Xinjiang sees steady progress in human rights: white paper

China has issued a white paper, detailing its progress made in the cause of human rights in Xinjiang over the past decades.

According to the white paper, the GDP of the Uygur Autonomous Region increased about 160 times from 1955 to last year.

And there has been no terrorist incident in the region since the end of 2016.

Meanwhile, expressways have covered all prefectures and cities of Xinjiang and high-speed railways have been built.

Over 2.7 million rural people in the region living below the current poverty line had emerged from poverty by the end of last year.

China, Tajikistan to strengthen cooperation over Afghanistan

China and Tajikistan have agreed to strengthen security cooperation amid the fast changing situation in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in the country for a visit.

Both sides also vowed to collaborate further on Belt and Road and in fighting COVID-19.

As part of his time in Dushanbe, Wang Yi will attend a gathering of foreign ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and a special SCO-contact group meeting with Afghanistan.

Over 70 dead in South Africa unrest

More than 70 people have been confirmed dead amid the recent protests in South Africa.

The protests broke out after former president Jacob Zuma turned himself over to police.

U.S. annual CPI jumps 5.4% in June

Official data shows U.S. inflation spiked again in June, jumping 5.4 percent over the past 12 months for its biggest gain since August 2008.

Compared to last May, the Consumer Price Index surged by 0.9 percent.

The Labor Department reported over one-third of that rise was driven by a 10.5 percent gain in used car prices.

U.S. COVID-19 cases spike

New data shows that the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States has reversed course over the past two weeks.

Average cases have spiked from about 12,000 a day to more than 19,000.

Iran-U.S. prisoner swap talks underway

It's been confirmed that negotiations between Iran and the United States for a prisoner swap are underway.

A spokesperson for the Iranian government says the country is ready for an all-for-all prisoner exchange.

Ali Rabiei adds that Iran expects the release of all its citizens imprisoned around the world, and that the foreign ministry will announce acceptable results as soon as they are achieved.

U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley says the negotiations have made some progress, and that Washington will not accept a partial deal but only the release of all American prisoners in Iran.

China approves deal to take search engine private

China's market regulator has approved a bid by Tencent to take search engine Sogou private.

It comes after the Chinese tech giant acquired Sogou from local rival Sohu in a deal worth 3.5-billion U.S. dollars.

The deal, concluded in September, allows Tencent to buy around 56.5 percent of the U.S.-listed search engine.

Sogou was founded in 2005.

It launched its U.S. IPO in 2017.

LeBron James stars in Space Jam sequel

"Space Jam: A New Legacy" starring LeBron James has been launched in Los Angeles.

The Lakers player says it's not an easy task to follow up on Michael Jordan's 1996 film.

The sequel is more family orientated than the original. The plot sees James try to rescue his son by winning a basketball game with Bugs Bunny.