* Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on April 15 met with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and some other cabinet ministers who were in Beijing to attend the fifth high-level economic dialogue between China and Japan.
*Japan's economy minister said he had "frank and good" trade talks with his US counterpart on April 15, but stressed that currency rates should be discussed in a different context, between finance ministers.
* It's up to Britain when it chooses to exit the European Union, the bloc's chief executive said on April 16, adding that it was not his working assumption that Brexit could be reversed or extended beyond a new Oct. 31 deadline.
* Russia's lower house of parliament approved on April 16 the third reading of a draft law that aims to increase Moscow's sovereignty over its Internet segment and defend against foreign meddling, Interfax agency reported.
* China's holdings of US Treasuries increased for a third consecutive month in February to US$1.131 trillion, according to the data released on April 15 by the US Department of the Treasury.
* The presidents of the two central Asian nations of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have agreed in Tashkent on April 15 to boost trade and economic cooperation, avoid double taxation, cooperate in air defense, and develop cultural ties.
* Qatar's foreign minister has called for an effective arms embargo against eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar and for his troops to withdraw from areas they have recently occupied, Italian daily La Repubblica said on April 16.
* A small plane operated by a private airline in Nepal hit a parked helicopter on April 14 while preparing to take off in a mountainous area near Mount Everest, killing three people including a co-pilot, an airport official said.
* At least 14 people were killed in clashes inside a camp for internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in the southern Sudanese state of Darfur, official SUNA news agency reported on April 15.
* At least 13 people have been killed and 35 injured from fighting in the outskirts of Tripoli, Libya, and thousands more are trapped or displaced, a UN spokesman said on April 15.
