Briefly

CHINA

FM to co-chair meeting on Vietnam cooperation

Foreign Minister Wang Yi will co-chair the 16th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son in Beijing on Tuesday. Advancing cooperation in such areas as connectivity, trade and investment, digital economy and green development will be at the top of the agenda during their discussion, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Friday. During the meeting, the two sides will also commemorate the 25th anniversary of the delimitation of the China-Vietnam boundary on land and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the "three legal documents" on the land border, Lin said.

URUGUAY

EU and Mercosur announce trade deal

The European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc have agreed to terms for a long-anticipated free trade deal, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, on Friday. The deal is not the end of the story for the Europeans. France leads a group of member countries who still have objections to the pact, and all 27 member countries must endorse it for the agreement to enter force.

UNITED STATES

NASA pushes back flights to moon again

NASA on Thursday announced delays in its Artemis moon exploration program following a technical problem identified in its Orion spacecraft. NASA is now targeting April 2026 for Artemis II, its first crewed moon mission, and mid-2027 for Artemis III, a historic moon landing mission exploring the lunar South Pole region. The agency previously set September 2025 for Artemis II and September 2026 for Artemis III.

China Daily - Agencies - Xinhua