Briefly

CHINA

Angolan president to pay a state visit

Angolan President Joao Lourenco will pay a state visit to China from Thursday to Sunday at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, Xi will hold a welcome ceremony and banquet for Lourenco. The two heads of state will hold talks and jointly attend the signing ceremony of cooperation documents. The four-day trip will also bring Lourenco to Shandong province. "We believe that the Angolan president's visit will give a new boost to the all-round and in-depth growth of China-Angola relations and further advance our friendly cooperation," Wang told a daily news briefing on Tuesday.

RUSSIA

Military transport aircraft crashes

An IL-76 military transport aircraft crashed in Russia's Ivanovo region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. All eight crew members and seven passengers onboard died, the TASS news agency reported. The aircraft crashed as one of its engines caught fire during takeoff, said the ministry, adding that a commission of the Russian Aerospace Forces is on its way to the Ivanovo airfield to find out the facts. Search operations for black boxes are underway, the report said.

SOUTH ASIA

Indian troops begin Maldives pullout

India has begun withdrawing military personnel operating surveillance aircraft in the Maldives after the president ordered them to leave, local media reported on Tuesday. The Mihaaru newspaper reported that 25 Indian troops deployed in the southernmost atoll of Addu had left the archipelago ahead of March 10, the official start of the withdrawal. Following talks with New Delhi, the two sides had agreed to complete the withdrawal of 89 Indian troops and their support staff from the nation by May 10.

HUNGARY

Trump won't 'give a penny' to Kyiv: Orban

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has asserted that former US president Donald Trump told him during a meeting that he would "not give a penny" to the conflict in Ukraine. Orban traveled to Florida on Friday to meet his "good friend" Trump, Agence France-Presse reported on Monday. Orban has frequently expressed hope for the Republican's return to power. "He has a very clear vision, which is hard not to agree with. He says the following: first of all, he will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war," Orban said. Trump's team did not immediately comment.

China Daily - Xinhua - Agencies