As the Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 17, is around the corner, the Vrbas Nova railway station of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line is adorned with festive decorations, creating a vibrant Spring Festival atmosphere.
The Budapest-Belgrade railway is a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative in Central and Eastern Europe. The station is a significant, modern facility newly built on the Novi Sad-Subotica section of the railway.
Zoran Dabetic, who is in charge of the railway station, said that decorating the station with Chinese elements conveys the beautiful wish that the "ironclad friendship" between Serbia and China will last forever.
"Today, we decorated our station with red lights, symbolizing the time-honored friendship between our two countries. Red represents the Chinese nation and is the main color of the national flag of China," said Dabetic.
The promotional video of China Media Group (CMG) 2026 Spring Festival Gala was also screened at the station, attracting many passengers.
Chinese and Serbian builders of the railway station expressed their best wishes ahead of the festival, hoping for stronger and more sustainable cooperation between the two countries.
China's Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is the most important traditional holiday for Chinese people, and watching the Spring Festival Gala on television is a cherished part of the celebrations in hundreds of millions of Chinese homes.
New station on Budapest-Belgrade railway decorated for Chinese New Year
At least eight civilians were killed and 95 others wounded in U.S. and Israeli attacks on a bridge in Iran's northern Alborz province on Thursday, the official news agency IRNA reported.
According to the report, the B1 bridge, located in the provincial capital Karaj, is one of the highest bridges in the Middle East and among the most complicated projects in Iran. It was targeted twice with missiles on Thursday.
IRNA cited Qodratollah Seif, the province's deputy governor for political, security and social affairs, as saying that among those killed and injured were inhabitants of Bileqan village, passengers and the families who had gathered in the nearby areas for the Nature Day, a traditional Iranian holiday marking the end of the Nowruz holidays.
He added that there were no military activities in the areas surrounding the bridge, stressing that the structure was under construction and scheduled to be inaugurated in the coming days.
Seif said those injured in the strikes were immediately transferred to nearby medical centers, and some of them were hospitalized.
U.S. President Donald Trump posted a video on the social media Truth Social, showing smoke rising from the B1 bridge in Karaj, hours after threatening to bomb the country "back to the Stone Ages," warning of further destruction unless Iran comes to the table to end the five-week war.
Trump delivered a speech earlier on Wednesday in which he argued that the war launched by the United States and Israel was almost over -- even as he threatened to bomb Iran "extremely hard" if it did not bow to his demands.
Condemning the attacks in a post on X, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said, "Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender."
He added, "It only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray. Every bridge and building will be built back stronger. What will never recover: damage to America's standing."
On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East.
8 killed, 95 wounded in US-Israeli attacks on Iran bridge
