State Post Bureau monitoring shows China's express delivery volume exceeded 100 billion items as of June 30, reaching the milestone nine days earlier than in 2025. Ongoing consumption-support measures have sustained retail growth and shifted spending patterns, expanding parcel demand. The bureau says the industry is refocusing from pure volume growth to quality improvement and sustainable scale; continued policy implementation and emerging new drivers should strengthen postal and courier service

Financial Times reports France’s push to exclude the UK from the EU’s €150bn arms-reconstruction fund Safe has backfired, leaving France with €15.1bn of the €16.2bn it applied for, three people familiar told the paper. The roughly €1.1bn shortfall reflected projects linked to the UK failing to meet strict eligibility rules France had promoted, the sources said. The disqualified work included projects involving missile-maker MBDA; MBDA’s UK and French units jointly produce the long‑range Storm Shadow missile used by Ukraine.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said Iran hosted delegations from more than 70 countries, including Arab delegations, at a mourning ceremony for its martyred Supreme Leader Khamenei, describing the event as a historic memorial that will endure in the development of bilateral ties.