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Xi Heads to Russia Next Week After China Touts Ukraine Peace Plan

File photo: 14 February 2023, China, Beijing: President of China Xi Jinping meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (not pictured). (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
File photo: 14 February 2023, China, Beijing: President of China Xi Jinping meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (not pictured). (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
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Xi Heads to Russia Next Week After China Touts Ukraine Peace Plan

File photo: 14 February 2023, China, Beijing: President of China Xi Jinping meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (not pictured). (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
File photo: 14 February 2023, China, Beijing: President of China Xi Jinping meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (not pictured). (Iranian Presidency/dpa)

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Russia next week to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin, the two countries said on Friday, as Beijing touts a plan to end the grinding Ukraine war that has received a lukewarm welcome on both sides.

Xi's March 20-22 trip comes after China last month published a 12-point plan for "a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis" and after a senior Chinese diplomat called on Thursday for negotiations in a call with Ukraine's foreign minister.

The plan calls for the protection of civilians and for Russia and Ukraine to respect each other's sovereignty.

However, the United States and NATO have said Beijing's efforts to mediate are not credible as it has refrained from condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Xi's visit to Russia - his first in nearly four years - was in part to promote "peace", although he made no explicit mention of the Ukraine war.

He said the leaders would also exchange opinions on major regional and international issues, strengthen bilateral trust and deepen economic partnerships.

‘No limits’ partnership

The Kremlin said in a statement that Xi and Putin would discuss "topical issues of further development of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic cooperation between Russia and China". The statement also made no mention of Ukraine.

Xi will hold a telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy following his Russia visit, according to some media reports. Beijing has not confirmed the call.

China and Russia announced a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the biggest conflict seen in Europe since World War Two.

Beijing and Moscow have since continued to reaffirm the strength of their ties. Bilateral trade has soared since the invasion and China is Russia's biggest buyer of oil, a key source of revenue for Moscow.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions have fled their homes in Ukraine since the invasion and there is currently no sign of either side actively seeking an end to the conflict.

Ukraine has taken issue with Beijing's proposals for not stating that Russia should withdraw behind borders in place since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, though it later said it was open to "parts of the plan".

Russia welcomed Beijing's initiative and said it would make a "nuanced study" of the plan but has also said it sees no sign for now of a peaceful resolution.

Moscow says Ukraine must accept its annexation of four regions in the east and south of the country along with the loss of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula it forcibly annexed in 2014.

Russia says its actions in Ukraine are a defensive pushback against a hostile and aggressive West, while Kyiv and its Western allies say they represent an imperial-style land grab.

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World

South Korea’s Ousted Leader Yoon Indicted for Flying Drones over North Korea 

19 November 2024, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Then South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a plenary session during the G20 summit. (Alexandre Durao/G20/dpa) 
19 November 2024, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Then South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a plenary session during the G20 summit. (Alexandre Durao/G20/dpa) 
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South Korea’s Ousted Leader Yoon Indicted for Flying Drones over North Korea 

19 November 2024, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Then South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a plenary session during the G20 summit. (Alexandre Durao/G20/dpa) 
19 November 2024, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Then South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a plenary session during the G20 summit. (Alexandre Durao/G20/dpa) 

South Korea’s ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol faces more criminal charges as prosecutors alleged Monday that he ordered drone flights over North Korea in a deliberate bid to stoke tensions and justify his plans to declare martial law.

Yoon set off the most serious political crisis in South Korea’s recent history when he imposed martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, and sent troops to surround the National Assembly. He was later impeached and removed from office and is in jail standing trial on charges including masterminding a rebellion.

His successor and liberal rival, President Lee Jae Myung, approved legislation that launched independent investigations into Yoon’s martial law stunt and other criminal allegations involving him, his wife and associates.

On Monday, Yoon and two of his top defense officials were charged with benefiting the enemy and committing abuse of power over their alleged drone flights, which came about two months before the declaration of martial law, according to a special investigation team.

North Korea accused Seoul of flying drones over its capital, Pyongyang, to drop propaganda leaflets three times in October 2024. Yoon's defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, initially made a vague denial, but South Korea's military later switched to saying it couldn’t confirm whether or not the North’s claim was true. Any public confirmation of South Korean reconnaissance activities on North Korea is highly unusual.

Tensions rose sharply at the time, with North Korea threatening to respond with force. But neither side took any major action and tensions gradually subsided.

When Yoon announced martial law, he briefly cited “threats from North Korean communist forces,” but focused on his fights with the liberal-controlled parliament that obstructed his agenda, impeached top officials and slashed his government’s budget bill. Yoon called the National Assembly “a den of criminals” and “anti-state forces.”

On Monday, Park Ji-young, a senior investigator working for independent counsel Cho Eun-suk, told a briefing that her team still indicted Yoon, Kim and Yeo In-hyung, ex-commander of the military’s counterintelligence agency, over the alleged drone flying.

She said the trio “undermined the military interests of the Republic of Korea by increasing the danger of a South-North armed conflict with the purpose of setting up an environment for declaring emergency martial law,” Park said.

Park disclosed what she called memos found in Yeo's mobile phone, some of which suggest likely plots to trigger tensions with North Korea. Memos include wordings like “creating an unstable situation,” “drones" and “targets like Pyongyang” that could force North Korea to respond because of “a loss of its face.”

Park said she won't further explain about those memos due to concerns about leaks of military secrets.

There were no immediate public responses from Yoon, Kim or Yeo over their indictments. But in July, Yoon’s defense team said Yoon had maintained he wasn’t informed of the drone flights.

In January, state prosecutors indicted Yoon for allegedly directing a rebellion. It's a grave charge whose conviction only carries the sentence capital punishment or life imprisonment. Kim and Yeo have also been arrested and indicted for allegedly playing key roles in Yoon's martial law imposition.

Animosities between the Koreas worsened after Yoon took office in May 2022 with a tougher approach on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

South Korea earlier accused North Korea of occasionally flying its own drones over South Korea, but refrained from publicly taking tit-for-tat steps. But in December 2022, South Korea announced it fired warning shots, scrambled fighter jets and flew surveillance drones over North Korea in response to what it called North Korea's first drone flights across the border in five years. Observers say that reflected Yoon's resolve to get tough on North Korean provocations.

World

Typhoon Blows Away from the Philippines, 4 Dead and 1.4 Million Displaced

Typhoon Blows Away from the Philippines, 4 Dead and 1.4 Million Displaced
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Typhoon Blows Away from the Philippines, 4 Dead and 1.4 Million Displaced

Typhoon Blows Away from the Philippines, 4 Dead and 1.4 Million Displaced

Typhoon Fung-wong blew out of the northwestern Philippines on Monday after setting off floods and landslides, knocking out power to entire provinces, killing at least four people and displacing more than 1.4 million others.

It was forecast to head northwest toward Taiwan.

Fung-wong lashed the northern Philippines while the country was still dealing with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which left at least 224 people dead in central provinces on Tuesday before pummeling Vietnam, where at least five were killed.

Fung-wong slammed ashore in northeastern Aurora province on Sunday night as a super typhoon with sustained winds of up to 185 kph (115 mph) and gusts of up to 230 kph (143 mph).

The 1,800-kilometer (1,100-mile)-wide storm weakened as it raked through mountainous northern provinces and agricultural plains overnight before blowing away from the province of La Union into the South China Sea, according to state forecasters.

One person drowned in flash floods in the eastern province of Catanduanes, and another died in Catbalogan city in eastern Samar province when her house collapsed on her, officials said.

In the northern mountain province of Nueva Vizcaya, a landslide buried a hillside hut in Kayapa town before dawn on Monday, killing two children and injuring their parents and a sibling, town police chief Maj. Len Gomultim said.

More than 1.4 million people moved into emergency shelters or the homes of relatives before the typhoon made landfall, and about 318,000 remained in evacuation centers on Monday.

Fierce wind and rain flooded at least 132 northern villages, including one where some residents were trapped on their roofs as floodwaters rapidly rose. About 1,000 houses were damaged, Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV of the Office of Civil Defense and other officials said, adding that roads blocked by landslides would be cleared as the weather improved on Monday.

“While the typhoon has passed, its rains still pose a danger in certain areas” in northern Luzon, including in metropolitan Manila," Alejandro said. “We'll undertake today rescue, relief and disaster-response operations.”

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of emergency on Thursday due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected damage from Fung-wong, which was also called Uwan in the Philippines.

Tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 185 kph (115 mph) or higher are categorized in the Philippines as a super typhoon to underscore the urgency tied to more extreme weather disturbances.

The Philippines has not called for international help following the devastation caused by Kalmaegi, but Teodoro said the United States, the country’s longtime treaty ally, and Japan were ready to provide assistance.

Authorities announced that schools and most government offices would be closed on Monday and Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.

More than 325 domestic and 61 international flights were canceled over the weekend and into Monday, and more than 6,600 commuters and cargo workers were stranded in ports after the coast guard prohibited ships from venturing into rough seas.

World

Tehran Responds to Trump: We’ll Make Our Enemies Pay for their Actions

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Tehran Responds to Trump: We’ll Make Our Enemies Pay for their Actions

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that after President Donald Trump's admission of being behind the Israeli attack on Iran during the 12-day war last June, the US government must accept the legal, political, and military consequences of its blatant aggression on his country.

Speaking at an open session of the Parliament, the Speaker vowed that aggressors will be held accountable.

On Friday, Trump said he was “very much in charge of” Israel's initial attack on Iran early last summer.

“Israel attacked first. That attack was very, very powerful. I was very much in charge of that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “When Israel attacked Iran first, that was a great day for Israel because that attack did more damage than the rest of them put together.”

The initial Israeli strikes on Iran in the early hours of June 13 killed top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists, it also damaged Iranian nuclear facilities.

Ghalibaf said: “Following the US president’s explicit admission of direct responsibility in the Zionist regime’s aggression against Iran, I strongly denounce this heinous act on behalf of the noble people of Iran.”

The Speaker noted that under international law, “the US government must accept the legal, political, and military consequences of this blatant aggression, which has resulted in the martyrdom of many of our citizens.”

On Saturday, Iranian news outlets said the country’s ambassador to the UN urged the Security Council to act after the US president publicly acknowledged leading the Israeli regime’s recent military attacks on Iran.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of the Security Council Michael Imran Kanu, Amir Saeed Iravani denounced the “irrefutable evidence” of US responsibility in the Israeli assaults on Iranian territory last June.

“These criminal aggressions-representing a grave and flagrant violation of Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter, the peremptory norms prohibiting the threat or use of force against sovereign States and international humanitarian law- resulted in numerous civilian casualties, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and serious damage to Iran's safeguarded and peaceful nuclear facilities,” he wrote.

Also, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Friday the United States must be held accountable for its “direct involvement” in Israeli airstrikes on Iran in June.

In a post on X, Baghaei responded to Trump’s remarks, which he said contradicted Washington's earlier claims that Israel acted alone.

Baghaei cited comments delivered on June 13, 2025 by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who denied US involvement in the strikes and called them a “unilateral” Israeli action. Baghaei said that statement was “an outright lie.”

He said: “From the very beginning, it was clear that the United States was a full participant in Israel's crime of aggression against the nation of Iran,” adding that Washington must be held responsible for “this flagrant violation and atrocious wrong.”

Last April, Tehran and Washington began rounds of Omani-mediated negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. But the talks were halted before the sixth round, following the surprise Israeli attack on Iran on June 13.