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ISLAMABAD: Pressure on Israel over its military campaign in Lebanon intensified on Tuesday, as Italy suspended defense ties, Spain issued a blunt legal rebuke, and China called for respect for Lebanese sovereignty. In Rome, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the suspension of a long-standing defense cooperation agreement with Israel. The pact, in place since 2006, covers military training, industrial cooperation, &nbsp;and technology sharing. According to AFP, Italian officials said the move followed reports that Israeli forces fired warning shots at a United Nations peacekeeping convoy in southern Lebanon that included Italian personnel, an incident that drew strong backlash in Italy, a key contributor to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). &ldquo;In view of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defence agreement with Israel,&rdquo; Meloni said on the sidelines of an event in Verona, according to Italian news agencies ANSA and AGI. In Beijing, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S&aacute;nchez delivered a sharp condemnation, accusing Israel of violating international law and describing its conduct as &ldquo;intolerable,&rdquo; AFP reported. Speaking during an official visit, S&aacute;nchez said the war had been a &ldquo;mistake&rdquo; from the outset and called for the European Union to suspend its cooperation framework with Israel. He also urged accountability, warning that there should be &ldquo;no impunity&rdquo; for what he described as criminal acts, and said Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire arrangement. Separately, Iran&rsquo;s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X that &ldquo;the essence of civilizations reveals itself at critical historical junctures,&rdquo; adding that positions taken by countries including Spain, China, Russia, T&uuml;rkiye, Italy, and Egypt against what he described as &ldquo;warmongering and crimes&rdquo; reflect their deep cultural and historical roots.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2044063688584507580&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Flogin%2F&sessionId=3362cbd2995e2849f5202d296d2c5f703c1a9990&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 321px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div> China&rsquo;s response included Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning saying Lebanon&rsquo;s sovereignty &ldquo;should not be violated&rdquo; and stressed the need to protect civilian lives, urging all parties to de-escalate. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to the remarks.

A photograph taken from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon shows Israeli soldiers driving along a road running beside destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon on April 15, 2026. (AFP)

Europe

Asia

Middle East

Italy suspends defense ties, Spain condemns Israel, and China urges restraint as global pressure mounts over Lebanon strikes. Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian also criticizes Israel, highlighting the widening international backlash.

Global pressure grows on Israel as Italy, Spain, China criticize Lebanon strikes

TOKYO: Beijing&#39;s actions are &quot;not conducive to regional peace,&quot; Japan&#39;s defense minister and US counterpart Pete Hegseth agreed during a call after Chinese aircraft locked radar on Japanese jets near Taiwan, Tokyo said on Friday. The radar incident was followed this week by Chinese-Russian air patrols around Japan, and came after comments by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Taiwan that infuriated China. Hegseth and Japan&#39;s Shinjiro Koizumi &quot;exchanged candid views on the increasingly severe security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, including the radar incident,&quot; the Japanese defense ministry said after the call. They &quot;expressed serious concern over any actions to increase regional tensions, as China&#39;s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,&quot; the statement added. Koizumi said on X that the two men &quot;expressed grave concern over the behaviors that heighten tensions in the region.&quot; He said he had also told Hegseth that China was &quot;disseminating information that is completely contrary to the facts&quot; about the radar incident. &quot;However, Japan has made clear that it does not seek escalation and that we are responding calmly while making necessary rebuttals, and we are keeping the door open for dialogue,&quot; Koizumi added. There was no immediate statement from the United States about the call. Takaichi had suggested on Nov. 7 that Japan would intervene with military force in any Chinese attack on Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own and has not ruled out seizing by force. Last week, J-15 jets from China&#39;s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft that had scrambled in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan. Fighter jets use their radar for fire control to identify targets and for search and rescue operations. China&#39;s foreign ministry on Wednesday accused Japan of sending the jets &quot;to intrude into the Chinese training area without authorization, conduct close-range reconnaissance and harassment, create tense situations, and... &nbsp;maliciously hype up the situation.&quot; On Tuesday, two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers flew from the Sea of Japan to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers in the East China Sea, then conducted a joint flight around the country, Japan said. Japan said that it scrambled fighter jets in response. Japan and the United States air forces on Wednesday conducted their own joint air drills in a show of force, Tokyo said. The &quot;tactical exercises&quot; over the Sea of Japan involved two US B-52 bombers, three Japanese F-35 fighter jets, and three Japanese F-15s, Tokyo said. South Korea said on Tuesday that Russian and Chinese warplanes also entered its air defense zone, with Seoul also deploying fighter jets that same day. Beijing confirmed on Tuesday that it had organized drills with Russia&#39;s military in accordance with &quot;annual cooperation plans.&quot; Moscow also described it as a routine exercise, saying it lasted eight hours and that some foreign fighter jets followed the Russian and Chinese aircraft.

US Secretary of War Hegseth, Japan's Koizumi exchange “candid views on the increasingly severe security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, including the radar incident." 

US, Japan defense ministers say China harming regional peace

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: &nbsp;US President Donald Trump said he had clinched a deal with China&rsquo;s President Xi Jinping on rare earths aboard Air Force One on Thursday. The US president told reporters China rare earths deal was for one year and was extendable. He also said that the US and China would &lsquo;work together&rsquo; on the Ukraine war. US President Donald Trump described his meeting with China&#39;s leader Xi Jinping was a &quot;great success&quot; and said he would head to China in April for new talks.<div class="fr-embed youtube-embed"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I2hY2qJYtj0" title="President Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One, Oct. 30, 2025" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: auto; aspect-ratio: 16 / 9; max-width: 100%; display: block;"></iframe>&nbsp;</div>&quot;I&#39;ll be going to China in April and he&#39;ll be coming here sometime after that, whether it&#39;s in Florida, Palm Beach or Washington, DC.&quot; &quot;A lot of things we brought to finalisation&quot; at Thursday&#39;s talks in Busan, South Korea, added Trump, praising Xi as a &quot;tremendous leader of a very powerful country&quot;. &nbsp;He also said that he did not discuss Taiwan with President Xi. Trump also said he was too &#39;busy&#39; to meet North Korea&#39;s Kim Jong Un, adding he could &quot;come back&quot;. &nbsp; &#39;Consensus reached&#39;President Xi Jinping said China has reached a consensus with the United States on economic and trade issues, state media reported, after meeting Thursday with US leader Donald Trump. On Thursday, Xi told Trump that the two countries &quot;should have positive interactions on the regional and international stage&quot;, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. Xi said that teams from both sides had &quot;exchanged in-depth views on important economic and trade issues and reached a consensus on resolving them&quot;, according to the Xinhua readout which offered no details on specific agreements reached. &quot;Both teams should refine and finalise follow-up work as soon as possible, maintain and implement the consensus and provide tangible results to set minds at ease about the economies of China, the United States and the world,&quot; he added. Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump wrapped up their meeting on Thursday without making any official comments as Trump departed from South Korea. Trump, Xi meeting The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Sitting opposite each other, each leader was flanked by senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury chief Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Xi&#39;s team, which arrived from Beijing shortly before -- the US side was already in South Korea -- included Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, and Vice Premier He Lifeng. Trump and Xi opened their first face-to-face meeting in six years, seeking a truce to end a trade war that has roiled the world economy. Both countries need to work together: XiBefore the meeting, Xi told Trump that while the two countries did not always see eye to eye, they should strive to be &quot;partners and friends.&quot; &quot;China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world,&quot; Xi said. The US president, who minutes before the meeting said he had ordered the Pentagon to start nuclear weapons testing on a level with China and Russia, complimented a smiling Xi as a &quot;very tough negotiator&quot; as they shook hands. &quot;We&#39;ll have a great understanding,&quot; Trump said, predicting a &quot;fantastic relationship for a long period of time.&quot; The US leader&#39;s latest missive on nuclear weapons testing broadened the stakes for his talks with Xi. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Even in five years&#39;&nbsp;</h2>Minutes before meeting Xi, Trump wrote on Truth Social that &quot;because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.&quot; Trump added that in terms of nuclear weapons stockpiles, China was a &quot;distant third&quot; behind the United States and Russia, &quot;but will be even in 5 years.&quot; The comments came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone, in defiance of US warnings. No response&nbsp;Trump did not provide details or respond to a journalist&#39;s question about his surprise nuclear announcement before the crucial meeting with Xi. The world&#39;s two top economies&#39; trade tussle -- encompassing&nbsp;everything from rare earths to soybeans and port fees -- has rocked markets and gummed up supply chains for months. Following productive preparatory talks by top officials, Trump had said on Wednesday, on his way to South Korea, that &quot;a lot of problems are going to be solved&quot; in a &quot;great meeting.&quot; Export controls on rare earths &nbsp;Trump indicated that the agreement would include lowering 20% tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl, which has killed tens of thousands of Americans. Of particular importance to Trump -- with an eye on US farmers -- is whether China will resume purchases of American soybeans. Another major issue is Beijing&#39;s export controls on rare earths announced this month, which prompted Trump to question the Xi summit. Beijing holds a virtual monopoly on these materials, which are essential for sophisticated electronic components across a range of industries. &quot;The easiest wins could include removing port fees for ships or lifting some fentanyl-related tariffs, which fall fully under presidential authority. China, in turn, could agree to purchase more US commodities to show goodwill,&quot; Yue Su at The Economist Intelligence Unit told AFP. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Crowning achievement&nbsp;</h2>The Xi-Trump meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit, attended by leaders of 21 countries, including Japan, Australia, and Canada. South Korea is the final stop on an Asia tour that saw Trump showered with praise and gifts, including a replica of an ancient Korean golden crown. In Japan, new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and gave him a putter and a gold-plated golf ball. &lsquo;Not too distant future&rsquo;However, Trump&#39;s hopes of a re-run of his 2019 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone frontier appear to have dashed. Trump said that they would meet in the &quot;not too distant future&quot; and that he would like to &quot;straighten out&quot; tensions between North and South Korea. On Thursday, he hailed the military alliance with South Korea as &quot;stronger than ever&quot; and said he had given the green light for Seoul to build a nuclear-powered submarine.

China

Americas

Says meeting with China's leader Xi Jinping was a 'great success'; China rare earths deal is for one year and is extendable; and US and China to ‘work together’ on the Ukraine war; President Xi said China has reached a consensus with the United States on economic and trade issues.

Clinched deal with China's Xi on rare earths: Trump

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to launch its first hyperspectral satellite, HS-1, into orbit tomorrow, marking a significant milestone in the country&rsquo;s advancement toward high-resolution space-based monitoring and data applications.&nbsp;In an official statement issued this week, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) announced that the HS-1 satellite will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) in China.&nbsp;&ldquo;The launch of HS-1 marks a new era in the development of space-based applications in agriculture, disaster management, urban development, and environmental monitoring,&rdquo; SUPARCO said in the statement.&nbsp;Precision agriculture and food securityAccording to SUPARCO, the HS-1 satellite&rsquo;s hyperspectral imaging capabilities will enable precision farming by capturing detailed spectral data to assess crop health, soil moisture, and irrigation efficiency.&nbsp;&ldquo;The satellite will provide detailed insights into crop health, soil moisture, and irrigation patterns,&rdquo; the commission stated, adding that this technology is expected to improve crop yield estimation by 15&ndash;20 percent, contributing directly to national food security.&nbsp;Urban development and environmental monitoringThe agency said that HS-1 will also play a key role in urban planning and environmental management. Equipped with high-resolution sensors, the satellite will help map infrastructure, monitor environmental changes, and analyze patterns of urban expansion.&nbsp;&ldquo;It will support sustainable city planning, land-use assessment, and efficient resource management,&rdquo; SUPARCO noted.&nbsp;Disaster management and early warningSUPARCO emphasized that the satellite will be a critical tool for early warning systems and post-disaster response. Its advanced imaging technology will facilitate flood prediction, landslide tracking, and geo-hazard assessment, particularly in Pakistan&rsquo;s mountainous and seismically active regions such as the Karakoram Highway and northern areas.&nbsp;&ldquo;HS-1 will enhance disaster preparedness by providing timely data on floods, earthquakes, deforestation, and land degradation,&rdquo; the statement added.&nbsp;Space self-relianceThe launch of HS-1 is part of Pakistan&rsquo;s efforts to strengthen its remote sensing capabilities and expand its space-based infrastructure. SUPARCO said the mission aligns with the National Space Policy and SUPARCO Vision 2047, which aim to position Pakistan as a regional leader in space technology and innovation.&nbsp;&ldquo;This mission reflects Pakistan&rsquo;s commitment to leveraging space technology for sustainable national development,&rdquo; SUPARCO concluded.

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Pakistan will launch its first hyperspectral satellite, HS-1, from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre tomorrow, enhancing capabilities in agriculture, disaster management, and urban planning under SUPARCO’s Vision 2047 for sustainable national development and space innovation.

Articles tagged with "CHina"

Global pressure grows on Israel as Italy, Spain, China criticize Lebanon strikes

US, Japan defense ministers say China harming regional peace

Clinched deal with China's Xi on rare earths: Trump

Pakistan to launch first hyperspectral satellite from China today