China, EU agree to keep bilateral trade ties stable, hold next meeting in March 2027
China and the European Union (EU) have agreed to maintain stable bilateral economic and trade ties and make them more balanced, while scheduling March 2027 for their next meeting under a trade and investment consultation mechanism, according to a joint statement released Friday.
Published by China's Ministry of Commerce, the statement said that Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic jointly chaired the second meeting of the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism from Thursday to Friday in Beijing.
Putin, Trump hold phone talks on Ukraine crisis, energy supply
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, during which considerable attention was paid to prospects for resolving the Ukraine crisis, the Kremlin said.
On global energy developments, Russia reaffirmed its readiness to supply oil and petroleum products to U.S. and global markets, according to the Kremlin.
Powerful quake, aftershocks rattle Panama as authorities mobilize response
A powerful earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks rattled Panama on Friday, sending residents into the streets, disrupting water supplies and briefly halting flights as the government mobilized emergency personnel and resources.
The University of Panama's Institute of Geosciences measured the initial quake at magnitude 7.2. It struck at 12:56 p.m. local time (1756 GMT) at a depth of 4 kilometers. By 5:30 p.m. local time, more than 40 earthquakes had been recorded, including over a dozen with magnitudes above 5.0. A quake at 3:25 p.m. had a magnitude of 6.9.
U.S. sanctions International Criminal Court
The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday added the International Criminal Court (ICC) to its sanctions list, extending U.S. sanctions against the Hague-based court from individual officials to the institution itself.
"Today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.■
