Xi meets UNESCO chief

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Khaled El-Enany, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in Beijing on Tuesday.

Highlighting the active role UNESCO has played in reforming and improving global governance in education, science and culture, Xi said China actively supports the work of UNESCO, and looks forward to deepening strategic cooperation with UNESCO to better benefit the people of all countries.

Xi stressed China firmly practices true multilateralism, supports and defends the authority of the United Nations, and supports UNESCO in playing an important role in global governance.

Xi said China would like to work with UNESCO to implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative, enable the people of all countries to share the fruits of development in education, science and culture, better respond to the common challenges facing human society, and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

He noted that the two sides should deepen cooperation in areas including artificial intelligence, open science and digital education, advocate respect for the diversity of world civilizations, promote mutual respect and harmonious coexistence among different civilizations, strengthen cooperation with Global South countries, promote cultural heritage protection, and advance exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

Speaking on the same occasion, El-Enany expressed appreciation for China's strong support to UNESCO. He said UNESCO looks forward to continuing to strengthen cooperation with China to improve global education standards, promote scientific and technological exchanges, deepen cooperation in artificial intelligence, jointly implement the four global initiatives, and enhance the well-being of all humanity.

Xi meets UNESCO chief

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Tuesday that the United States has no other alternative but to accept the Iranian people's rights.

He made the remarks in a post on social media X, after U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed Iran's response to a U.S. peace proposal and warned that the ceasefire between the two countries is "on massive life support."

Qalibaf said in the post that there is no alternative but to accept the rights of the Iranian people as laid out in the (Iran-proposed) 14-point proposal and warned that "any other approach will be completely inconclusive; nothing but one failure after another."

"The longer they drag their feet, the more American taxpayers will pay for it," he added.

Trump on Monday slammed Iran's latest response to the White House peace plan, which he rejected one day earlier, calling it "totally unacceptable," stressing that any peace deal between Washington and Tehran would require Iran to pledge to stop pursuing a nuclear program.

Iran has not publicly agreed to give up its enriched uranium, insisting that its nuclear program is peaceful.

On the same day, several U.S. media outlets, citing internal government sources, reported that due to the lack of progress in negotiations, the U.S. is now "more seriously considering" resuming military action against Iran compared to previous weeks.

Iran, the United States and Israel reached a ceasefire on April 8 after 40 days of fighting that began after U.S.-Israeli joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities on Feb 28.

Following the truce, Iranian and U.S. delegations held one round of peace talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on April 11 and 12, which failed to yield an agreement.

Over the past weeks, the two sides have reportedly exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions for ending the conflict through the mediation of Pakistan.

Iranian parliament speaker says US must accept its people's rights