China's Xi is making the case for free trade as he tours Southeast Asia this week, presenting China as a source of "stability and certainty."

On Monday, he was welcomed to Hanoi with pomp and ceremony by Vietnam's President Luong Cuong.

A second U.S. aircraft carrier is operating in Mideast waters ahead of the next round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, satellite photos analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed.

The operation of the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group in the Arabian Sea comes as suspected U.S. airstrikes pounded parts of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels overnight into Tuesday. American officials repeatedly have linked the U.S.' monthlong campaign against the Houthis under President Donald Trump as a means to pressure Iran in the negotiations.

Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program appeared ready to leave the Middle East on Monday, as an Italian source and others said the next round of negotiations would take place in Rome. But early Tuesday, Iran insisted the next round would again be held in Oman.

It wasn't immediately clear where the negotiations would be held after Tehran's overnight announcement. American officials have not said where the talks would be held. President Donald Trump separately complained Monday about the pace of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran as the two countries start a new round of pivotal negotiations.

The Trump administration has taken its next steps toward imposing more tariffs on key imports, launching investigations into imports of computer chips, chip making equipment and pharmaceuticals.

The Department of Commerce posted notices about the probes late Monday on the Federal Register, seeking public comment within three weeks. It had not formally announced them earlier.

Syria's new president was travelling to Qatar on Tuesday for his first official visit to the Gulf state, a key backer of the new administration after longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad's ouster, a minister said.

"Today we are accompanying President Ahmed al-Sharaa on his first presidential visit to the country that has stood by Syrians from day one and has never abandoned them," Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said in a statement on social network X. He accompanied the post with a photo of the Syrian and Qatari flags.

A month after a wave of revenge attacks left hundreds of Alawite civilians dead, members of the Syrian religious minority are still living in fear, with dozens killed in smaller attacks since the start of April.

The Muslim minority group was seen as a privileged minority under the rule of the Alawite Assad family, but since Bashar Assad 's government fell late last year members have feared revenge from the country's Sunni majority.

An Israeli airstrike hit the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a medic and wounding nine other people, a spokesman for the hospital said.

The strike hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area, where hundreds of thousands have sought shelter in sprawling tent camps. The wounded were all patients and medics, and two of the patients were in critical condition after the strike, said Saber Mohammed, a hospital spokesman.

President Joseph Aoun said Monday that the disarmament of the militant group Hezbollah will come through negotiations as part of a national defense strategy and not through "force."

The Lebanese government has made a decision that "weapons will only be in the hands of the state," but there are "discussions around how to implement this decision," Aoun said in an interview with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal hold such commanding leads in their Champions League quarterfinal matches that a place in the last four looks all but certain.

Don't be so sure.

China's exports jumped 12.4% in March from a year earlier in a last-minute flurry of activity as companies rushed to beat increases in U.S. tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, and analysts forecast sharp setbacks ahead.

Imports fell 4.3% to $211.3 billion in March, the customs administration reported, far exceeded by exports worth $313.9 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $102.6 billion.