Russia remains open to finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

Mourners gather in St Peter's Square - located outside St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican - to pay their tributes to the late pontiff Pope Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88, multiple media outlets including AFP and Reuters reported, citing the Vatican.

On Sunday local time, several US media outlets reported on recent digital security vulnerabilities within the US government. Among the incidents highlighted was a reported leak by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who disclosed information about incoming airstrikes in Yemen in a private Signal chat group on March 15, including the flight schedules of US F/A-18 Hornets. Additionally, it was reported that US government officials improperly shared sensitive documents, potentially including classified floor plans of the White House.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a brief Easter ceasefire, drawing global attention while sparking various interpretations. Chinese observers said on Sunday the declared ceasefire is more of a test or a window of opportunity to observe relevant parties' reactions, adding that whether it leads to deeper engagement depends on mutual sincerity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday declared a unilateral Easter truce for the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

A photo exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War was held at the Chinese Embassy in Russia on Friday.

Ukraine said on Thursday that Kiev and Washington had signed a memorandum as an initial step towards clinching an agreement on developing mineral resources in Ukraine, and the US President Donald Trump said the accord could be signed next week, Reuters reported on Friday.

A ceasefire in Ukraine is currently unrealistic due to the country's continued attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said on Thursday.

A team of researchers from Russian university has unveiled an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) service designed to assess dental and oral health through a simple smile photograph.

California governor Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday that the western U.S. state which has the largest economy in the nation is suing the Trump administration over the President's sweeping "unlawful tariffs" on international trading partners.

US Former President Joe Biden offered his first public critique of President Donald Trump's second term Tuesday, painting the Trump administration' s handling of the Social Security Administration as destructive, according to the CNN news on Tuesday local time.

Four affected Chinese students have filed a lawsuit after the US government revoked the visas of at least 529 students, faculty members, and researchers from 88 US universities as part of a large-scale deportation effort, China Central Television reported. Clay Zhu, the attorney who is representing the case, told the Global Times on Tuesday that he's in the process of filing a motion, which could restore the students' visa status if granted.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) affirmed that the UAE's non-oil economy continued to exhibit a healthy growth dynamic, with the most recent data and economic indicators highlighting a robust expansion.

Russia's rocket and space industry should become one of the drivers of national economic growth and technological sovereignty, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday attended his first criminal trial on insurrection charges related to his attempt to impose martial law in December, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

A full moon is observed in Singapore on April 13, 2025.

Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam He Wei (He) recently told the Global Times (GT) in an exclusive interview that this year is of particular significance for bilateral relations, as it marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam, as well as the Year of People-to-People Exchanges.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 jolted Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region at 0424 GMT on Sunday, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan held a phone conversation on Saturday with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi to discuss the latest developments in the ongoing US-Iran talks hosted by Oman.

People trade watermelons at a wholesale market in Lahore, Pakistan on April 12, 2025.

The US Customs and Border Protection announced in an updated guidance late Friday that the government has exempted smartphones, computers and other electronic products from its "reciprocal tariffs."

With rising global demand for more personalised and effective healthcare solutions, the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, is hosting global leaders in health, research, policy, and technology to address the challenge of helping people to live not just longer, but healthier lives.

The US media on Thursday has reported at least three plane accidents: one helicopter crash in the Hudson River that killed all six people on board, multiple injuries resulting from a small plane crash in South Georgia, and American Airlines jets that clipped wings on a taxiway at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington.

A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River around Pier 40 in Manhattan, New York City, on Thursday afternoon killing all the six people on board, said New York City Mayor Eric Adams at a press conference.

Two American Airlines passenger planes bumped wings on a taxiway at the Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

S. Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung announces bid for presidency

Germany's CDU/CSU, SPD reach deal to form new gov't

Russian and U.S. officials will hold a new round of talks in Istanbul in the coming days, local media reported Tuesday, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Lee Jae-myung, chief of South Korea's main liberal opposition Democratic Party, resigned as party leader on Wednesday amid wide expectations for his presidential run.

Russian specialists are preparing detailed information on the innovative technology of oil and oil spills collection from water surface and successful practices of plastic collection on Lake Baikal. This was announced by the Director of the Department of International Cooperation in the field of natural resources and environmental protection of the Ministry of Natural Resources Ivan Kushch, reports the press service of the Ministry.

Billionaire Elon Musk has made personal appeals to US President Donald Trump to reverse the sweeping tariffs, but the attempted intervention, confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks, has not brought success so far, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The European Union (EU) on Monday proposed a 25 percent tariff on select U.S. products in response to President Donald Trump's recent decision to impose duties on European steel and aluminum, reported Reuters and Bloomberg, citing an internal document shared with EU member states.

Senior White House officials are making shocking remarks linking China to recent US market plunge — even targeting Chinese AI firm DeepSeek — as backlash mounts over US economic policies, including sweeping “reciprocal” tariff. Some comments have shocked even American media and netizens.

Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani pledged on Sunday to bolster the Self-Defense Forces' (SDF) transport capacity to remote southern islands through a newly launched unit called the Maritime Transportation Group, focused on maritime logistics citing so-called growing tensions over the Taiwan Straits, Japanese media outlet Kyodo News reported.

Demonstrators in major European cities, including London, Paris, Berlin and Lisbon, joined the U.S. "Hands OFF" movement on Saturday to protest against the Trump administration's policies, especially the so-called "reciprocal tariffs."

The world's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed a notable decline in business activity last month, with a significant drag from the Americas, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Sunday.

Protests erupted in dozens of cities across the United States on Saturday over the controversial policies unveiled by US President Donald Trump's administration since January.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended his first NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, where he reaffirmed Washington's position that Europe should take more responsibility for defending the alliance.

More countries have voiced strong opposition to the US' new sweeping tariffs, with leaders from Europe, Asia, and Africa opposing the move and calling for more action to prevent further trade escalation.

The South Korean Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday, removing him from office over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

The death toll in Myanmar has risen to 2,886, with 4,639 injured and 373 still missing, five days after the earthquake struck on Friday, according to the country's State Administration Council information team on Wednesday.

The BRICS Working Group has held a series of meetings to discuss sustainable transport solutions and improve air connectivity between member countries. These discussions are aimed at agreeing on priority topics to be presented at the BRICS Summit in July. This is reported by the official website of the Brazilian Government.

US President Donald Trump said he was "very angry" and "pissed off" at Russian President Vladimir Putin over the latter's questioning of Ukrainian leadership, and he threatened to impose secondary tariffs of Russian oil buyers in an interview with NBC News on Sunday. US President later also said Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky faces "big, big problems" if he backs out of a mineral deal with the US.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he may impose "secondary tariffs" on Russian oil if he believes Russia is at fault for not reaching a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Five survivors, including a child and a pregnant woman, have been rescued by Chinese rescue teams in Mandalay as of Monday morning as Chinese rescue teams are racing against time to save lives in quake-hit Myanmar.

Chinese rescuers pulled out a pregnant survivor in quake-hit Myanmar city Mandalay on Monday morning.

China Search and Rescue Team successfully recovered a female survivor at the Great Wall Hotel quake site in Mandalay city, Myanmar, early on Monday.

In the second article of "Readers' Reflections" column, GT reporter Chen Qingqing talked to Hodan Osman Abdi, the Somali Ambassador to China, who previously worked in Zhejiang and conducted extensive grassroots research across various regions in China.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Tonga Islands at 8:18 p.m. Sunday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The Washington Post on Saturday revealed a Pentagon internal guidance memo from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth which allegedly focuses on “deterring China's seizure of Taiwan” and shoring up US homeland defense. A Chinese expert said that the memo once again underscores Washington's positioning of comprehensive strategic competition with China as a core priority, however, the memo's contradiction with current US administration's America First doctrine means there could be policy inconsistency in implementation.

Members of the Blue Sky Rescue (BSR) team from China's Hunan Province recovered a quake survivor in central Myanmar's severely-hit city of Mandalay at around 9:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, according to the Chinese embassy in Myanmar.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Saturday “praised American-Japanese friendship and trust” while attending a memorial service on Iwo Jima to honor those who died in a pivotal World War II battle, according to AP. Hegseth's related remarks have sparked strong criticism from many netizens. They slammed Hegseth's praise of the Japanese military as a desecration of the sacrificed American soldiers in the battle.

About 1,700 people died, 3,400 were injured, and 300 remained missing in the massive earthquake in Myanmar, according to the country's State Administration Council on Sunday.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced on Saturday that she will visit Greenland on April 2 to 4 for talks with the territory's new government, according to Reuters.

Thirteen Chinese nationals were injured in the earthquake in Myanmar, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar confirmed on Sunday.

A small plane crashed in a residential area in the U.S. state of Minnesota on Saturday, setting a house on fire, said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

A rescue team of China's Yunnan Province, joined by Myanmar's rescue forces, retrieved an elderly man in earthquake-hit Myanmar capital Nay Pyi Taw at 05:00 local time on Sunday.

A total of 1,644 people died, 3,408 were injured, and 139 remained missing in a powerful earthquake in Myanmar, according to the Information Team of the State Administration Council on Saturday night.

Two survivors with vital signs were found by China's Yunnan Rescue Medical Team in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, on Saturday, following the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the country on Friday.

Four people were injured in a knife attack in Trondheim, Norway, local media reported on Saturday.

US Vice President JD Vance on Friday accused Denmark of failing to protect Greenland from countries like Russia and China and other nations, suggesting the US would be better suited to safeguard the island. Vance's comments are a continuation of Washington's obsession with great-power competition, a Chinese expert said.

A total of 694 people were killed, 1,670 injured and 68 missing in a deadly earthquake in Mandalay region of Myanmar as of Saturday morning, the Information Team of Myanmar's State Administration Council reported.

Greenland announced the formation of a new autonomous government on Friday in Nuuk, the capital, just hours ahead of a visit by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance to the Arctic island.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Friday announced a state of emergency in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, after a strong earthquake.

A 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar at 14:20 on Friday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada's old relationship with the United States "based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over."

Amid escalating armed clashes and rising security risks, the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan has advised Chinese nationals to evacuate as soon as possible via commercial flights. In case of emergencies, they are advised to contact the embassy promptly, the embassy said on Thursday.

A 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar at 2:20 p.m. Friday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 jolted Myanmar at 06:20:54 GMT on Friday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday is scheduled to host European leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a summit aimed at boosting Ukrainian security ahead of any potential cease-fire with Russia, reported AFP. Experts viewed the summit as Europe's latest push to secure a seat at the negotiation table alongside the US and Russia, though they noted that Europe's influence over Washington is limited.

The death toll rose to 26, with 30 others injured, as South Korea's worst-ever wildfires continued to rage in southeastern areas, government compilation showed Thursday.

Hamas Spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou has been killed in an Israeli airstrike on northern Gaza, according to media report on Thursday.

Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, released on Wednesday the full content of a group chat regarding the operation plan to strike Houthi forces in Yemen, after President Donald Trump and several high-ranking officials claimed the group chat did not contain classified information.

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was acquitted of election law violation by an appeal court on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his cabinet were officially dismissed by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday afternoon.

Eighteen people were killed and 19 others injured as deadly wildfires raged in South Korea's southeastern region, government compilation showed Wednesday.

U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz assumed "full responsibility" for a leaked group chat discussing an upcoming strike in Yemen, he said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stood by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, after The Atlantic's editor-in-chief was accidentally added to Signal group chat where high-level national security officials were discussing military plans in Yemen.

Three days of technical-level negotiations on the details of a potential ceasefire in Ukraine concluded here Tuesday without an official joint statement, as participating parties offered somewhat conflicting assessments of the talks.

Senior U.S. national security officials added a prominent journalist to a Signal group chat discussing a military strike on the Houthis in Yemen, making him aware of the airstrike plan two hours before the U.S. operation.

Top Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, discussed details of a highly sensitive operation to bomb Houthi targets in Yemen in a group chat that mistakenly included The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, according to Goldberg on Monday.

The new round of talks between Russian and U.S. delegations concluded here on Monday after some 12 hours, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

US and Russian officials began talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday, following US negotiations with Ukraine on Sunday, aimed at making progress toward a broad cease-fire in Ukraine with Washington eyeing a separate Black Sea maritime cease-fire deal before securing a wider agreement, according to the Reuters.

A high-profile US delegation will visit Greenland this week to visit an American military base and watch a dogsled race as President Donald Trump promotes the idea of a US annexation of the strategic, semi-autonomous Danish territory. This move has faced both opposition from Greenland and Denmark governments, according to a report by Reuters.

U.S. and Russian delegations started fresh talks on Monday in Saudi Arabia, which are reportedly expected to cover discussions on the Ukraine settlement and the Black Sea initiative.

South Korea's Constitutional Court on Monday dismissed the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating him as acting president in the ongoing turmoil over suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol's brief imposition of martial law, Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday.

South Korea's constitutional court on Monday rejected a motion by the parliament to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, according to the court.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced Sunday that the talks between U.S. and Ukrainian delegations have concluded in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, saying the discussion was "productive and focused," with "key points including energy" addressed.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has topped 50,000, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Sunday.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that he had met top military commanders in the country's northeast to discuss the frontline in Ukraine's war with Russia and Ukrainian delegation's meetings with US officials due to get under way in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to the Reuters on Sunday.

Chinese and New Zealand scientists have successfully concluded a groundbreaking collaborative dive expedition to the Puysegur Trench, supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Global Trench Exploration and Diving program (Global TREnD).

The US Department of Defense announced on Friday that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will depart next week for a trip to Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines and Japan. This will be Hegseth's first official visit to the Indo-Pacific region during his tenure. Unlike traditional first trips to the Asia-Pacific region by US defense secretaries, which typically include South Korea, Hegseth has notably omitted South Korea and included the Philippines instead. Experts interviewed by the Global Times believe that this arrangement demonstrates the US intention to target China and is likely to encourage the Philippines to take further provocative actions against China.

South Korea's opposition parties on Friday submitted an impeachment motion against Choi Sang-mok, deputy prime minister for economic affairs who became acting president in December last year following the impeachments of both president and prime minister, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

S. Korea's opposition parties submit impeachment motion against acting president

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to formally begin the process of dismantling the Education Department, saying that his administration is returning education back to the states.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will sign a rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine "very shortly."

US President Donald Trump has held what he described as a "very good" hour-long phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, a day after speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian President put his support behind President Trump's push for a limited ceasefire with Russia.

A senior Philippine military official has called on India and South Korea to join the “Squad,” an informal multilateral grouping made up of Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the United States. A Chinese expert described the move as a reflection of Manila's anxiety and a risky bet to embolden itself by drawing external powers into the region.