Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed "steady progress" in improving relations with China after meeting its top diplomat this week, following a yearslong standoff between the nuclear-armed Asian powers. Modi noted "respect for each other's interests and sensitiveness" in a statement on social media after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. China's foreign ministry said the countries have entered a "steady development track" and should "trust and support" each other.

Wang on his visit also met with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and national security adviser Ajit Doval about the countries' disputed border in the Himalayan mountains. India's Foreign Ministry said Wang and Doval discussed "deescalation, delimitation and boundary affairs." The two sides agreed to resume direct flights and issuance of journalist visas and to facilitate business and cultural exchanges. It came against the background of the US singling out India for buying oil from Russia with secondary sanctions, apart from slapping on a hefty 50% tariff on Indian goods entering the US.

On Friday (Aug.15), Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska for a summit that was high on pomp and pageantry and low on diplomatic breakthroughs in the latest push to end the Russia-Ukraine war. On Monday (Aug.18), six European leaders rushed to Washington DC to meet with Trump and assess the consequences of that Putin meeting. While the gathering at the White House was historic, it too was heavy on rhetoric and light on tangible progress. With little to show from two summits, pressure is intensifying on a president who made ending foreign wars a key campaign promise.

Trump said "arrangements" were being made for a bilateral summit between Putin and Zelensky - although the location and details remain very much up in the air - after which he would directly participate in a three-way meeting with the two men. European leaders also want a ceasefire in place before any bilateral meeting, something Trump has said is not likely.

Hundreds died and went missing after cloudburst struck northwest Pakistan. Rescuers were recovering dozens of bodies from the rubble of collapsed homes in Buner, a mountainous area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, almost a week later, after torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday (Aug.15). The death toll was at least 274, but authorities defended their response to the flooding and said they did not need any foreign help at this point.

Heavy rains and flooding also killed dozens of people in neighboring Azad Kashmir. Villagers remain missing in untold numbers, and search efforts are focused on areas where homes were flattened by torrents of water that swept down from the mountains, carrying boulders that smashed into houses like explosions. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600. In India-administered Kashmir, located across Pakistan's northeastern border, rains triggered more flash floods in two villages in the Kathua district, killing seven people, officials said.

The lawyer for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai argued that supporting individual rights is not a crime, in the final stretch of a closely watched and years-long national security trial. Lai, 77, who founded the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material. He faces a maximum life sentence.

The trial is widely seen as a test for judicial independence in the financial hub under national security laws that were imposed by China in 2020 in response to mass pro-democracy demonstrations. Lai, a longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party, is one of the most high-profile figures to face prosecution under the law. His trial has been condemned by some countries like the United States as politically motivated. The three-judge panel is expected to deliver a verdict later this year.