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Chinese fishing boats taking shelter at China's Niu'e Jiao in the South China Sea from bad weather is "reasonable and legal," and attempts from the Philippines to deny China's legitimate rights and sovereignty in the water using an illegal and invalid arbitral ruling is "unacceptable," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Pakistan on April 6 for a two-day trip expected to focus on efforts to bring peace to neighboring Afghanistan.

The United States is calling on Russia to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and not provoke or increase tensions, said the Pentagon press secretary.

The Philippines will push to resolve differences with Beijing peacefully, President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday, after Manila's foreign office threatened to file diplomatic protests for each day that Chinese ships remain moored at a disputed reef in the South China Sea.

The Pentagon says it is closely monitoring Russian activities and infrastructure build-ups in the Arctic, indicating that the United States is anxious about increasing Russian presence in the region.

The Pentagon says it is watching Russia's military activities in the Arctic "very closely" as signs mount of Moscow's ongoing efforts to boost its presence in and around its northernmost territories.

Indonesia has pushed to buy stealthy F-35 fighters from the US, which has so far only offered fourth-generation jets. However, Jakarta has proven less-than-picky about who it buys aircraft from, and its joint project with South Korea to build their own F-35 alternative could soon come to fruition.

The Trump administration withdrew from the 1992 Open Skies Treaty in November. Trump's successor Joe Biden criticised the Republican over the decision but has yet to take any steps to get the US back into the agreement. Russia announced plans to withdraw from the accord in January, but has hinted that it might stay in if the US returns.

The Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC), an armed group active in the east of the Central African Republic (CAR), says it is quitting the rebel coalition that has accused CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera of election fraud.

Sudan's Cabinet approved a bill Tuesday that will roll back a 63-year-old law that strained relations between the country and Israel, according to a statement.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin announced Tuesday he selected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to form a new government.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says the country is set to unveil and inaugurate 133 new achievements in the nuclear technology sector on the occasion of National Nuclear Technology Day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been tasked with forming a new cabinet after another inconclusive election last month further deepened the Israeli regime's political crisis.

The veteran Likud politician served as prime minister from 1996-1999, and again from 2009-2013, 2013-2015, 2015-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-present, with the last three terms served amidst a costly and tumultuous political deadlock in Israeli politics, and allegations of fraud, bribery and breach of trust against Netanyahu himself.

James Cleverly, the Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa, has stressed the UK's firm support for the Kurds and specifically the Kurdish region in the North of Iraq through a statement on Monday (April 05).

Iran's finance minister says an economic partnership agreement signed with China last month would be effective without any need to win the approval of the Iranian parliament.

The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) has started testing the next-generation IR-9 centrifuge for enriching uranium, which is 50 times more powerful than the IR-1 centrifuge, AEOI spokesman Behrooz Kamalvandi said on Tuesday.

The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi announced that the organization has begun the mechanical test of its new-generation IR-9 centrifuges.

Intensive consultations between the various delegations are taking place in Vienna before the joint commission meeting of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which is scheduled to be held today at 14:30 local time (17:00 Tehran time).

The United States and Iran are due to begin indirect talks Tuesday in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 agreement that restricted Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.