Dong's comments at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on security come at a time of roiling regional tension over China-claimed Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea waterway, as doubt grows over traditional US security commitments to Asia.

Thailand accused Cambodia on Tuesday of "playing the role of a victim" in a dispute over maritime resources, as the Southeast Asian neighbors brought their long-standing feud before international mediators.

The number of centenarians across Japan topped 100,000 for the first time, the health ministry said Tuesday.

The Okinawa election result comes as Takaichi prepares to unveil a new national security strategy this year that is expected to accelerate Japan's biggest military build-up since World War Two.

US lawmakers approved broad new sanctions designed to squeeze Russia over its war in Ukraine on Wednesday, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump after months of delay.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out a sweeping plan to keep children safe from online dangers on Thursday, proposing to ban under-13s from social media and require online services to design safe children's accounts.

Rivers worldwide experienced one of their driest years in decades in 2025, the UN World Meteorological Organization said on Thursday, reflecting declining water storage across the Earth's surface and raising concerns about future supplies.

"We believe that space must be free of any weapon," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The French government submitted a reworked proposal to ban social media for children, after its previous ban was struck down by the country's top constitutional authority, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border on Thursday and Yemenis took to boats in the Red Sea to escape fighting, as the spreading Middle East war created new threats to global oil supplies.

The two countries established ties in 2020 as part of the US-led Abraham Accords, under which several Arab states normalised relations with Israel.

Fresh fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in the Red Sea.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched a new wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia and were digging into positions on the western coast of Yemen along the Red Sea, Yemeni officials said, as urgent deliberations took place in Riyadh over how to respond to their lightning advance.