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Rubio to Meet Chinese Counterpart in Manila, US Official Says

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters before departing Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, July 19, 2026, en route to Manila, Philippines to attend the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting. (Brendan Smialowski, Pool via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters before departing Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, July 19, 2026, en route to Manila, Philippines to attend the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting. (Brendan Smialowski, Pool via AP)
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Rubio to Meet Chinese Counterpart in Manila, US Official Says

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters before departing Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, July 19, 2026, en route to Manila, Philippines to attend the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting. (Brendan Smialowski, Pool via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters before departing Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, July 19, 2026, en route to Manila, Philippines to attend the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting. (Brendan Smialowski, Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering, a US State Department official said on Tuesday.

The two will meet in Manila, where foreign ministers from the 11-member ASEAN and major partners have gathered this week to discuss a ‌range of ‌global issues.

Analysts have said ‌a ⁠Rubio meeting with ⁠his Chinese counterpart was likely to focus on preparations for a second meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after the two met last May.

Trump has said Xi will visit ⁠the US at the end ‌of September, and Rubio ‌on Sunday said that the summit was ‌still anticipated.

"I have no reason to believe ‌that they won’t be coming. It’s important," he told reporters as he departed for ASEAN.

Tense US-China relations have stabilized under a temporary trade ‌truce reached by Trump and Xi in October, but deep differences still ⁠define ⁠ties between the two nations, which many analysts see mired in a new form of Cold War.

"There are always going to be irritants, there are always going to be things we don’t agree on, but I think it’s incumbent on powerful and important countries like ours to continue to talk and have a relationship," Rubio told reporters.

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Fire Destroys Drone-Hit Wildberries Warehouse in Russia’s Tambov Region, Governor Says

Burning Wildberries warehouses following a Ukrainian drone attack, according to the regional governor, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Koledino, Moscow Region, Russia August 16, 2026. (Reuters)
Burning Wildberries warehouses following a Ukrainian drone attack, according to the regional governor, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Koledino, Moscow Region, Russia August 16, 2026. (Reuters)
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Fire Destroys Drone-Hit Wildberries Warehouse in Russia’s Tambov Region, Governor Says

Burning Wildberries warehouses following a Ukrainian drone attack, according to the regional governor, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Koledino, Moscow Region, Russia August 16, 2026. (Reuters)
Burning Wildberries warehouses following a Ukrainian drone attack, according to the regional governor, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Koledino, Moscow Region, Russia August 16, 2026. (Reuters)

A drone attack caused a massive fire that destroyed a warehouse run by Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries, officials said early on Wednesday, as Ukraine pushes ahead with its campaign to hurt Moscow's economy by targeting online retailers.

Two people were wounded in ‌the overnight strike ‌in Russia's Tambov region, its ‌governor ⁠Evgeniy Pervyshov wrote ⁠on the MAX messaging app.

The logistics center was "completely destroyed by fire," he said. Earlier he said about 100,000 square meters (1.1 million square feet) of the facility was burning, the ⁠equivalent of 14 soccer pitches.

Ukraine has ‌been hitting ‌Wildberries facilities since mid-July and broadened its ‌strategy in recent days to include the ‌retailer's main rival, Ozon.

The pair dominate one of the fastest-growing parts of the Russian economy, which is otherwise close ‌to stagnation after 4-1/2 years of war in Ukraine.

In neighboring ⁠Lipetsk ⁠region, a man and a 14-year-old were killed in a fire lit by a falling drone, while a woman was killed in a drone attack in Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, local authorities said on Telegram.

Both Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly denied targeting civilians since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

World

Sri Lanka Tracks 11 US-Sanctioned Iranian Tankers off Coast

Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Sri Lanka Tracks 11 US-Sanctioned Iranian Tankers off Coast

Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Sri Lanka's maritime authorities were monitoring a fleet of 11 US-sanctioned Iranian oil tankers just off the island's southern coast, officials said Wednesday.

The vessels are in limbo -- they cannot return to Iran because of a United States blockade on ships using Iranian ports.

The ships were spotted close to the Galle harbor where an Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, was sunk by a US submarine in March, killing 104 sailors. Sri Lanka's navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from that frigate.

"We have deployed reconnaissance aircraft and patrol boats to monitor these Iranian vessels outside our 12-nautical-mile territorial waters," a military official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The vessels had not sought permission to enter Sri Lankan territory and were entitled to freedom of navigation in international waters.

"There is no indication of any ship-to-ship transfer of oil or illegal discharge of pollutants, so there is no basis for Sri Lankan authorities to take action against them," he said.

Many Iranian merchant vessels moved east towards the Strait of Malacca and Singapore after the US sanctions, while several remained near Sri Lankan waters, authorities said.

Sri Lankan officials said Washington had not formally notified Colombo about sanctioned Iranian-flagged vessels.

World

China’s Xi to Visit Kyrgyzstan, Egypt from Sunday

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at a grand gathering to commemorate the birth centenary of late leader Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Li Xiang/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at a grand gathering to commemorate the birth centenary of late leader Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Li Xiang/Xinhua via AP)
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China’s Xi to Visit Kyrgyzstan, Egypt from Sunday

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at a grand gathering to commemorate the birth centenary of late leader Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Li Xiang/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at a grand gathering to commemorate the birth centenary of late leader Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Li Xiang/Xinhua via AP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a regional summit in Bishkek and pay state visits to Kyrgyzstan and Egypt from Sunday, Beijing's foreign ministry said Wednesday. 

In Egypt, Xi will meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for talks aimed at "making a positive contribution to safeguarding peace and stability in the region", foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a news conference. 

The visit comes as Iran and the United States remain locked in a conflict that has spilt over across the Middle East and choked off shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global oil markets. 

China has significant economic ties to the Middle East, which was its top source of crude oil imports before the war. 

The state visit, Xi's first to Egypt in 10 years, "holds special significance for the development of bilateral ties", Lin said. 

In Kyrgyzstan, Xi will attend an Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit with other member states, including Russia and Iran. 

He will also hold talks with Kyrgyz president Sadyr Japarov to promote "mutually beneficial cooperation and high-quality development between the two countries". 

The tour, which lasts until September 3, will be Xi's second overseas trip this year following a visit to North Korea in June.