Xi's reply inspires youth support for China-France, China-Europe friendship

​Chinese President Xi Jinping has replied to a letter from teachers and students of the Chinese language class at an international school in France's Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, extending his best wishes to them as well as all the teachers and students of the school.

Against the backdrop of a fragile global recovery and increasing uncertainties, the upcoming China-U.S. economic and trade talks in Paris carry added significance, with the world expecting the two sides to move toward each other and help bring greater stability to global trade and growth.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he's not ready to make a deal to end the military campaign against Iran "because the terms aren't good enough yet."

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Saturday warned that any attack on Iran's oil and energy infrastructure would trigger retaliation against regional facilities linked to U.S. companies.

A long-range artillery sub-unit of the Korean People's Army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the western area conducted a firepower strike drill on March 14, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday.

Hezbollah fighters clashed directly with Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese border town of Khiam on Saturday night, the militant group said, as Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people across southern Lebanon.

The Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route, remains open and under Iranian control, a senior Iranian commander said on Saturday, amid rising tensions with the United States and its allies.

Representatives from Israel and Lebanon are expected to meet for a round of talks in the coming days amid the intensified fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported Saturday.

The announcement that China and the United States will hold a new round of economic and trade talks in Paris from Saturday to Tuesday sends a timely signal of engagement between the world's two largest economies at a moment when global markets crave stability.

Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone chaired a high-level consultative meeting to address fuel challenges, as unrest in the Middle East has driven sharp price fluctuations and caused a decline in fuel import volumes.

A record initial state budget for fiscal 2026 was approved by Japan's lower house on Friday evening with the backing of the ruling coalition's supermajority, amid criticism that the bill was pressed ahead despite controversies surrounding its contents and unusually shortened deliberations.

Ivorian Vice Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tene Birahima Ouattara on Friday reaffirmed Cote d'Ivoire's commitment to strengthening its counterterrorism measures.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Friday announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with the Central African Republic.

U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to move Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, a U.S. news website reported Friday.

Senior UN officials on Friday appealed for aid to victims of Israeli bombings in Lebanon and the safe passage of humanitarian cargo through the Strait of Hormuz.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday reiterated support for Cuba in face of the U.S. blockade that has been in place for more than six decades.

​A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson announced Friday that at the invitation of the Vietnamese side, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, member of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong, and Minister of National Defense Dong Jun will be in Vietnam from March 15 to 17 for the first ministerial meeting of the China-Vietnam "3+3" strategic dialogue on diplomacy, defense and public security.

​China expresses deep condolences regarding the deaths of students in the recent attack on an Iranian elementary school and extends sincere sympathies to their families, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Friday.

​Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about 20 percent of the world's oil and gas passes, the New York Times reported Thursday, citing U.S. officials. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi has denied the claim.

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday called for the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz and pledged to open new fronts in his country's conflict with the United States and Israel.