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Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has apologized for a residential tower fire that killed 168 people last year. He promised swift reforms to the building industry and announced the resignation of Housing Secretary Winnie Ho.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has visited the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Beijing during a state visit to China. He also played table tennis at Peking University.

The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held its fifth plenary session from Monday to Thursday in Beijing, adopting a resolution on persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance. A communique after the session said the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee presided over the meeting. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered an important address.

China has unveiled 16 measures to facilitate foreign businesses and professional operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port. The policies in the world's largest free trade port by area cover energy trade, medical services, and bonded business operations.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has declared three days of national mourning after a collision between two high-speed trains in central Spain killed at least 68 people and injured dozens more.

Three policy banks in China say the country has completed issuing 800 billion yuan, or around 119 billion US dollars, in policy-based financial instruments for 2026 to support key projects and boost investment.

The US Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.75 to 4 percent, citing resilient domestic spending and persistent inflation, less than a week before the 2026 midterm elections.

Sources say human error linked to signaling may have caused the train collision in Spain that has killed at least 64 people as of Wednesday afternoon. Authorities suspended the service on the route linking Madrid and Andalusia following the crash near Toledo.

The National Gallery of Australia has handed over the heads of statues of military and civil officials to China's National Cultural Heritage Administration. Both cultural relics date back to the Northern Song Dynasty approximately 1,000 years ago and originated from Henan Province in central China.

The US Central Command's estimate includes more than 29 billion dollars to replace expended munitions, but does not include the cost of damage to military bases in the Middle East.

The second phase of the 140th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, has concluded, with 278,000 overseas buyers from 218 countries and regions attending the fair’s first two phases.

Exit polls suggest that there is no clear winner in Israel's pivotal general election, with neither veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor former military chief Gadi Eisenkot on track to secure a majority.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that countries in the Middle East are capable of resolving their own problems without US involvement. He made the remarks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.

An exhibition titled "Justice and Peace for All Humanity" marking the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trial is underway at the UN headquarters in New York. It features historical photographs, archival documents, and publications on the prosecution of Japanese war crimes during World War II.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, has called for efforts to promote peace and end conflict to better protect children, urging all parties to conflicts to refrain from attacking civilians and facilities, such as children and schools.