As the National People's Congress opened this year's session, China set an economic target of "around 5%" — one of the lowest in decades — and announced a 7.2% increase in its defense budget.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is visiting Lithuania, where he will hold talks with the country's leadership and meet German soldiers.

The European Union is looking at how to boost ammunition supplies in both the short and long term at a meeting in Stockholm. A top EU official has called for "a war economy."

Zambia has become a major transit point for human traffickers who often smuggle people into the country enroute to South Africa. The government said tighter borders would be key in dealing with the crisis.

Over the past several years, hundreds of unmarked graves have been discovered near the sites of Canada's former residential schools, in which the government forcibly placed some 150,000 indigenous children. In what's been described as cultural genocide, both boys and girls were subjected to psychological and physical abuse. But the differences between the male and female experience still have effects today.

At a summit in Paris to reset rocky ties, the UK leader agreed to commit $575 million to increase beach patrols in northern France. Britain has seen a large rise in the number of migrants crossing the sea in small boats.

German car giant Volkswagen has chosen Canada to build its first battery plant outside Europe to localize its electric vehicle production chain in the region.

More than 20,000 people have reached Italy's shores this year and the government says the influx is deliberate. It now wants NATO's help.

Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar has told DW that as a "welcoming country," Tunisia is surprised by the "overexaggerated and unfair" international reactions to a recent speech by President Kais Saied. Some of the president's remarks about sub-Saharan migrants have been widely criticized as inflammatory.

US President Joe Biden has approved a massive oil and gas drilling project in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. ConocoPhillips, the company behind the Willow Project, says it will create local investment and thousands of jobs. But the move has sparked significant backlash from environmental groups. We take a closer look.

Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskyy says military commanders want to inflict "maximum damage" on Russia. Meanwhile, reporters witnessed the use of white phosphorus in eastern Ukraine. Follow DW for the latest.

FRANCE 24 spoke to the former head of Saudi intelligence, Turki al-Faisal, following the announcement that Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations.