BEIJING (AP) – Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the stability and certainty of China-Russia relations are particularly “precious” in the face of an international landscape intertwined with change and chaos.

WASHINGTON (AP) – If the U.S. and Iran aren’t able to soon come to a deal to end the war or extend the ceasefire that expires next week, the Trump administration is setting the stage to shift its war campaign toward a more economic-focused effort aimed at choking Tehran into submission rather than relying on bombs alone.

HONG KONG (AP) – China’s economy accelerated in the first quarter of this year, expanding 5% from a year earlier as it largely shrugged off impacts from the Iran war so far, according to data released Thursday.

SAN SALVADOR (AP) – Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday signed into law constitutional reforms to permit life prison sentences for people as young as 12, a contentious reform that follows other heavy-handed measures pushed through by the populist leader.

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) – When a Ukrainian agricultural tycoon founded a volunteer unit of 30 people in the early days of Russia’s invasion, he had no certainty he would live to see what came next – but he did, and so did the force he created.

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) – There is an odd sense of isolation when you are covering Pope Leo XIV from inside the Vatican’s traveling press pool: Escorted from venue to venue with police motorcades that clear even the most congested of traffic jams, it’s a membership that has many privileges.

Pakistan’s army chief is set to meet with Iranian officials in Tehran on Thursday in a bid to ease tensions in the Middle East and arrange a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran after almost seven weeks of war.

LAS VEGAS (AP) – President Donald Trump heads to Las Vegas on Thursday to promote the tax cuts he signed into law last year to try to highlight what Republicans see as an economic strength ahead of this year’s elections.