Japanese Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa Ryose leaves for Washington on Thursday for another round of negotiations on US tariff measures. Arrangements are underway for Akazawa, who is Japan’s top negotiator in the talks, to meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others during the four-day trip. It will be his seventh trip there for tariff negotiations.

French National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet meets the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Zhao Leji, in Beijing.

As the meeting convened, Zhao spoke about the recent phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and his Chinese counterpart. The conversation between the leaders, which happened in May, "showed the way to develop healthy, stable Franco-Chinese relations," Zhao said.

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took part in a meeting of EU immigration hawks in Brussels Thursday, participants confirmed, in a sign of Berlin's hardening stance on migration. It marked the first time a German leader has attended the gathering, which has become a stable fixture on the sidelines of EU summits of the bloc's leaders over the past year.

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday called on parliament to approve a $22.5 billion supplementary budget aimed at reviving the economy, in his first address to MPs since taking office.

"Timing is everything when it comes to the economy, and now is the time to act," Lee told lawmakers in the main chamber of parliament. "To overcome the downturn and restore livelihoods, they have drafted a supplementary budget totaling 30.5 trillion won," he said, adding the package was designed for swift implementation.