New Zealand tightens gun laws further in response to mass shooting
New Zealand tightened its gun laws on Thursday with a registry that it had promised after a gunman killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year in the country’s worst peace-time mass shooting.
India holds funerals for soldiers killed in China border clash as tensions stay high
India prepared to hold funerals on Thursday for some of the 20 soldiers killed in brutal hand-to-hand fighting with Chinese troops in a disputed mountainous border region, as the nuclear-armed rivals sought to defuse tensions.
Australia begins probe into Rio’s destruction of Aboriginal site
Australia called for submissions on Thursday to an inquiry into how mining giant Rio Tinto legally blew up two sacred Aboriginal caves that showed human history stretching back at least 46,000 years.
New coronavirus cases in New Zealand rattle public confidence
New Zealand recorded on Thursday its third new case of the coronavirus this week as quarantine breaches and other failures undermined public confidence days after it declared itself among the first countries in the world to be free of the virus.
Top U.S, China diplomats meet in Hawaii amid frayed ties
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Hawaii on Wednesday amid a deep deterioration of ties between the strategic rivals, their first face-to-face meeting since last year.
China tells U.S. to stop interfering in its affairs, work to repair relations
China’s top diplomat told his U.S. counterpart that Washington needed to respect Beijing’s positions on key issues, halt its interference in issues such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang and work to repair bilateral relations.
South Korea’s nuclear envoy visits U.S. as tensions flare with North Korea
South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator will hold talks with officials in Washington on Thursday amid flaring tensions with North Korea after Pyongyang blew up an inter-Korean liaison office and threatened military action.
U.S., China discuss need for full transparency to fight coronavirus
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi on Wednesday and discussed the need for full transparency and information sharing between the two nations to combat the coronavirus pandemic and prevent future outbreaks.
China says top diplomat Yang held constructive talks with Pompeo
China said on Thursday its top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held constructive discussions during their meeting in Hawaii and that the two sides agreed to continue engagement and communication.
China says it must improve hygiene in markets after Beijing outbreak
Low standards of hygiene in China’s wholesale food markets and vulnerabilities in its food supply chain need to be urgently addressed after a new coronavirus outbreak in Beijing, a leading body of the ruling Communist Party said.
