China stands ready to strengthen bond of cooperation with Greece

China stands ready to strengthen the bond of cooperation with Greece, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here on Friday.

During his meeting here with Greek Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Li also said China is willing to work with Greece to leverage complementary advantages, advance the implementation of the plan for the Port of Piraeus in a high-quality manner, and promote more optimized and balanced development of the bilateral trade.

During the meeting, he noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his visit to China in November 2023 and reached important consensus on deepening bilateral relations.

Trump signs One Big Beautiful Bill into law

U.S. President Donald Trump signed his landmark policy bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill, into law on Friday afternoon.

The signing ceremony at the White House came a day after the bill was narrowly passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday. Trump set a deadline for the bill to pass before July 4 to make the signing event a part of the Independence Day ceremony that included a B-2 bomber flyover.

The law represents Trump's agenda policies including tax cuts and funding boosts for military expenditure and border security.

Hamas says gives positive response to Gaza ceasefire proposal

Hamas said in a statement on Friday night that it has delivered a "positive" response to mediators over a Gaza ceasefire proposal.

"Hamas has completed its consultations with Palestinian factions and forces on the mediators' latest proposal to stop the aggression against our people in Gaza. The movement has delivered its response to the mediators, which was positive," the statement said.

"The movement is seriously prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework," it added.

Syria says ready to cooperate with U.S. to return to 1974 disengagement deal with Israel

Syria has expressed its readiness to work with the United States to return to the 1974 disengagement agreement, amid ongoing Israeli attacks in southern Syria, according to a statement released Friday by the Syrian foreign affairs authorities.

The statement revealed content of discussions made during a phone call between Syrian foreign affairs chief Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which both sides talked about key issues such as the removal of U.S. sanctions, Israeli attacks in Syria, and Iran's regional role following its recent military showdown with Israel, as well as the Syria-U.S. bilateral ties.

During the call, both sides expressed a mutual desire to reopen their embassies in Damascus and Washington.

Russia, Ukraine conduct another prisoner swap

Russia and Ukraine on Friday conducted another round of prisoner exchange, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached on June 2 in Istanbul, another group of Russian servicemen has been returned from the territory controlled by Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement.

It added that a group of Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of conflict was handed over in exchange. The number of released prisoners from both sides was not provided.

Russian servicemen are in Belarus and will be taken to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation in the military's medical institutions.

Israeli army claims control of 65 pct of Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced in a statement Friday that it currently maintains operational control of over 65 percent of the Gaza Strip.

The statement was accompanied by a military map highlighting areas under Israeli control, primarily in the north, south, and eastern parts of the enclave, along with the deployment of IDF divisions across the region.

According to Israel's Channel 12 News, when the Israeli military resumed its offensive in Gaza in March, it set a goal of controlling 75 percent of the territory.

The IDF reported that over the past week, its forces have killed more than 100 militants in Gaza, including four senior commanders. Since March 18, the Israeli Air Force has struck over 7,500 military infrastructure, including weapons depots, rocket launch sites, and underground bunkers.

China issues final ruling of anti-dumping probe into EU brandy imports

China's Ministry of Commerce on Friday announced the final ruling of its anti-dumping investigation into brandy imports from the European Union (EU), saying that it will impose anti-dumping measures on these imports for a period of five years, effective Saturday.

The investigation found that brandy imported from the EU involves dumping, posing an actual threat of damage to the domestic brandy industry, according to the ministry. There is a causal relationship between the dumping and the threat of damage, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the final ruling determined dumping margins ranging from 27.7 percent to 34.9 percent.