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JAKARTA: China’s defence and foreign ministers met their Indonesian counterparts on Friday, with security, politics and economic issues set to dominate talks, as Jakarta tries to balance ties with both Beijing and Washington amid trade battles and tensions in the South China Sea. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, visiting Jakarta for the first time in two years, met Indonesian counterpart Sugiono and was due to participate later in a “2+2” meeting with the two countries’ defence ministers. Wang in introductory remarks said that amid complex global challenges, it was timely they were meeting under the new dialogue mechanism and both…

China and Switzerland have completed negotiations on an upgraded free trade agreement and signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday. Swiss Federal President and Minister for Economic Affairs, Education and Research Guy Parmelin and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao announced the conclusion of the talks after a meeting in Bern.

The Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, will hold its 24th session in Beijing from August 25 to 28. During the upcoming session, lawmakers will deliberate a slew of draft laws, including a draft law against cross-border corruption, a draft law on healthcare security, a draft law on farmland protection and quality improvement, as well as draft revisions to the Agriculture Law, the National Defense Mobilization Law, the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, the Law on the Regulation of and Supervision over the Banking Industry, and the Water Law.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday that China and South Korea should strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust and pursue strategic cooperation in political, economic, trade and security fields. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, made the remarks when holding a strategic dialogue with Wi Sung-lac, South Korea’s top presidential national security advisor, in Seoul. Wang said that the exchange of visits between the two heads of state since last year has ushered China-South Korea relations into…

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday congratulated Hakainde Hichilema on his re-election as president of Zambia. In his message, Xi said that they have met twice in recent years, and jointly steered the development of China-Zambia relations. The political mutual trust between the two countries has continued to deepen, practical cooperation has been fruitful, and China and Zambia have closely coordinated and cooperated in multilateral affairs, he said. Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Zambia ties, and stands ready to work with Hichilema to implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa…

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Thursday passed by majority vote the Defence Forces Act 2026, and the National Command Authority (Amendment) Bill, following their approval by the federal cabinet earlier. The bills were approved by the cabinet during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, where the government endorsed draft legislation aimed at implementing legal and administrative changes arising from the 27th Constitutional Amendment. The cabinet approved the draft Defence Forces Act 2026, which seeks to establish the necessary legal and administrative framework concerning the office of the Chief of Defence Forces and the Chief of Defence Forces Headquarters.…

US President Donald Trump has announced what he called the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY”, warning Iran and countries that continue to provide economic support to Tehran of sweeping new measures. In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused Iran of rejecting opportunities to reach a deal with his administration and said Washington would pursue “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale”. “No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it,” Trump said. Trump claimed Iran’s navy…

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a warm and constructive restricted meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani in Islamabad on Thursday, with the two sides discussing bilateral ties and regional developments. During the meeting, the two foreign ministers reaffirmed the deep-rooted brotherly relations between Pakistan and Syria and discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest. The two sides also held in-depth discussions on regional developments, according to the Foreign Office. Earlier, Syrian Foreign Minister Al-Shaibani arrived in Islamabad at the invitation of DPM Dar. He was accompanied by…

Russian ballistic missiles killed at least five people and injured over two dozen more in ​Kyiv early on Thursday, authorities said on the Telegram messaging app, damaging ​buildings and leaving parts of the Ukrainian capital without power. People were ⁠trapped in one residential building and fires broke out in multiple locations, while non-residential ​facilities, warehouses and a children’s hospital were also hit, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. A ​Reuters witness reported hearing more than a dozen explosions. In the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital, another person was killed, an official said separately on Telegram. Ukraine’s emergency service showed video of ​servicemen…

Australia summoned Israel’s ambassador on Thursday and expressed outrage at a decision by its military not ​to pursue criminal proceedings over the death of an Australian aid worker in ‌a 2024 airstrike in Gaza. The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had found no basis to investigate the killings of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, ​after a fact-finding and assessment procedure. “This decision falls far short of the accountability ​we expect,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, adding that Australia was ⁠outraged by the decision. “Democracies seek, and accept higher standards. The Australian…