World Today

① Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia. What to expect? (00:42)

② The Group of Seven Leaders gather in Italy for an annual summit this week. What will be on top of the agenda? (12:52)

③ Hamas has responded to a US ceasefire proposal to end the war in Gaza, but Israel says the response is tantamount to a rejection. We discuss more on the fate of the ceasefire plan. (24:35)

④ China's consumer price index edged up 0.3 percent year on year in May. (33:13)

⑤ Latest survey shows trust in British politics hits record low. (43:00)

①The BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting takes place in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. How does the platform reflect the growing voice of the Global South? (00:40)

②The United Nations has endorsed a US-backed cease-fire plan to end the war in Gaza. How can it be enforced and implemented? (12:27)

③Iran has approved six candidates to run for president. What happens next? (24:36)

④China has selected ten candidates for the country's fourth batch of astronauts. (32:49)

⑤Apple unveils "Apple Intelligence" at the WWDC. (41:39)

①Far-right parties have made significant gains in the European Parliament elections. What does it mean for the future of the continent? (00:30)

②China's foreign trade up 6.3% in the first five months of 2024 (25:00)

③Israeli minister Benny Gantz has resigned from war cabinet. What's behind the decision? (35:46)

④How significant is the first International Day for Dialogue among Civilizations? (44:46)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is extending his decade in power into a third term following his coalition’s victory in the country’s general election. However, for the first time, Modi will have to govern through a coalition, as his own party failed to secure a majority independently.

What will Modi’s new term mean for India’s domestic and foreign agenda?

Host Ding Heng is joined by Mike Liu, Vice President and Senior Fellow with the Center for China and Globalization; Gao Xirui, PhD candidate in political science at the University of Hong Kong; Mohammed Saqib, CEO of the Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals, a New Delhi-based consultancy.

①People across the European Union's 27 member states are voting to decide who serves in the EU Parliament for the next five years. What are the key issues? (00:53) ②Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong holds a bilateral consultation with visiting Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in Beijing. What are the details? (11:12) ③NASA and Boeing have launched the first crewed mission of the Starliner spacecraft from Florida.(25:30) ④The World Meteorological Organization estimates that there is an 80 percent chance that annual average global temperatures will exceed the 1.5-degree Celsius warming mark in at least one of the next five years.(34:48) ⑤Survey shows majorities in three major western European countries do not trust the United States to guarantee their security over the coming decade.(44:10)

①India's ruling National Democratic Alliance, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP, has secured a majority of the seats in the lower house of Parliament.(00:58) ②Foreign Minister Wang Yi has expressed China's willingness to maintain cooperation with Turkiye at various levels in his meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.(11:30) ③British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced off against Labour challenger Keir Starmer in their first televised debate before a general election next month. What are the key issues in the British election? (25:10) ④The U.S. labor market is showing further signs of cooling.(35:53) ⑤Chinese provinces have been rolling out policies to incentivize companies to offer flexible job roles and make it easier for families to balance work and childcare.(45:30)

①Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City, has become the first woman ever to win Mexico's highest office.(00:55) ②The United States has urged the UN Security Council to support the three-phase plan announced by President Joe Biden aimed at ending the nearly eight-month conflict in Gaza. What are the details? (13:05) ③China's Caixin Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.7 in May, reaching the highest level in nearly two years. What does it suggest for China's economy? (25:16) ④Iran registers presidential candidates for an early election following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.(35:12) ⑤South Korea has formally approved the full suspension of the September 19 military agreement with North Korea.(44:02)

①Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun has called for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific in his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. What are the details? (00:53) ②South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted his African National Congress party suffered a challenging election result.(15:56) ③Opec+ members have agreed to extend oil production cuts well into 2025.(25:30) ④China's Chang'e-6 probe has touched down on the far side of the moon to collect samples from this rarely explored terrain. What is Chang'e-6's main mission? (36:00) ⑤Chinese holidaymakers will spend a record 6.8 trillion yuan, or about 937 billion U.S. dollars, on domestic travel this year.(45:30)

China and Arab states have wrapped up a major forum in Beijing in a sign of deepening cooperation.

What factors are driving the deepening ties between China and Arab states? How can they work together towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, as well as a more equitable, multipolar world order?

Host Zhao Ying is joined by Zhang Chuchu, Deputy Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Fudan University; Steven Wright, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University; Mher Sahakyan, Director of "China-Eurasia" Council for Political and Strategic Research, Armenia; and Timothy Niblock, Emeritus Professor of Middle East Politics, Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter.

① Xi Jinping has proposed five cooperation frameworks to step up the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future. What is drawing the two sides closer? (00:51)

② Liu Jianchao, a senior official of the Communist Party of China, is on a visit to Japan, with resuming ruling party talks being at stake. (14:20)

③ We look at possible central issues at this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. (25:27)

④ Why does Thailand aim to become a BRICS member? (35:42)

⑤ Will the ruling ANC fail to win majority in South Africa’s election? (44:15)