People wait for the bus in snow in Madrid, Spain, Jan. 28, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov (on screens) speaks via a video link at a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, Jan. 28, 2026.
Alakbarov said Wednesday that there might be a turning point for Gaza, with both profound opportunity and considerable risk. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 28, 2026.
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept the target range for the federal funds interest rate unchanged at 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent at its first policy meeting of 2026. (Photo by Li Yuanqing/Xinhua)
Rescuers are in operation at the site of an air crash at Baramati airport in Pune district, Maharashtra state of India, Jan. 28, 2026.
Five people, including the deputy chief minister of India's western state of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, and two pilots, on board an aircraft were killed Wednesday in a crash, officials said.
The small aircraft crashed while attempting to land at Baramati airport in Pune district, about 249 km southeast of Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra.
According to an initial report released by India's civil aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), no person on board has survived the crash. (IANS via Xinhua)
People watch a televised news report on Kim Keon-hee, wife of the impeached former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 28, 2026.
Kim Keon-hee was sentenced to 20 months in prison for taking bribes, live footage showed Wednesday (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)
Giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei arrive at the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 28, 2026.
The final two giant pandas in Japan returned to China from a zoo in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, marking the end of over five decades of panda presence in Japan.
The pair, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, arrived at Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 1 a.m., before they were sent to the Ya'an base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, where they will be quarantined.
Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei were born in 2021 to their mother Shin Shin and her mate, Ri Ri, which were returned to China in September 2024. (China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda/Handout via Xinhua)
This photo taken on Jan. 24, 2026 shows the antenna radome under the starry sky at the Mohe Station of the China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station in Mohe, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Located in Mohe, China's northernmost city in Heilongjiang Province, the station is designed to autonomously receive satellite data. It is now tasked with receiving data from 25 national land observation satellites, according to the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)
This stack composite photo taken on Jan. 14, 2026 shows a view of the starry sky in Tangyuan County of Jiamusi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
China's northernmost Heilongjiang Province has entered the golden period for winter starry sky observation. With auroras occasionally making an appearance, the brilliant starry sky and the icy landscape together unfold a serene and breathtaking picture. (Photo by Zhu Zongqiang/Xinhua)
A visitor poses for photos in front of a plant-dyed ice house at the Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 28, 2026.
Using plant-dyed ice for carving, ice sculptors brought a fresh visual experience to the art of ice sculpture at this year's Harbin Ice and Snow World.
Plant-dyed ice is produced by extracting plant pigments from wood flour, leaves, and flowers, followed by special processing and freezing to form colored ice blocks.
When spring arrives and temperature rises, the ice will melt, and the dyed ice will biodegrade naturally and blend into the ecosystem without leaving any pollution. (Xinhua/Wang Song)
