Briefly

DENMARK

Beijing, Copenhagen hail fruitful relations

Vice-President Han Zheng met with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmmussen in Beijing on Friday, hailing the long-term and fruitful cooperation between the two countries. Han said China will continue to promote reform and opening-up, and is willing to cooperate with Denmark to uphold multilateralism, overcome various difficulties and challenges, and promote better cooperation globally. Rasmussen said that Denmark spoke highly of China's proactive efforts in addressing climate change and Denmark is willing to strengthen cooperation with China.

UNITED STATES

Trump lawyers seek April 2026 trial date

Lawyers for Donald Trump on Thursday requested an April 2026 trial date on the federal charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election — long after next year's presidential vote. The request comes as lead prosecutor Jack Smith is pushing for a Jan 2 start date in the case, one of four criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing in the middle of his White House reelection campaign. "The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment," the former president's lawyers said in their filing. They argued the amount of documents in the case would require months to process. Judge Tanya Chutkan is set to decide the trial date on Aug 28.

SWEDEN

Security service raises terror alert level

Sweden's security service SAPO said on Thursday it was raising its assessment of the level of threat against Sweden to 4 on a scale of 5, amid mounting international tension over the burning of copies of the Quran at demonstrations in the Nordic country. "The threat against Sweden has gradually changed and the threat of attacks from actors within violent Islamism has increased during the year," the security service said in a statement. SAPO said Sweden had gone from being regarded as a legitimate target for terrorist attacks to a priority target.

China Daily - Agencies