Chinese premier meets Senegal's PM

Premier Li Qiang met with Prime Minister of Senegal Ousmane Sonko in Beijing on Friday.

Li said over the years, China and Senegal have respected each other, treated each other as equals, and carried out mutually beneficial cooperation in a sincere and friendly manner, achieving fruitful results.

China is willing to enhance solidarity and cooperation with Senegal, continue two-way support, expand practical cooperation, and firmly walk hand in hand on the road to modernization, he said.

Li noted that China stands ready to strengthen the docking of development strategies with Senegal, promote the quality and efficiency of cooperation in various fields, and continuously enhance the internal impetus for development.

He called on both sides to make good use of trade and investment facilitation measures, expand the scale of bilateral trade, and explore cooperation potential in areas such as agricultural product processing, industrial parks, new energy, digital economy and information security.

China encourages Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Senegal, and welcomes Senegalese enterprises making good use of platforms such as the China International Import Expo to enhance the promotion of their products in the Chinese market, Li said.

Noting that 2026 is the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges, Li said China is willing to work with Senegal to successfully hold a series of activities, deepen exchanges in culture, media, and think tanks and better promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Sonko said Senegal admires the tremendous achievements made in China's economic and social development and sincerely appreciates China for the vigorous assistance it has provided to Senegal over a long period of time.

Senegal is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with China, promote cooperation on economy and trade, energy and mineral resources, finance, and agriculture within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and deepen people-to-people exchanges, Sonko said.

Sonko said Senegal looks forward to working with China to strengthen multilateral communication and cooperation, safeguard multilateralism and international fairness and justice, and protect the common interests of the Global South.

Chinese premier meets Senegal's PM

Chinese premier meets Senegal's PM

Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Italy and Greece on Saturday to protest against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, with protesters in Rome, Milan and Athens condemning Washington's actions and calling for respect for Venezuelan sovereignty.

In Rome, more than 1,000 demonstrators marched toward the area near the U.S. Embassy, calling on Washington to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

Police blocked roads around the embassy to prevent protesters from approaching the building, but demonstrators continued to denounce U.S. actions.

"First of all, we oppose U.S. imperialist aggression. This kind of behavior is shameful. The U.S. is attacking a sovereign country, and as [U.S. President Donald] Trump himself has said, this is for oil interests," said protester Giovanni Barbera.

Saturday's rally marked the second large-scale protest in Rome this month against U.S. military operations in Venezuela, following an earlier one on on Jan 3.

Participants included members of multiple political parties, labor unions and social organizations. The protesters held banners reading "Stop imperialist interference" and "Free Maduro," urging the international community to respect Venezuela's sovereignty and the will of its people, and condemning the U.S. for violating international law.

"We are protesting the way the U.S. handles international politics. Since the events of January 3, we have seen violations of international law, and we are very concerned about how the global situation is developing," said protester Stefano De Angelis.

Organizers said solidarity rallies in support of Venezuela were held in 30 Italian cities on the same day.

Meanwhile, similar protests were also staged in Greece. About 200 people gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens, voicing support for Venezuela and opposition to U.S. military actions.

"We oppose U.S. imperialism and its attack on Venezuela. At the same time, the U.S. is also threatening Cuba, Mexico and Greenland. We must stand up against this behavior," said Greek protester Argiro Sirmakezi.

Protesters rally in Italy, Greece against U.S. military operation in Venezuela