, and how counter-strike capabilities are integrated with missile defense, unmanned operations, cyber and space capabilities. This implies that Japan is seeking to transform its so-called counter-strike capabilities from a policy concept into substantive military capabilities that are deployable, interoperable and sustainable in actual operations.

In terms of military buildup, the 2022 Defense Buildup Program used a catalogue of capability priorities as its core framework, in areas such as long-range strikes, air and missile defense, unmanned equipment, cross-domain operations, mobile deployment, ammunition stockpiles and the reinforcement of defense facilities. Its significance lay in setting the direction for Japan's defense buildup over the next five to 10 years. By contrast, the 2026 revision places greater emphasis on system-building and combat readiness, proposing the deployment of an integrated defense and counter-strike system to respond to large-scale saturation attacks, the development of next-generation powered submarines that can carry long-range missiles, and the establishment of sustained combat capabilities that can last for years. These steps shift the logic of Japan's defense buildup from "possessing advanced equipment" to "building a sustained combat system."

Japan's revision of the "Three Security Documents" will have a deep and multidimensional impact on the security landscape in East Asia.

On the one hand, it will exacerbate security tensions in East Asia and give rise to a new round of security dilemmas. Japan's security policy has completely departed from the principle of an "exclusively defense-oriented policy," which will continue to amplify the military and security concerns of neighboring countries. As Japan continues to improve its offensive military capabilities, neighboring countries may respond based on their own security assessments. They may strengthen their military capabilities, adjust military deployments, deepen security cooperation, or enhance their crisis response capabilities.

As a result, Japan's military expansion may prompt neighboring countries to take countermeasures, fuel an escalation of regional security competition, and plunge East Asia into a new security spiral.

On the other hand, security pressures surrounding China will rise remarkably, with risks concentrated in three key areas: China's Taiwan region, the East China Sea and Japan-US military integration.

Regarding the Taiwan question, as Japan further strengthens its military deployments in the southwestern islands, its long-range strike capabilities and its joint operational mechanisms with the US, its posture over the situation across the Taiwan Strait will become increasingly prominent. Japan's forward bases, intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities, logistical support, long-range strike firepower, and naval and air forces could all pose direct security threats to the region.

Regarding the East China Sea, the revised documents will provide Japan with clear policy authorization to strengthen its defense systems for outlying islands and its maritime and aerial surveillance capabilities. This will prompt Japan to undertake more confrontational deployments and patrol operations in the waters and airspace surrounding Diaoyu Dao, significantly increasing the security risks of accidental conflict between China and Japan.

Regarding the Japan-US alliance, if Japan's long-range strike capabilities become deeply integrated with US intelligence, command and target identification systems, Japan will be substantially embedded in the US strike chain. Even if Japan does not yet have a fully independent offensive operational system, it will become an important extension of the US military's forward combat capabilities.

Russia remains open to contacts and negotiations with European countries when not under ultimatums, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said at a regular press briefing on Friday.

Peskov added that President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia is ready for negotiations and contacts with Europe and is not responsible for the suspension of ties.

"Europeans are mistaken in believing that negotiations with Russia should be conducted from a position of strength and based on the assumption that Russia is weak," he said, adding that such an approach would lead nowhere.

Peskov said that if political forces emerge in Europe that recognize the need to resume dialogue with Russia without issuing ultimatums or attempting to lecture Moscow, Russia would be willing to engage.

China-Europe freight train services have expanded rapidly over the past decade, with the annual number of trips increasing 10.8-fold since the launch of the unified China-Europe Railway Express brand in 2016, according to data released by China State Railway Group on Thursday.

The number of China-Europe freight train trips rose from 1,702 in 2016 to 20,022 in 2025, representing an average annual growth rate of 31.5%. Since 2020, annual operations have consistently exceeded 10,000 trips.

The rail network has also significantly expanded its reach. As of 2025, 129 Chinese cities had launched China-Europe freight train services, connecting with 236 cities in 26 European countries. Compared with 2016, this represents an increase of 113 Chinese cities and 216 European destinations.

According to the railway operator, the network now covers most parts of Eurasia, strengthening trade and logistics links between Asia and Europe.

To improve efficiency and reliability, 22 scheduled freight train services now operate weekly between nine Chinese cities and six European cities. These fixed-timetable services are designed to meet the transportation needs of high-end manufacturing industries and have helped foster new business models, including rail-linked cross-border e-commerce and industrial parks.

The China-Europe Railway Express has continued its strong momentum this year. By June 10, the service had surpassed 10,000 trips and transported more than 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), setting new records for the same period in a year.

The first round is done at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. From France's firepower to Spain's shock draw with Cabo Verde, Asia's surge and the early breakout stars – we break it all down. Plus: the impact of the new group‑stage format, controversial hydration breaks, and even the best and worst jersey designs. This is your essential weekly recap of football's biggest event.

Marking a new milestone in bilateral ties, President of Myanmar Min Aung Hlaing completed his first state visit to China from June 15 to 19, opening a new chapter of in-depth, multi-field pragmatic cooperation between the two neighboring countries.

By visiting China Railway Construction Corporation Limited in Beijing and traveling from the Chinese capital to Shanghai aboard the Fuxing high-speed train, the Myanmar president experienced China's development achievements firsthand, and voiced Myanmar's strong willingness to further expand practical infrastructure cooperation with China.

Throughout the fruitful visit, the two countries signed a series of cooperation agreements, consolidating their time-honored "pauk-phaw" friendship.

During a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China stands ready to share its development experience with Myanmar and jointly build a China-Myanmar community with a shared future, which is underpinned by political amity and mutual trust, win-win development, security coordination and people-to-people exchanges.

For years, China has remained Myanmar's largest trading partner, largest source of imports and most important source of investment. Bilateral trade reached $19.4 billion in 2025, up 19.1% year on year.

Boasting prominent structural complementarity, the trade landscape sees China exporting electromechanical equipment and vehicles to Myanmar while importing high-quality agricultural products and mineral resources from Myanmar, forming a mutually beneficial and stable industrial and trade cycle.

As a key landmark of Belt and Road cooperation, the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor has entered a fast-track development phase. A cluster of flagship projects, including the New Yangon City, the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone and the China-Myanmar Railway, have gradually taken shape, forming a solid framework for the construction of the corridor.

These major connectivity projects have effectively driven Myanmar's industrial upgrading, and improved local livelihoods, injecting strong impetus into cross-border economic integration.

During Tuesday's talks, Xi reiterated that the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor is a flagship project of the Belt and Road cooperation.

The two sides need to steadily advance the construction of major projects on the basis of ensuring safety and security, and support Myanmar in growing its economy and improving livelihoods, he said.

China, Xi added, stands ready to implement more "small and beautiful" assistance programs, and jointly tell the stories of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

China and Myanmar on Tuesday issued a lengthy joint statement on accelerating the building of a community with a shared future between the two countries to better benefit the people of both countries.

In a demonstration of the depth and breadth of bilateral relations, the two sides signed a number of cooperative documents, covering transport, science and technology, intellectual property rights, human resources development, public health and media.

Bilateral and multilateral law-enforcement cooperation to combat cross-border criminal activities was also highlighted during the visit, with China and Myanmar expressing their support for the establishment of an international alliance against telecom cyber fraud.

Over recent months, through joint law enforcement coordination, China and Myanmar have cracked down the telecom fraud criminal operations in northern Myanmar, effectively upholding peace and stability along the border as well as the safety of lives and property of people of both countries.

During the talks, Xi said the two sides need to continue cracking down on criminal activities including online gambling, telecom fraud and drug trafficking, and fully safeguard the interests and security of the two peoples.

For his part, Min Aung Hlaing said Myanmar stands ready to work closely with China to resolutely combat online gambling and telecom fraud and safeguard security and stability in the border areas.

Qu Jianwen, chief of the Yunnan Province Association for Southeast Asian Studies, wrote that the China visit by Myanmar's president vividly demonstrates the sound and growing momentum of bilateral cooperation.

Manuel Neuer has one final mission left with Germany before bringing the curtain down on his international career – lifting a second FIFA World Cup trophy.

The 40-year-old confirmed he will retire from national team duty after the 2026 tournament, ending any speculation over whether he will continue to represent his country after previously reversing his decision to step away following Euro 2024.

Neuer, who starred for Germany when they last won the World Cup in 2014, said he wants to savor his final weeks with the national team rather than turn them into a farewell tour.

"For me it is clear that this is my last tournament," he noted. "I do not plan to be there in two years' time for the next Euro. In the few last days I have dealt with the fact that these are my last games for Germany. But I want to look forward to all the games and not to any goodbye shirts."

His presence at this year's tournament already represents an unexpected final chapter.

After stepping away from Die Mannschaft following Euro 2024, Neuer believed the timing was right to end a career that had already spanned nearly two decades. However, strong performances for Bayern Munich convinced Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann to bring him back into the fold.

"I stepped back in 2024 with a good reason after a good home Euro. For me it was the right decision. It felt right," he said. "It would have been too much of a sporting burden for me to have kept playing for the national team for the last two years."

Germany's emphatic 7-1 victory over Curacao in its opening Group E match has strengthened belief that another deep World Cup run is possible.

A win over Cote d'Ivoire on Saturday would send the four-time world champions into the knockout stage with a match to spare and allow the team to shift its focus beyond the group phase.

Neuer, however, is determined to keep Germany's attention on the immediate challenge rather than on memories of previous disappointments.

Germany suffered group-stage exits in both 2018 and 2022, but the shot-stopper said there is no appetite inside the camp to revisit those failures.

"This is our goal. We have everything in our own hands. We don't want to look back at past World Cups," he said. "The team does not deal with that. We look at the next step and the next step is Cote d'Ivoire. To qualify after the second game would be special and would allow us to look a bit further ahead."

Should Germany go all the way, Neuer would become the first German player to win two World Cup titles.

Co-hosts Canada moved to the brink of the knockout stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after Jonathan David scored a hat-trick in a commanding 6-0 victory over Qatar on Thursday, a landmark win that was tempered by the serious injury suffered by midfielder Ismaël Koné.

The result earned Canada their first-ever World Cup victory and continued the country's impressive start to Group B after opening the tournament with a draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also represented an unprecedented attacking explosion for a team that had scored only two goals across all of its previous World Cup appearances.

David led the way with three goals, while Cyle Larin, Nathan Saliba and an own goal by Mohamed Manai completed the rout. Qatar finished the match with nine players after Homan Ahmed and Assim Madibo both received marching orders.

Canada's celebrations, however, were overshadowed by concern for Koné, who was stretchered off early in the second half after suffering a broken left leg following a challenge from Madibo. The midfielder was taken to hospital and was preparing for surgery, with his family by his side.

Head coach Jesse Marsch described the occasion as a defining moment for Canadian football despite the emotional scenes surrounding Koné's injury.

"No one will forget this, and no Canadian will forget this day," Marsch said. "It's an incredibly seminal moment for everyone to understand that there's talent in this country, that there's mentality, that there's desire, that there are a lot of things that make this country special."

In other matches on the day, Switzerland's breakthrough finally arrived in the closing stages after coach Murat Yakin introduced Johan Manzambi in the 71st minute. The 20-year-old immediately changed the game, meeting a loose ball near the penalty spot with a powerful side volley after Amar Memic's attempted clearance from Ruben Vargas' cross to give the Swiss the lead.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's hopes of salvaging a result suffered another blow six minutes later when defender Tarik Muharemovic was shown a straight red card for bringing down Breel Embolo from behind and denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Switzerland quickly took advantage of the numerical edge, with Embolo setting up Vargas before Manzambi completed his brace in the 90th minute. Bosnian substitute Ermin Mahmic briefly reduced the deficit with a stunning volley in stoppage time, but captain Granit Xhaka converted a late penalty to complete the scoring.

The 4-1 victory put Switzerland in control of Group B with four points from two matches following its opening draw against Qatar. Bosnia and Herzegovina remained on one point and now faces a difficult task in its final group match against Qatar after conceding all five of its goals in the tournament after the 70th minute.

South Africa had struggled to create clear-cut opportunities for much of the match and looked set to leave Atlanta empty-handed before a late turning point helped them salvage a point. Pavel Sulc handled Thapelo Maseko's shot inside the penalty area in the 81st minute, allowing Teboho Mokoena to convert from the spot and secure Bafana Bafana's first point of the tournament.

Czech Republic had numerous opportunities to put the match out of reach long before the equalizer arrived. Patrik Schick headed wide inside the opening minute, while Vladimir Darida and Schick both squandered promising chances early in the second half. South Africa, meanwhile, rarely tested goalkeeper Matej Kovar until the closing stages, but the late goal sparked a surge of momentum that nearly produced a winner.

The result keeps Group A finely balanced heading into the final round of fixtures, with both South Africa and the Czech Republic still in contention for a place in the knockout stage. South Africa coach Hugo Broos praised his team's response after the opening defeat to Mexico and highlighted his players' resilience against a physically imposing opponent. "I am very proud of my team when you see the reaction after the Mexico game," Broos said. "The Czech Republic team is very powerful, and very tall. We did very well with the second balls. It was a fantastic performance."

In the other clash of Group A, Mexico edged the Republic of Korea 1-0 to become the first team to reach the last 32.

The transport workshop of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) came under a series of drone attacks overnight, the plant said Friday.

At least 14 strikes were recorded, with one causing a fire inside a bay of the transport facility, and no casualties were reported, the ZNPP said in a social media post.

Buildings in one of the facility's bays and the repair zone were damaged, said the statement, adding that the damage cannot yet be assessed due to the ongoing threat of further attacks and restrictions on inspecting the affected areas.

It said that the apparent purpose of the strikes was to disrupt the plant's transport infrastructure, hamper logistics and personnel transport, and thereby create additional risks to its safe operation.

Despite ongoing attacks, plant personnel are taking all necessary measures to maintain the safe and stable operation of the facility, the statement added.

As one of Europe's largest nuclear facilities, the power plant has repeatedly experienced disruptions of external power supply since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Japan's pursuit of "remilitarization" runs counter to the pacifist principles enshrined in its postwar constitution and will only increase regional tensions.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, Zakharova said Russia and other countries are concerned about Japan's recent moves toward remilitarization.

"We regularly remind the Japanese side that this course is harmful," she said in response to a related question.

Her remarks came as Japan has continued to strengthen its military deployment in areas including Okinawa while advancing a series of policy initiatives aimed at further enhancing what it calls its defense capabilities.

On June 9, the Policy Affairs Research Council of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved a draft proposal to be submitted to the government calling for revisions to the country's three key national security documents later this year. The three security documents are the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Buildup Program.

The proposal recommends further increasing defense spending and improving the readiness and operational capabilities of the reserve of Japan's Self-Defense Forces to respond to potential contingencies.

The developments have drawn widespread public attention and concern over Japan's expanding defense posture.

The United States said on Thursday that it had lifted its maritime blockade on Iran, while Tehran announced measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries, marking a significant step towards easing regional tensions.

In a statement released on Thursday, the US Central Command said US forces had ended all maritime interdiction operations targeting vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal waters.

"All US military blockade enforcement efforts have ceased," the US Central Command said in a post on X, adding that American naval forces would remain in the region to ensure that all provisions of the agreement are observed and fully implemented.

On the same day, Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced that it had ordered the expedited processing of requests by vessels seeking passage through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with the objectives of the newly signed MoU.

The announcement came after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump electronically signed the agreement.

Under the MoU, Iran said ships requesting passage through the strategic waterway will be exempt from transit fees for 60 days, with all associated costs covered by the Iranian government.

The SNSC said vessels must submit passage requests to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), adding that ships would be required to follow designated routes and schedules to ensure navigational safety. It said maritime traffic through the strait is expected to gradually increase, while technical details for implementation will be announced by the PGSA.

The United States and Iran on Wednesday digitally signed and released a MoU aimed at ending conflicts on multiple fronts, including in Lebanon. The MoU establishes an immediate ceasefire and a 60-day timetable for negotiating a final settlement.

Following the signing of the MoU, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Washington expects a "complete ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel," urging all parties in the Middle East to honor their commitments.

"The United States is committed to PEACE, and we encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold," Trump wrote.

Read more: Iranian, US presidents sign peace MoU digitally

Read the full text of the 14-point MoU between US and Iran

Israel rejects withdrawal from southern Lebanon

Despite the MoU's call for "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon," Israel is not a signatory to the agreement.

Speaking at an event in Jerusalem on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would not withdraw from southern Lebanon and would continue maintaining a military presence in what he described as a "security zone" based on Israel's security needs.

Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops remained deployed in designated areas approximately 10 kilometers inside southern Lebanon for operational purposes.

Media reports, citing an Israeli official close to Netanyahu, said Israel is engaged in "difficult negotiations" with the United States over the continued deployment of Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

According to a statement issued Thursday by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has damaged nearly 1% of Lebanon's territory.

Aoun said more than 3,500 people had been killed, over 11,000 injured, and around one million displaced. Some 68,000 homes were destroyed and 277 towns and villages affected, while damage extended beyond military targets to civilian infrastructure, including roads, schools, hospitals, electricity and water facilities.

Lebanon tensions cloud implementation of agreement

A source familiar with the matter said on Thursday that Iran's negotiating delegation had postponed its planned trip to Switzerland because of Israel's continued military operations in southern Lebanon.

The delegation had been preparing to depart to begin the first round of the 60-day negotiations before suspending the trip, the source said.

According to the source, Iran has informed the United States and mediators that developments in Lebanon remain a core component of the negotiations and will directly determine whether talks continue.

The source also said Tehran warned that Israel's military advance about 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon and its continued strikes constitute a violation of the first article of the MoU.

During an interview on Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance criticized the Israeli government's reaction to the US-Iran MoU. He called the Israeli government's criticism over the MoU a "weird panic" and a "freakout" driven by mistrust of the United States.

Vance specifically called out far-right Israeli cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, telling them, "you can't just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem you have," as reported by the New York Times.

During a White House press briefing, Vance stated that Israel's panic was driven by unjustified distrust and advised Israeli officials against personally attacking the Trump administration, noting that Donald Trump is currently Israel's only powerful ally on the international stage.

Experts have cautioned that the MoU still remains inherently fragile because it freezes the conflict rather than resolving it, and that Israel could become the biggest source of uncertainty for the agreement's implementation.

Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, formed on Wednesday near the Texas coast and is expected to bring life-threatening flooding across portions of the southeastern US, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

As of Wednesday night, the storm was centered about 15 km northwest of Galveston, Texas, and about 185 km west-southwest of Lake Charles, Louisiana, moving northeast with maximum sustained winds of about 65 km/h – above the 63 km/h threshold for a tropical storm, said the NHC.

Forecasters expect the system to gradually weaken and potentially dissipate by late Wednesday night or early Thursday as it moves further inland over southeastern Texas.

Despite weakening, Arthur is expected to produce widespread heavy rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding across portions of the southeastern US.

The storm is expected to produce 127 to 254 mm of rainfall. Isolated higher totals near 50 cm are expected through early Friday from the mid and upper Texas coast east-northeast into southern and central portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, along with western portions of Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, said the NHC.

"Very heavy rainfall is expected to fall across southeast Louisiana into southern Mississippi, where there can be significant and even life-threatening flooding, before spreading northeastward through the Carolinas and Georgia," said AccuWeather hurricane expert Alex DaSilva.

Significant rain is expected to last through Friday across the Southeast, and the zone of greatest risk will shift from far eastern Texas and Louisiana to Georgia by Friday, according to AccuWeather.

Potential impacts on the energy sector

Arthur's path runs near the Gulf Coast refining region, which stretches ‌from Corpus Christi to Pascagoula, Mississippi, and holds around half of US refining capacity of 18.4 million barrels per day.

Operators including major oil refiners and LNG exporters along the coast have been monitoring the storm.

A model from consulting firm Earth Science Associates ​based on past storms is forecasting that around 20,000 barrels of oil could be lost because of shut-ins at offshore platforms in the storm's path.

"Part of the past losses occur due to an abundance of caution for personnel and other dangers, and that is part of the data in the model, though ​for the current storm we haven't seen those actions, so it is likely to be on the low side of the forecast," ​Earth Science Associates Chief Operating Officer Tony Dupont said in an emailed response to questions.

(With input from Reuters)

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran has been electronically signed by the leaders of both countries and has entered into force with immediate effect. 

Here is the full text of the 14-point MoU published by media outlets including Iran's official news agency IRNA, CNN and Time Magazine:

1. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war by signing this MoU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. Final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and other provisions of this paragraph. 

2. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran undertake to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs.

3. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran commit to negotiating and achieving the final deal in maximum 60 days, extendable with mutual consent. 

4. Immediately upon the signing of this MoU, the United States of America will begin the removal of its naval blockade and any disturbances or impediments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will fully end the naval blockade within 30 days. During this period, the traffic of vessels will be in proportion to the numbers of pre-war traffic being restored by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal. 

5. Upon the signing of this MoU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa. The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will be instated within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz. 

6. The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of a final deal within 60 days. All required licenses, waivers and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America. 

7. The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, i.e. IAEA Board of Governors resolutions and all unilateral US sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed-upon schedule as part of the final deal. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America acknowledge the critical importance of the sanctions-termination issue abovementioned, and expressed their intentions to immediately address these issues in the negotiations, in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.

8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpiled enriched material, pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in Paragraph Seven, with the minimum methodology to be downblending on site under the supervision of the IAEA. The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear needs based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal. The final deal will confirm the provisions of this paragraph. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran acknowledge the critical importance of the nuclear issues abovementioned and express their intention to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them. 

9. Pending the final deal, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo. The Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program, and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region.

10. The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of this MoU until the termination of sanctions, the US Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc. 

11. The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of this MoU. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will mutually agree on the procedures related to the release of these funds during the negotiations. Such funds, either retained in the original account or transferred, shall be made fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America undertakes to issue all necessary licenses and authorizations accordingly.

12. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree that an executive mechanism will be established to monitor the successful implementation of this MoU and the future compliance of the final deal. 

13. After signing this MoU and subject to the beginning of the implementation of Paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 10 and 11 of this MoU and the continuing implementation of these measures, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will start negotiations regarding the final deal exclusively on the other paragraphs.

14. The final deal will be endorsed by a binding UN Security Council resolution. 

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran has been electronically signed by the leaders of both countries and has entered into force with immediate effect.

In a post on social media platform X, Sharif said the memorandum was signed by the presidents of the United States and Iran and endorsed by him in his role as mediator.

The Islamabad MoU stipulates that Iran will immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States will lift its naval blockade as an initial step following the agreement's implementation, Sharif added.

"The signing of this agreement at the highest level of the respective governments demonstrates the commitment of both sides to a diplomatic resolution of the conflict," Sharif said.

Sharif also acknowledged the constructive engagement of the leadership of Qatar and commended the contributions of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Egypt in facilitating the agreement.

He expressed hope that the memorandum would serve as "an enduring foundation for greater understanding, mutual respect and shared prosperity for the complete region."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump have digitally signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at ending the conflict between the two countries, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the White House.

The signing marks the start of a 60-day period during which Tehran and Washington will seek to negotiate a final agreement.

Iran and the US have released the full text of the MoU. The nuclear issue, management of the Strait of Hormuz and a proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran are among the key items on the agenda.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Thursday that the "Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding" has been electronically signed by the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Iran will instantly reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the United States of America will immediately lift its naval blockade, the prime minister said.

Russia attacked Kyiv with missiles, local authorities said on Thursday, as they urged residents to take shelter hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with US President Donald Trump and European leaders.

A Reuters witness heard explosions in Kyiv, while authorities of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy said one person was killed in a drone attack, as air strike alerts were issued for most of Ukraine's territory.

"The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic missiles. Stay in safe places until the air raid alert is over!" Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said in a Telegram post early on Thursday.

In France, Zelenskyy said he had spoken to Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, after meeting other leaders attending a Group of Seven meeting. He described it as a "coordinating conversation" to try to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The strike on Kyiv is the second air attack by Russia this week. A 1,000-year-old monastery was badly damaged on Monday in a major attack by Russia that killed 10 people and drew condemnation from European leaders.

Trump said on Wednesday that Russia was losing more soldiers than Ukraine, after he suggested that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy seemed open to doing something about the conflict.

Putin did not discuss the possibility of a meeting with Zelenskyy during his latest phone call with Trump, the Kremlin said this week. 

(With input from Reuters)

The United States and Iran digitally signed and released a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at ending the conflict between the two countries on Wednesday, with US President Donald Trump threatening to resume attacks on Iran if it failed to honor its commitments.

The memorandum came as leaders gathered at the G7 summit in France, where the group welcomed the interim deal while calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and stressing that follow-up negotiations must ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.

Trump, attending the summit, said he hoped Iran would abide by the agreement and warned that if it did not Washington was prepared to launch new military action. "We're going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement," Trump cautioned at a press conference. "I don't want them to. I want them to honor the agreement."

Meanwhile, he appeared to soften one of the justifications he had previously offered for attacking Iran, saying it would be "unfair" for Tehran not to have ballistic missiles after earlier vowing to eliminate them.

He added negotiators from both countries worked toward a final agreement during the 60-day period, which would bring peace to the Middle East and ease pressure on global oil markets.

Tehran did not respond to Trump's renewed military threats.

Iran, Pakistan say MoU takes immediate effect

Both Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have digitally signed the memorandum, with Pakistan, which mediated months of indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran, welcomed as a diplomatic breakthrough.

The country's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the memorandum takes immediate effect, and congratulated both countries for choosing dialogue over confrontation. Iranian officials likewise described the agreement as already in force, while emphasizing that negotiations on a permanent settlement should begin without delay.

The US and Iran respectively released the full text of the digitally signed MoU through media outlets on Wednesday, which establishes an immediate ceasefire and a 60-day timetable for negotiating a final settlement. The agreement calls for an end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, while both sides pledge to respect each other's sovereignty and refrain from the use or threat of force.

"Everything we sought to achieve through military action, we obtained several times over through negotiation; it was not even comparable," Iran's lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told state television about the document.

Under the MoU, the United States commits, together with regional partners, to formulate a reconstruction and economic development plan worth at least $300 billion for Iran, with an implementation mechanism to be finalized during negotiations on a permanent agreement. An executive mechanism will oversee implementation before the final accord is submitted to the UN Security Council.

The MoU also seeks to restore maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran agrees to facilitate the safe passage of commercial shipping during the 60-day negotiation period and work toward restoring traffic to pre-war levels, while the United States will begin lifting its naval blockade and halt interference with Iranian shipping. The report also envisages discussions with Oman and other Gulf states on the future management of the strategic waterway.

Read more: Read the full text of the 14-point MoU between US and Iran

G7 leaders welcome the MoU

According to the released MoU, Iran reaffirms that it will not develop or acquire nuclear weapons, while the two sides agree to resolve the issue of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile through a mutually agreed mechanism under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supervision.

G7 leaders hailed the agreement at their summit. 

Oil prices extended their decline on Wednesday as optimism over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz eased concerns about global supply disruptions. Brent crude briefly fell below $80 a barrel, its lowest level since the latest round of conflicts starting in February. However, the market later reversed course, with prices recovering more than 1% after US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could resort to military action again if Iran failed to uphold the newly signed agreement.

Meanwhile, the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Italy, Canada and the US demanded in a joint statement an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, where the memorandum envisages an end to hostilities between Israel and the Hezbollah after months of fighting that has left thousands dead and displaced more than one million people.

Although strikes in Lebanon have eased since the memorandum was reached on Sunday, clashes in the region have not stopped entirely. Israel, which did not participate in the negotiations and continues to maintain troops in southern Lebanon, said it retains the right to use force.

Expert: MoU as roadmap for future negotiations but still vulnerable

Wang Jin, assistant director of the Institute of Middle East Studies at Northwest University of China, described the 14-point MoU between the United States and Iran as both a confirmation of the ceasefire and a roadmap for future negotiations.

The agreement formalizes the de facto ceasefire that has been in place since April while establishing a 60-day framework for talks on Iran's nuclear program and sanctions relief, he said.

The newly signed document requires reciprocal concessions, with Iran accepting limits on its nuclear activities and greater international oversight, while the United States gradually eases sanctions and supports Iran's post-war economic recovery.

Wang cautioned that the MoU still remains inherently fragile because it freezes the conflict rather than resolving it, noting differences still remain over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program. He added that Israel could become the biggest source of uncertainty for the agreement's implementation.

As China and the United States continue to compete on many fronts, some analysts say dialogue between the two powers remains essential for global stability.

CGTN’s Paulo Cabral spoke with Professor Paulo Borba Casella, coordinator of the BRICS Study Group at the University of São Paulo, about multilateralism, BRICS, and possible limits for cooperation on peace and security.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

The US central bank made a decision to maintain interest rates on Wednesday, June 17. The Federal Reserve, now chaired by Kevin Warsh, also send signals regarding inflation and growth, as CGTN's Owen Fairclough reports.

For more, check out our exclusive content on CGTN Now and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The China Report.

Ghana is hosting the Next Steps Conference on Reparatory Justice in Accra from June 17 to June 19. This conference is bringing together heads of state and government, policymakers, legal experts, academics, civil society representatives, and members of the African diaspora to advance discussions on reparatory justice.

The conference aims to build international consensus on practical pathways toward reparatory justice, focusing on legal frameworks, implementation mechanisms, and institutional reforms.

Participants are expected to explore strategies for translating the growing global support for reparatory justice into concrete actions.

This meeting follows the adoption of United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/80/250 on March 25, 2026. This landmark resolution, adopted with a vote of 123, is the first in the UN's 80-year history dedicated exclusively to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. It acknowledges the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel slavery as among the gravest crimes against humanity and calls for good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice, including the restitution of cultural property.

Organizers state that the Accra conference is intended to sustain the momentum generated by the resolution and help shape a structured, inclusive, and action-oriented global framework to address the enduring legacy of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.

As part of the program, delegates will participate in a commemorative event at Christiansborg Castle in Osu, Accra, a historic site linked to the transatlantic slave trade. 

Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to continued engagement with international partners, civil society organizations, and the diplomatic community to promote the objectives of the UN resolution and encourage dialogue on reparatory justice.

China welcomes the first-phase memorandum of understanding reached between Iran and the United States and will continue contributing to regional peace and stability, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday. 

Wang made the remarks during a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Seyyed Abbas Araghchi.

Araghchi briefed Wang on the agreement between Tehran and Washington and thanked China for its constructive role in promoting negotiations and facilitating the deal. He said the memorandum should be effectively implemented, including through an end to Israel's military operations in Lebanon.

Iran has always viewed relations with China from a strategic perspective and looks forward to enhancing mutual trust and deepening cooperation across various fields to advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Araghchi said.

Wang said facts have shown that force and power politics cannot solve problems and that dialogue and negotiations are the right choice. China supports Iran's legitimate rights and its efforts to safeguard sovereignty and security, as well as mediation efforts by Pakistan and the international community, he said.

With the prospect of peace emerging, the priority now is for all parties to translate their commitments into concrete actions and resist interference, Wang said, adding that navigation through the Strait of Hormuz should be properly handled in response to widespread international concerns.

Wang also voiced support for Iran's efforts to improve ties with regional countries and explore the establishment of a regional security framework. He said China stands ready to strengthen communication and coordination with Iran while deepening bilateral ties and continuing to promote peace and stability in the region.

(Cover: Cars and monocycles are seen traveling in front of a billboard displaying the Iranian flag on June 15, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. /VCG)

The People's Republic of China and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar issued a joint statement on accelerating the building of a China-Myanmar community with a shared future on Wednesday.

Please see the attachment for the full text of the joint statement.

Full text: Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on Accelerating the Building of a China-Myanmar Community with a Shared Future

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has escalated to 837 confirmed cases and 196 deaths, as reported by government health data released on Tuesday.

Authorities say there have been 29 new cases and four additional deaths in the previous 24 hours, highlighting the ongoing active transmission of the virus.

Health officials indicate that the outbreak remains concentrated in eastern DR Congo, where sustained community spread and geographic expansion are complicating containment efforts. The latest situation report also mentions ongoing hospital admissions, with hundreds of patients currently in isolation, as response teams work diligently to trace contacts and limit further infections.

Public health experts warn that the outbreak's location in eastern DR Congo poses increased risks of cross-border transmission due to frequent population movement across porous borders. Countries of concern include Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan, where trade routes, family connections, and daily mobility patterns could facilitate the spread of the virus if containment efforts weaken.

Health authorities in the region have intensified screening at border points, strengthened surveillance systems, and activated preparedness plans to detect and isolate suspected cases early. However, officials caution that high fatality rate of approximately 23.4% and limited health infrastructure in some border areas remain persistent vulnerabilities.

The Burundian President and current African Union (AU) Chair, Évariste Ndayishimiye, has called on the international community to let science, rather than fear, guide its response to the escalating Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo and Uganda.

Addressing a virtual summit of over 500 health officials and policymakers, President Ndayishimiye strongly warned against unjustified travel restrictions and border closures. Instead, he urged nations to bolster cross-border cooperation and ramp up support for frontline health workers.

“Africa is united, ready to act, and determined to protect its populations,” Ndayishimiye said, calling for immediate intervention to contain the epidemic and secure the continent's long-term health security.

A growing crisis

The call for action comes as the outbreak intensifies across Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

As of June 15, 2026, the region has recorded more than 800 confirmed cases and nearly 200 deaths.

Stressing that "no country can face a health crisis of this magnitude alone," Ndayishimiye advocated for the rapid mobilization of a $518 million joint response plan coordinated by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

He urged African governments, private-sector leaders, and international partners to immediately convert financial pledges into funding to bolster surveillance, treatment, and prevention.

An immediate and unwavering response

Echoing the President's urgency, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, emphasized that delayed funding directly translates to lost lives.

"Every day lost is a life lost," Youssouf warned, stressing the critical need to instantly fund intervention teams, deploy vaccines, and secure diagnostic tools.

Youssouf challenged international partners to back their statements of solidarity with concrete financial commitments to halt the disease's spread.

Building long-term resilience

Beyond the immediate emergency response, the AU leadership is looking toward the future. Youssouf underscored the necessity of building sustainable healthcare capacities in Africa to prevent future pandemics. 

This includes aggressive investment in local scientific research, innovation, and regional production of vaccines to end Africa's dependence on external supply chains.

The summit concluded with a unified message from the AU: strengthening national health systems, through advanced laboratory development, robust epidemiological surveillance, and sustainable internal funding, is no longer optional. For Africa, saving lives today and building health resilience for tomorrow are inseparable goals.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng urged further efforts to strengthen China-US relations when meeting with former US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in Beijing on Wednesday.

Han noted that the heads of state have agreed on a new vision for a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability, providing important strategic guidance for future ties.

Han stressed China's longstanding commitment to developing stable bilateral relations, and called for joint action from all sectors on both sides to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state.

He urged efforts to further strengthen cooperation in economic and trade areas, and deepen cultural, people-to-people and subnational exchanges, to build broader support for the development of bilateral relations.

Chao said maintaining stable US-China relations serves the interests of all parties, and expressed the willingness to continue making efforts to promote practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

June 17 marks World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, under the 2026 theme, "Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore."

Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth's land surface and support around two billion people, yet up to half of them are already degraded or at risk. Restoring these landscapes is increasingly important for food security, water security, biodiversity and climate resilience.

According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the country's desertified land is now shrinking by an average of 10 million mu (about 667,000 hectares) annually, compared with an annual expansion of 5.15 million mu at the end of the last century.

Soil wind erosion across China's major deserts and sandy lands has fallen by about 40% since 2000, while forest and grassland coverage in the Three-North Shelterbelt Program region has risen to 40.76%.

These gains reflect broader improvements in the ecological health of northern China's fragile landscapes.

China's approach has evolved beyond simply stopping sand movement, with ecological restoration increasingly integrated with industrial development and rural livelihoods.

In Hotan, on the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, researchers have promoted a three-dimensional model combining shelter forests, economic crops and under-forest cultivation.

Elsewhere in Xinjiang, medicinal herbs and specialty crops are helping turn desert control into a source of rural prosperity.

Lei Jiaqiang, a researcher at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said China is increasingly pursuing "systematic governance" that combines ecological protection with economic development.

In Jinta County, northwest China's Gansu Province, extensive shelterbelts of saxaul and other drought-resistant shrubs help stabilize shifting dunes, while medicinal plants such as cistanche generate additional income for local communities. Lei said China's desertification-control efforts increasingly combine ecological restoration with local economic development and livelihood improvement.

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, one of the country's pioneering regions in desertification control, has completed a continuous protective green belt along its section of the Tengger Desert and fully stabilized mobile dunes in the Mu Us Sandy Land.

It has also hosted seven international training programs, providing desertification-control training to participants from 74 countries and regions. China is also sharing desertification-control technologies and experience through cooperation platforms with Central Asia and countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Yet significant challenges remain. Earlier this year, several dust storms affected northern China, with monitoring indicating that a significant share originated in neighboring Mongolia.

Barron J. Orr, chief scientist of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), warned that Northeast Asia remains one of the world's major dust-source regions, where climate change and land degradation are increasing wind-erosion risks. He emphasized that stronger early-warning systems, information sharing and technical cooperation among source and downwind countries are essential for reducing future impacts.

Kenya hosts this year's global observance of Desertification and Drought Day, while Mongolia will host UNCCD COP17 later this year, placing rangeland restoration, drought resilience and land degradation high on the international agenda.

China's experience shows that desertification control goes beyond stopping the spread of sand. Increasingly, it is about restoring ecosystems, creating livelihoods and building resilience in regions facing a changing climate.

For more:

2025 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought: Land restoration unlocks green opportunities

(Cover designed by CGTN's Liu Shaozhen)

China expresses grave concern over recurring malicious incidents that threaten the security of Chinese embassy and consulates in Japan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday at a regular press briefing.

Lin pointed out that Kodai Murata, a second lieutenant of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, illegally broke into the Chinese Embassy in Japan armed with a knife. Nearly three months have passed, yet Japan's investigation and handling of the case are still proceeding slowly, he added.

"The incident once again exposes deep-seated issues in Japan," Lin said, urging the Japanese side to reflect on and correct its policies and conduct, carry out a thorough probe and provide a responsible explanation to China.

China said on Wednesday that it is fully within its sovereign rights to carry out activities including scientific research at Huangyan Dao, and no country has the right to interfere.

China has indisputable sovereignty over the island and its adjacent waters, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press conference.

Lin said the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has conducted a comprehensive research covering the entire area surrounding Huangyan Dao since late May. 

The scientific research, which has now been completed, helps deepen the understanding and forecast of the ecosystem of Huangyan Dao, and improve the development of ecological civilization in the South China Sea, he added.

Lin urged relevant countries to stop at once the spread of disinformation and unwarranted accusation against China, and stop making provocations and creating trouble at sea.

As China and Germany deepen cooperation across key sectors, including automotive, chemicals, machinery manufacturing, and the circular economy, German companies are weighing growth opportunities against challenges stemming from trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainty. CGTN reporter Bi Ran spoke with Michael Kern, Executive Director for East China at the German Chamber of Commerce in China, about the bilateral business environment and the competitiveness of German firms in the Chinese market. 

The United States will strike again if Iran fails to comply with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between them, President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday.

"If they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head," Trump said at the G7 summit alongside Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

The United States and Iran electronically signed an MoU on Monday to end the war, with an official signing scheduled for Friday in Switzerland.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said the United States would make the Strait of Hormuz fully open by Friday.

However, Israel's Ma'ariv news site reported Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear Israel "does not consider itself committed to the Lebanese clause in the US-Iran agreement." Israel continued its strikes in south Lebanon on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi described ending the war in Lebanon as an "inseparable" part of the Iran-US peace deal.

The G7 summit kicked off on Monday in Evian, a town on the shores of Lake Geneva in eastern France.

China will strengthen communication and coordination with Qatar and other regional countries to help restore peace and stability in the Gulf region as soon as possible, Zhai Jun, special envoy of the Chinese government on the Middle East issue, said during a visit to Qatar on June 15-16.

During a meeting with Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, the minister of state at Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhai said China welcomed the United States and Iran reaching agreement on a first-stage memorandum of understanding and praised Qatar and other countries for their efforts to end hostilities and seek peace.

He called on all parties to adhere to the path of peace and resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiations.

Zhai also said China viewed its ties with Qatar from a strategic and long-term perspective and was ready to work with Doha to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and deepen bilateral relations.

Al-Khulaifi said Qatar attached great importance to developing friendly ties with China and was willing to deepen political mutual trust and maintain communication on major international and regional issues.

He said Qatar would continue mediation efforts and work to maintain the momentum in negotiations based on the first-stage memorandum of understanding between the parties involved.

Al-Khulaifi also praised China's efforts to ease regional tensions and said Qatar was ready to work with Beijing to safeguard security and stability in the Gulf region.

(Cover: People gather along the shoreline overlooking the West Bay skyline on a summer evening in Doha, Qatar, on June 8, 2026. /VCG)

A date remembered differently

June 17, 1895 has long been remembered by Taiwan people as a Day of Shame, marking the formal commencement of half a century of Japanese colonial administration over the island. For the colonial rulers themselves, however, the same date was once an occasion for official celebration.

That divergence in memory has always existed. What has changed is that one version of it is now being intentionally amplified. Japanese politicians have recently declared that a contingency over Taiwan would constitute a survival-level crisis for Japan — language that echoes old imperial preoccupations. Meanwhile, Taiwan's current leadership has paid public tribute at the memorial of a Japanese colonial-era engineer, framing the gesture as an expression of gratitude.

The narrative of Japan-Taiwan affinity is louder than it has been in decades. But it rests on a systematic distortion of what 50 years of colonial occupation actually meant for the people who endured it.

Romanticized narrative built on blood and bone

In late May, historians from leading Chinese academies convened in Beijing for a seminar on Japan's colonial crimes in Taiwan, determined to answer myths with something harder to dismiss. "Whether it is Japan's acts of massacre in Taiwan or its plunder of resources and wealth, these are facts documented by the historical community, acknowledged by many scholars, including those in China's Taiwan region," said Zhang Haipeng, a member of the Academic Committee of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, arguing that the recent political narrative has grown increasingly detached from documented evidence.

The scale of colonial violence in Taiwan is among the most persistently obscured facts in this debate. At the time of Japan's surrender, Taiwan's total population stood at approximately six million. A 1944 declaration by the Taiwan Revolutionary League — corroborated by subsequent scholarly research by historians in Taiwan — estimated that approximately 650,000 people — roughly one in nine people — perished under Japanese colonial rule over 50 years marked by armed suppression, massacres, forced displacement, famine, and military conscription.

Scholars also dismantled the revisionist claim that Japan's seizure of Taiwan in 1895 was an accidental byproduct of the First Sino-Japanese War, tracing the expansionist doctrine behind it from Toyotomi Hideyoshi's sixteenth-century blueprint for East Asian dominance through the engine of Meiji militarism. The record is unambiguous: the 1879 annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom and the 1874 military probe into Taiwan's coast were calculated rehearsals, testing Qing coastal defenses, establishing precedents for intervention, so that when Japan forced the Treaty of Shimonoseki, it was not seizing an unexpected opportunity. It was collecting on a long-prepared invoice.

The moment the terms of the treaty became known in Taiwan, resistance erupted, and the massacres followed almost immediately. Sweeping operations in the island's north through 1895 and 1896 left tens of thousands dead, documented by foreign observers on the ground. The Yunlin Massacre of 1896 was one of the period's defining atrocities. Japanese forces burned nearly 5,000 homes in the Yunlin area over five days, killing civilians with no distinction between combatant and non-combatant.

In 1915, the Xilai'an Incident revealed a crueler method: colonial authorities offered amnesty to villagers who laid down arms, then machine-gunned them when they returned home. Over 3,200 died, among them students, the elderly, and infants. For Taiwan's indigenous communities, the violence was even more systematic. Multi-year pacification campaigns gave way, by 1930, to the deployment of poison gas against the Seediq ethnic people following the Wushe Uprising. When the uprising was crushed, Japanese forces incited rival groups to finish off the survivors; a community of over 1,200 was reduced to fewer than 200. Their leader Mona Rudao was driven to suicide, with his remains subsequently put on museum display.

Is it development or extraction?

The revisionist argument, stripped to its essence, is that Japan modernized Taiwan — railways, irrigation, public health — and that this constitutes grounds for gratitude. Scholars at the Beijing seminar did not dispute that infrastructure was built. They disputed who it was built for.

Japan's stated economic strategy was captured in a single phrase: "industrial Japan, agricultural Taiwan." The island was to be permanently locked into supplying raw commodities — primarily rice and sugar — to the Japanese home market, with no diversified industrial base of its own. The numbers tell the story. Between 1900 and 1944, Taiwan shipped over 11.6 million metric tonnes of rice to Japan — regularly exceeding half of annual production during the 1920s and 30s. Japanese nationals were guaranteed a per capita annual consumption of around 160 kilograms; Taiwan's consumption fell below 100 kilograms by the 1930s. The people who grew the rice could not afford to eat it.

Wang Xiaoping of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences used the figure now at the center of the controversy — colonial engineer Hatta Yoichi, at whose memorial Taiwan's current leadership recently knelt — to make the point concrete. Hatta built irrigation works but their benefits did not reach Taiwan people until 1945, when the facilities passed out of colonial hands. Venerating him as a benefactor, Wang said, inverts the actual direction of that benefit entirely.

One further fact unsettles the modernization narrative at its foundation: before Japan's arrival in 1895, Taiwan was already among the most developed regions of Qing-era China, with functioning railways, telegraphs, modern mining, and a steamship industry. Japan did not bring modernity to a blank slate. It redirected a modernization already underway, away from local benefit and toward imperial extraction.

Why the revision is happening now

The current rehabilitation of Japan's colonial record is not happening in a historical vacuum. Scholars at the Beijing seminar pointed to a convergence of political incentives that has made historical revisionism mutually advantageous for certain actors in both Japan and Taiwan.

Zang Yunhu from Peking University noted that Japan's relationship to its own wartime history has undergone a significant shift over the past two decades. The Murayama Statement of 1995, in which the Japanese government formally acknowledged that Japan had engaged in colonial rule and a war of aggression, represented a moment of relative historical candor. Since then, successive administrations have moved in a different direction — away from acknowledgment and toward what Zang characterized as an organized effort to substitute an alternative historical memory, one in which the colonial period figures as an era of development rather than occupation.

Chen Hongmin, professor of history at Zhejiang University, offered a structural analysis. The post-Cold War international order, dominated by the United States following the Soviet Union's collapse, created new incentives for regional actors to leverage relationships as pressure against China. Japan's use of Taiwan-related rhetoric — exemplified by the public statements of politicians like Sanae Takaichi that a Taiwan contingency would constitute a survival-level crisis for Japan — reflects an attempt to position Taiwan as both a bargaining chip in geopolitical competition with China and a justification for Japan's own rearmament and expanded strategic footprint.

There is also a political dimension on the Taiwan side. Pro-independence political forces have, over decades of educational and cultural policy, cultivated an affinity with Japan that depends on a selective and idealized reading of the colonial period. The veneration of colonial-era figures as benefactors, the characterization of the Japanese period as a time of development and modernization, and the systematic minimization of colonial violence — all serve a political project that requires distancing Taiwan from its Chinese cultural and historical identity.

Professor Zhang Haipeng was direct about where this trajectory leads. Japan's current posture — building new intelligence agencies, making explicit statements about military readiness in relation to the Taiwan Strait, and refusing to engage honestly with its own colonial and wartime history — carries the hallmarks of a militarist revival, meaning the framing may be new but the underlying logic is not.

The weight of what is left unsaid

The scholars gathered in Beijing were careful to make a distinction that gets lost in political polemic. Studying and documenting colonial crimes is not the same as cultivating hatred. Remembering that 650,000 people died is not the same as demanding that their deaths define all future relationships. The purpose of historical clarity, as Wang Xiaoping put it, is to understand where Taiwan came from, what it endured, and what was paid — so that the present and future can be navigated with clear eyes rather than manufactured sentiment.

There is also something that the revisionist account obscures about the people of Taiwan themselves— resistance never fully stopped. That history of resistance belongs to the people of Taiwan. Glorifying the colonizers necessarily diminishes it. In 2025, China designated October 25 as Taiwan Retrocession Day — marking the moment in 1945 when, following Japan's surrender, Taiwan formally returned to Chinese sovereignty, ending 50 years of colonial rule.

The designation was partly symbolic. But the symbolism carries weight. The post-war international order, embodied in the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and Japan's own surrender documents, was built on a specific reckoning with Japanese imperial aggression. That reckoning was always incomplete — partly because of Cold War geopolitics, partly because of the choices made by various parties in the years after 1945. What some are now attempting is not a fresh interpretation of history. It is a continuation of that incompleteness by other means.

History does not simply disappear when it becomes inconvenient. The archives remain. The survivor accounts have been recorded. The numbers, painstakingly assembled by scholars over generations, are what they are. The question is not whether this history exists. The question is whether those invoking Japan-Taiwan affinity in 2026 are willing to be honest about what lies beneath the sentiment they are selling.

(Cover photo: Japan’s Suppression of the Taiwan people — Smoke and Flames Rising over Indigenous Village./ Taiwan Historical Rare Books Database)

China has decided to provide a new batch of humanitarian assistance to Iran and Lebanon in the near future to support post-conflict recovery and improve livelihoods, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, Lin said China is deeply saddened by the humanitarian consequences caused by the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, as well as its spillover effects across the Middle East.

In March this year, China had already provided emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran and other relevant countries. Given the actual needs of the countries concerned, China has decided to roll out a new batch of humanitarian aid to Iran and Lebanon soon, to further support the two peoples in advancing recovery and reconstruction, and improving economic development and people's wellbeing, according to the spokesperson.

Lin added that China will continue to provide support and assistance within its capacity, while continuing to promote peace talks and play a positive role in the early restoration of peace and tranquility in the Middle East.

Four people were killed and several others wounded in Israeli drone strikes targeting Mayfadoun in southern Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon, according to a preliminary toll reported by Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA).

Israeli attacks intensified in the Nabatieh area, where a drone first targeted a vehicle in Mayfadoun before striking the area again after residents gathered at the scene. A second vehicle was later targeted in the same area. The attacks in Mayfadoun resulted in the deaths of four people and injuries to several others, according to NNA.

Iran and the United States finalized a peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sunday, which is also expected to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference on Monday that the Israeli military would remain in the "security zones" it controlled in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip as long as necessary.

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip also continued. Two Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, as the evacuation of sick and wounded continued through the Rafah border crossing.

Displaced people return to southern Lebanon

Following news of a US-Iran deal, displaced people began returning to their homes in southern Lebanon despite challenges, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said some families are cautiously returning to their communities of origin following Sunday's announcement of an agreement between the United States and Iran, which reportedly includes the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon.

According to Lebanese authorities, the number of displaced people hosted in collective shelters has decreased by about 10,000 people over the past four days. In South Governorate, about 2,700 people reportedly left collective shelters on Monday, OCHA said.

However, the office said it remains unclear whether these movements represent temporary visits to inspect their property or permanent returns.

OCHA said that violent incidents in southern Lebanon continue to be reported, affecting people's ability to move safely.

(With input from Xinhua)

Türkiye's Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that NATO will deploy an Italian SAMP-T missile defense system in the central province of Konya to enhance the country's airspace security.

In a statement, the ministry said the move is being carried out under NATO's standing defense plans and is aimed at strengthening the alliance's air defense.

The Italian-operated system will be stationed at the 3rd Main Jet Base Command in Konya, the statement said.

The SAMP-T, developed jointly by France and Italy, is a mobile surface-to-air missile system designed to intercept a range of threats, including ballistic missiles.

NATO has already strengthened its presence in southeast Türkiye by deploying an additional Patriot missile battery to Incirlik Air Base in Adana province.

Two people were injured in a shooting on Tuesday afternoon at a hospital in Wilmington, a city in the US state of Delaware, and the suspect remains at large, local police said.

Preliminary information indicated that a hospital employee shot two other employees, ABC News reported, quoting law enforcement officials.

The condition of the injured is currently unknown and police are conducting a manhunt, according to the report.

US President Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine ​after a "very good" meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, in comments that sparked cautious optimism among G7 leaders that a peace deal could be struck.

The upbeat mood ‌over the Ukraine conflict, now deep into its fifth year, stands in stark contrast to Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump in the Oval Office last year, when he was told he had no leverage in potential peace talks with Russia.

Zelenskyy and his European allies came to this week's G7 summit in the French lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains hoping to impress upon Trump that Ukraine's battlefield fortunes had improved thanks to its drone incursions deep into Russia.

Trump, who arrived at the summit ​brandishing a preliminary deal to end his war with Iran, said he would do what he could do to end the conflict in Ukraine, but there were few details of any concrete steps to ​raise the pressure on Moscow.

"Look, Russia should make a deal," Trump told reporters, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on ⁠both sides. "I'm gonna do whatever I can."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump's statement that Russia should end the war was cause for cheer.

"I found him to be very cooperative, and I also saw him ​listening very attentively," Merz told reporters. "And in that respect, once again, it gives me a certain degree of optimism that we here, as Europeans and as Americans, are now doing everything we can, together, to ​end the war."

But two European diplomats said Trump had been noncommittal on imposing further US sanctions on Moscow, as European leaders want.

Trump told reporters that Washington was now in a position to let Russian oil waivers lapse after an interim accord to end the Iran war soothed markets, but he did not address the question of broader punitive measures.

Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne later showed a clip of Zelenskyy saying he hoped to meet Trump again on Tuesday.

"Our teams will be meeting over the course of the next 24 hours at various levels ​and will continue to meet," Zelenskyy said. "I think that tomorrow we will also meet separately with the president (Trump)."

Zelenskyy said on Monday that he had offered to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin at the G7 summit, ​but a Kremlin aide said that did not come up in a call between Trump and Putin.

(With input from Reuters)

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg on Tuesday urged relevant parties of the Yemeni conflict to seize the opportunity created by regional de-escalation following the Iran-US deal and revive the stalled political process.

Briefing the UN Security Council, Grundberg said he hoped the regional developments could create momentum for progress in Yemen and pledged to continue engaging the parties to advance political efforts. 

"I hope this deal marks a turning point for the region, and I will be working with the parties to encourage them to seize this moment to make progress on Yemen," Grundberg said.

He said the recent US-Israeli-Iran conflict has so far had limited military impact inside Yemen, where the relative calm established since the 2022 truce has largely held. However, he warned that regional tensions have added economic pressure to Yemen due to its heavy reliance on imports and proximity to regional developments.

Grundberg said his office recently held two separate meetings under the framework of the Military Coordination Committee (MCC) – one involving military representatives from the Saudi-led Joint Forces Command and Yemen's Houthi rebels, and another involving the Joint Forces Command and the Yemeni government.

The meetings enabled discussions on security priorities, de-escalation measures and improving communication channels. Based on commitments from all sides, the UN plans to convene a trilateral MCC meeting in the near future, he said.

Grundberg added that his office has also continued consultations and preparatory work on economic issues that will ultimately need to be addressed through negotiations.

He said these efforts are aimed at building confidence and paving the way for an inclusive political process to end the conflict, noting that despite negotiations on other issues, the parties have not held face-to-face political talks for years.

Warning that continued deadlock risks further instability inside Yemen and across the region, Grundberg called on the parties to use the current period of regional de-escalation to advance a sustainable political settlement, adding that the United Nations remains committed to supporting the process and the Yemeni people.