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China's Xi Calls for Stronger Fintech Oversight, Security

File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty and led to the founding of the Republic of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 9, 2021. (AFP)
File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty and led to the founding of the Republic of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 9, 2021. (AFP)
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China's Xi Calls for Stronger Fintech Oversight, Security

File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty and led to the founding of the Republic of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 9, 2021. (AFP)
File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty and led to the founding of the Republic of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 9, 2021. (AFP)

A high-level Chinese government meeting led by President Xi Jinping has called for stronger oversight and better security in financial tech, state media reported, with the sector hit hard by a regulatory crackdown.

The government action has pummeled some of China's biggest tech firms, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in market value since last year, AFP said.

But with the Chinese economy hammered by Covid lockdowns, the government has rolled out a series of support measures, including a call for "predictable" tech regulation.

"Regarding large payment and fintech platform enterprises, Xi called for efforts to improve regulations, strengthen institutional weak links, ensure the security of payment and financial infrastructure, and guard against and defuse potential systemic financial risks," according to a readout of the Wednesday meeting by the official Xinhua news agency.

The Chinese leader also "called for these enterprises to be better supported in serving the real economy", Xinhua said.

The officials at the meeting discussed promoting the "healthy development" of fintech companies, it added, and said "China will tighten oversight" of financial holding firms and internet financial services.

Investors have been heartened in recent weeks by similar statements by the Chinese government, with some perceiving them as signals that the tech crackdown is finally easing.

Hopes also soared this month when dozens of new video games were approved, and tech stocks rose on reports that authorities were wrapping up a cybersecurity probe into ride-hailing giant Didi.

But regulators this month denied reports that they were discussing the potential revival of Ant Group's scuppered IPO, which would have been the world's largest public offering at the time.

Ant Group -- the payments affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba -- had its share offering cancelled at the last minute in 2020.

Alibaba was later hit with a $2.75 billion fine over alleged unfair practices.

Ant Group is set to apply for a financial licence as soon as this month, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

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Ukraine Says Russia Fired Hundreds of Drones, Missiles in ‘Massive’ Daytime Attack

People relax at the Gryshko National Botanical Garden in Kyiv on April 1, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
People relax at the Gryshko National Botanical Garden in Kyiv on April 1, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Ukraine Says Russia Fired Hundreds of Drones, Missiles in ‘Massive’ Daytime Attack

People relax at the Gryshko National Botanical Garden in Kyiv on April 1, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
People relax at the Gryshko National Botanical Garden in Kyiv on April 1, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

Kyiv and its surrounding region on Friday faced pummeling by Russian missiles and drones, officials said, the latest in an increasing number of daytime attacks on Ukraine.

"The Kyiv region is once again under a massive enemy missile and drone attack," said regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk.

One person died in the attacks, he added.

The barrage prompted emergency power outages in several regions, energy operator Ukrenergo announced.

Russia launched almost 500 drones and missiles over Ukraine, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.

"Terrorist Russia strikes in broad daylight deliberately -- to maximize civilian casualties and damage," Sybiga said.

"This is how Moscow responds to Ukraine's Easter ceasefire proposals -- with brutal attacks," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was ready for a truce over the Easter holidays, but the Kremlin said it had not received any proposals.

Ukraine accuses Russia of deliberately prolonging the war to capture more Ukrainian territory and says Moscow is not genuinely interested in peace.

Talks between the two warring parties, mediated by the United States, have been stalled by the war in the Middle East.

Zelensky said he had invited an American delegation to Kyiv to relaunch negotiations with Moscow.

"The American group can come to us and, after us, go to Moscow. If it does not work out with three parties, let's do it this way," Zelensky said, in remarks made public Friday.

World

Human Remains Found on Thai Ship Attacked in Hormuz Strait

A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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Human Remains Found on Thai Ship Attacked in Hormuz Strait

A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)
A cargo ship in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (Reuters)

Human remains have been found aboard a cargo ship struck by Iran while transiting the Strait of Hormuz last month, the vessel's owner said Friday, after three crew members were reported missing following the attack.

US-Israeli strikes on Iran late February prompted Tehran to respond by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial artery for global oil supplies.

The Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree was struck in March while travelling through the strait after departing Khalifa port in the United Arab Emirates.

"Certain human remains were found within the affected area of the vessel," a statement from transport company Precious Shipping said Friday, adding it could not yet confirm the identities or the number of individuals.

Twenty Thai crew members returned home in mid-March, while three of their colleagues were missing and presumed trapped in the damaged engine compartment.

A search was carried out under "challenging conditions" as the vessel's engine room had been flooded and damaged by fire, the company said.

Thailand's foreign ministry said it was "saddened" by the development and that families of the missing crew had been informed.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in March they had struck the Mayuree Naree, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because the ships had ignored "warnings".

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Iran’s Former Top Diplomat Urges Deal with US to End War

A newly constructed bridge struck by US airstrikes Thursday is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A newly constructed bridge struck by US airstrikes Thursday is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
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Iran’s Former Top Diplomat Urges Deal with US to End War

A newly constructed bridge struck by US airstrikes Thursday is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A newly constructed bridge struck by US airstrikes Thursday is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)

Iran should make a deal with the United States to end the war by offering to curb its nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief, a former Iranian foreign minister said.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, who served as foreign minister from 2013-2021, claimed in an op-ed for American journal Foreign Affairs that Tehran had the "upper hand" in the conflict against the US and Israel, but argued Iran needed to stop the war to prevent the loss of more civilian lives and damage to infrastructure.

"Iran should use its upper hand not to keep fighting but to declare victory and make a deal that both ends this conflict and prevents the next one," Zarif said in the piece published late Thursday.

"It should offer to place limits on its nuclear program and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for an end to all sanctions -- a deal Washington wouldn't take before but might accept now," he added.

Iran should also be prepared to accept a mutual "nonaggression pact" with the United States, as well as economic relations, he said. Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic ties since shortly after the 1979 revolution.

Zarif, one of the architects of the now moribund 2015 deal over the Iranian nuclear program, is seen as a relative moderate within the regime’s elite, but has no official post in the current government.

However, this is one of the first times during this conflict that a high-profile figure in Iran has called for a deal and an end to the war, with top military and political officials urging daily for fighting to continue until the US is defeated.

US President Donald Trump has evoked ongoing talks with Tehran without giving details but also threatened to send the country "back to the stone ages" if it fails to agree terms.

"As an Iranian, outraged by Donald Trump's reckless aggression and crude insults, yet proud of our armed forces and resilient people, I am torn about publishing this peace-plan in Foreign Affairs," Zarif wrote in English on X Friday.

"Yet I'm convinced that war must end on terms consistent with Iran's national interests," he added.

Zarif in the Foreign Affairs piece warned that "although continuing to fight the United States and Israel might be psychologically satisfying, it will lead only to the further destruction of civilian lives and infrastructure".