BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua)– Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday held talks with President Isaias Afwerki of the State of Eritrea in Beijing. Hailing China and Eritrea’s profound traditional friendship, Xi said the two countries will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations on May 24 and that over the past 30 years, China and Eritrea have always trusted and supported each other. China views and develops bilateral relations with Eritrea from a strategic and long-term perspective, and is a…

XI’AN, May 16 (Xinhua) — The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been one of the most talked-about buzzwords in international cooperation over the past few years. While many people know that it was proposed by China, few may realize that the concept was first put forward in Central Asia. In September 2013, during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kazakhstan, he delivered a speech of far-reaching significance at Nazarbayev University. In his address, Xi took his audience back to…

ANKARA, May 15 (Xinhua) — Türkiye was heading toward a likely runoff presidential election as Sunday vote count showed neither of the candidates above the 50-percent threshold of the votes to win outright, according to preliminary results delivered by the semi-official Anadolu Agency early Monday. Early results of Anadolu showed incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a comfortable ahead compared to the opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, but the gap was narrowed as more votes were counted. Erdogan received 49.67 percent…

BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) — The recent U.S. Census Bureau data suggest that the U.S. merchandise trade deficit with China was larger in 2022 than when Donald Trump was president, said an article on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace website. Adding that America’s overall trade deficit hit an all-time high of 1.18 trillion U.S. dollars, Carnegie noted that this fortifies the view that “tariffs would not reduce U.S. trade deficits and the costs would be paid largely by Americans.” Similarly,…

ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) — The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday evening ordered police to immediately release former Prime Minister Imran Khan who was arrested on May 9 on the charges of corruption and corrupt practices. The verdict was given on a plea of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party saying the arrest was illegal as it was made at the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) when Khan was seeking protective bail. The three-member bench of the supreme…

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday conveyed condolences to Rwandan President Paul Kagame over the disastrous heavy rains in the country. In recent days, strong rainstorms have hit many places in Rwanda, causing heavy casualties and property losses, Xi noted in a message. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, he mourned the dead and extended sincere sympathies to the bereaved families, the injured and the affected people. Xi voiced confidence that Rwanda will…

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) — The China-Central Asia Summit will be held on May 18 and19 in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the summit, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced here on Monday. At China’s invitation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan will be attending the summit, Hua said.

LONDON, May 5 (Xinhua) — Britain’s ruling Conservative party has lost over 1,000 seats in local elections across England, latest election results showed on Friday. Senior Conservatives had predicted ahead of the elections that major losses were to be expected after 13 years in power. By Friday evening, 222 out of 230 councils had already declared their results, with the Conservatives losing control of 45 city halls and the party’s 1,040 councilors lost their jobs in the process. However, the…

MOGADISHU, May 5 (Xinhua) — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has urgently appealed for funding to assist migrants facing life-threatening risks in Somalia. Funding to assist migrants in the country has fallen drastically over the years, while the needs of the migrant population continue to increase due to climatic shocks, conflicts, and economic crises, the United Nations migration agency said. IOM Chief of Mission for Somalia Frantz Celestin said the agency needs 3 million U.S. dollars before the end…

KHARTOUM, May 5 (Xinhua) — The Sudanese Army said on Friday that it has sent negotiators to the Saudi port city of Jeddah to discuss the humanitarian truce as part of a Saudi-American initiative to end the conflict in the African country. “As part of the Saudi-American initiative, a delegation of the Sudanese Armed Forces left for Jeddah to discuss the details relating to the truce,” the Sudanese army said in a statement. “This tends to secure and prepare the…