Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Beijing on Tuesday.

RIYADH, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Several energy facilities and installations in southern Saudi Arabia were targeted on Tuesday morning, the Saudi Ministry of Energy said.The attacks caused injuries of varying degrees to several people and sparked fires at several sites, leading to a halt to some operations, the ministry said in a statement posted on its official account on social media platform X.Authorities immediately took necessary measures to secure medical care for the injured, contain the fires, and assess the damage, the statement added.

Sri Lanka is developing a national strategy to standardize, test and commercialize drone technology as its use expands across agriculture, industry and other sectors, the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement on Monday.

WELLINGTON, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Three people have died in a case New Zealand police are treating as homicide at a house in Rotorua on the North Island overnight, authorities said Tuesday.Emergency services were called to an address on High Street shortly before 10:30 p.m. local time, where a woman was found with life-threatening injuries and two young children were found deceased. Despite extensive efforts by police and ambulance crews, the woman died at the scene, police said in a statement.The deaths of all three victims are being treated as homicides, and the circumstances remain under investigation, the statement said.A man was also found at the address and is assisting police with their inquiries. Police said they are not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident.A forensic examination of the scene will begin and may continue for several days, while investigators work to establish what happened and why, according to police.

ANKARA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye will continue to develop its relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, of which we are a dialogue partner, is one of the regional organizations with which our relations have intensified in recent years, Erdogan said, according to a press statement issued by the Turkish Presidency after a cabinet meeting.Noting that SCO member states account for a substantial share of the global population and economic output, Erdogan said the organization has considerable potential.He said he reaffirmed Türkiye's determination to increase trade with SCO member states during the SCO Plus meeting in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on Sept. 1, adding that the SCO's contributions to multipolarity were discussed at the meeting.

NEW DELHI, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Around 15 people died over the past few days and more than 100 were undergoing medical treatment at government hospitals after consuming suspected spurious liquor in India's central state of Madhya Pradesh, confirmed a government official by phone on Tuesday.The incident was reported from the Banda area in the state's Sagar district.According to the official, several among those admitted to hospitals were in a critical condition. All the victims hailed from different villages and lived in close vicinity, he added.They reportedly showed symptoms like vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, besides impact on the kidneys, indicating suspected poisoning by methyl alcohol.Local police said that formal complaints had been lodged against at least 20 people, out of whom 10 had already been arrested. Stern action would be taken against those found guilty, added the police.

RIYADH, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government in Yemen said on Tuesday that recent attacks by Yemen's Houthi group targeting Saudi Arabia constitute a dangerous escalation.In a post on social media platform X, coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said the escalation by the Houthi group and its attempts to target the kingdom, its national assets, citizens and residents reflect what he described as a hostile and irresponsible approach.Al-Maliki said the latest attacks targeted civilian and economic sites in the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, injuring 73 civilians, including women and children.He said the attacks constituted a violation of Saudi Arabia's sovereignty and a direct threat to the security and safety of its citizens and residents.Al-Maliki added that the coalition's Joint Forces Command would take necessary operational measures to deter the Houthi group, respond to the sources of threats and neutralize their danger.Houthis said Tuesday that they hit multiple targets in Saudi Arabia, including Abha International Airport, King Khalid Air Base and facilities belonging to the state-owned oil company Aramco in Abha and Jizan, according to Houthi-run media Ansarollah.

NEW YORK, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Iran war has cost U.S. consumers an estimated additional 100 billion U.S. dollars in energy costs, a figure that is rising by roughly 1 million every two minutes, according to a real-time estimate from Brown University as of Monday.The Iran War Energy Cost Tracker from Brown's Watson School says higher gasoline and diesel prices have cost the average U.S. household more than 760 dollars since the war began on Feb. 28.The U.S. national average price for diesel rose to a record 5.90 dollars per gallon on Monday, surpassing the record 5.85 dollars set on Friday, according to the American Automobile Association.Texas has borne the biggest share of the cost increase, with consumers paying around 11 billion dollars in extra gas and diesel costs since the war began. It is followed by California and Florida, at about 8 billion dollars and 5 billion dollars, respectively.U.S. consumers are expecting a longer period of higher fuel prices than they anticipated when the war began, the tracker shows. The rising costs have translated into higher transportation expenses for many everyday goods. Some businesses have already passed those costs on to consumers in the form of additional fees.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday shared on social media a map appearing to depict Canada, Mexico, Cuba and other regional territories as part of an expanded United States.The apparently AI-generated map, posted on his Truth Social platform, shows the American flag covering the United States along with Canada, Mexico, Cuba, as well as Greenland -- a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark -- and several other countries and territories in North America and the Caribbean.Trump offered no caption or explanation for the image.The post followed a message on Sunday, in which Trump shared an image bearing the words THE MOON IS OURS alongside a U.S. flag.In another post on Sunday evening, the president labeled New Mexico, a mountain state in the U.S. Southwest, as New America, though a president lacks unilateral authority to rename a state.Trump signed an executive order last month directing the Department of the Interior to rename Lake Ontario Lake America amid heightened trade tensions with Canada. The change does not alter Canada's usage or constitute an internationally binding renaming.In January 2025, Trump signed a separate executive order directing the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a move that remains unrecognized internationally.