* China will work to further develop consumer services to support high-quality economic development and meet people's demand for personalized, diversified and quality services, according to a guideline made public Saturday.
* Afghan caretaker government's Acting Minister for Energy and Water Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor said Saturday that the work is in progress to produce 500 megawatts of electricity yearly to overcome power shortage in the war-ravaged country.
* The Philippines and Germany have committed to concluding a broader defence cooperation arrangement, their defence ministers said in a joint statement on Sunday.
* Some dozens of protestors, including members from the local activist group Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition, gathered at the Sydney Town Hall Square on Saturday to demand that the Australian government reject the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines.
* Hamas said on Saturday that wide consultation has started in its leadership and consultative institutions to choose a new chief for the movement.
* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday that Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by a "short-range projectile loaded with an almost 7-kg warhead."
* U.S. President Joe Biden expressed hope Iran would stand down despite its threat to avenge the assassination of Hamas’ leader in Tehran, as fears mounted that Israel’s war against Palestinian militants in Gaza could escalate into a wider Middle East conflict.
* Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed in a phone call with Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani that recent developments in the region were "unprecedented, very dangerous" and threatening to stability, Egypt's government said.
* Egypt on Saturday demanded Israel withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor and the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing and halt the ongoing Israeli offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip, Egyptian sources told Xinhua on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
* Hezbollah said Sunday it had launched dozens of Katyusha rockets at northern Israel in response to Israel's attacks on southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's Al Manar TV.
* France has invited French citizens in Lebanon to leave the country due to a risk of military escalation in the Middle East, the foreign ministry said on Sunday in a travel advisory.
* A merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen was struck by a second attack on Saturday, just hours after an earlier attack on the same ship, according to Britain's Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
* Somali leaders on Saturday called on security agencies to remain vigilant following a brutal attack by al-Shabab fighters that killed at least 37 civilians and injured 212 at a popular beachside hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu Friday night.
* More than 6,000 firefighters in California's Central Valley continued to battle the largest blaze in the U.S. on Saturday, which burned its way into the history books as the state's fourth-largest conflagration on record.
* The intense heat wave in Japan shows no signs of abating with the mercury in Kyushu nearing 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday, weather forecasts showed.
* A 16-year-old girl from southeast Cambodia's Svay Rieng province was confirmed to have H5N1 bird flu, bringing the total number of cases to nine since the start of 2024, said a Ministry of Health's statement released Saturday midnight.
