Beijing: China on Friday said it was ready to hold a Wuhan-style summit meeting with India this year, notwithstanding India's reported decision to boycott its 2nd Belt and Road Forum to be held here next week to protest over its sovereignty concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Bamako: Mali's prime minister resigned along with his entire government on Thursday following criticism over their handling of an upsurge of violence in the centre of the country and a massacre last month that left 160 people dead.

Donald Trump's first reaction to Robert Mueller's appointment as special counsel was "this is the end of my Presidency" and the US President was so furious that he reacted with an expletive, according to the counsel's report.

Islamabad: Pakistan's Finance Minister Asad Umar, who was involved in extensive discussions with the IMF to finalise a bailout package for the cash-strapped country, quit the Cabinet on Thursday after Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his desire to shift him to the energy ministry.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau says a strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake has struck the east of the island.

The office said the quake happened just after 1 p.m. local time (0500GMT). The epicentre was located just over 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of the eastern coastal city of Hualien.

Karachi: Unidentified gunmen shot dead at least 14 passengers after forcing them to disembark from a bus on a highway in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, a media report said Thursday.

Peru's former president Alan Garcia died in hospital on Wednesday after shooting himself in the head at his home as police were about to arrest him in a sprawling corruption case, a party official said. He was 69.

Beijing: China on Wednesday dismissed reports that the US, UK and France have served it an ultimatum until April 23 to lift its "technical hold" on designating Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist but claimed that the vexed issue is "moving towards settlement".