REUTERS

Analysts say more than 1 million people have been killed or wounded in the conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  

Without a meaningful role in the Ukraine process, China has been able to focus on trade and economy. Xi has directed Chinese bureaucrats to study Trump's trade policies and prepare responses to his initial tariffs and threats, two people familiar with the situation say.

Bloomberg News reported last week that Chinese officials were in preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok's operations in the United States to Musk, though the company has denied that.

Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight "breakthrough" in talks attended by envoys of both the outgoing U.S. president and President-elect Donald Trump.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

A ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the U.S. and France, a rare victory for diplomacy in a region traumatised by two devastating wars for over a year.