Xi urges high-quality development of modern logistics for China's armed forces

The Chinese President has urged the country's armed forces to accelerate the high-quality development of modern logistics.

Xi Jinping made the remarks in his instruction to a meeting on military logistics held in Beijing from Monday to Tuesday.

He says advancing the high-quality development of modern logistics will lend strong support to the realization of the goals set for the centenary of the People's Liberation Army that falls in 2027.

China honors Shenzhou-12 mission astronauts with medals

Three astronauts of the Shenzhou-12 spaceflight mission have been awarded medals for their service to China's space endeavors.

Nie Haisheng, commander of the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, was honored with a first-class aerospace achievement medal.

Liu Boming was conferred a second-class medal, while Tang Hongbo received a third-class medal and the honorary title "heroic astronaut."

The awards were given by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

Launched on June 17, Shenzhou-12 for the first time sent astronauts to China's space station core module Tianhe, where they lived for three months, the longest time Chinese astronauts have spent in space so far.

The Shenzhou-12 mission was the third space mission for Nie, and his second deployment as commander. He is the first Chinese astronaut to spend 100 days in space. It was Liu's second space mission and Tang's first.

The Shenzhou-12 mission is part of China's plan to build a permanent manned space station.

Russian president to attend Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics upon invitation: spokesman

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted the invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Zhao Lijian says the two sides are in close communication on the details of President Putin's visit.

"For many years, China and Russia have formed a good tradition of supporting each other in organizing grand events. In 2014, President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics. This time, President Xi Jinping invited President Putin to come to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Games. President Putin has accepted the invitation with pleasure. The two sides are currently maintaining a close communication on the details of President Putin's visit."

The remarks came after Russia's Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Friday that Putin had received an invitation from the Chinese President to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, which will take place from February 4 to 20.

China's polar icebreaker sets sail for 38th Antarctica expedition

Xuelong 2, China's first domestically-built polar icebreaker, set off Tuesday from Shanghai for the country's 38th Antarctic scientific expedition.

The vessel, carrying a team of 101 members, will work with another icebreaker Xuelong, which set sail on Nov. 5 with 154 members on board for the polar expedition.

Their missions include monitoring new pollutants like microplastics and drifting garbage in the Antarctic Ocean.

They will also carry supply and rotational staff to China's Zhongshan Station and Great Wall Station in the region.

The two ships are expected to return to China in mid-April next year.

Malaysian, Chinese central banks renew bilateral currency swap arrangement

The central banks of Malaysia and China have renewed the bilateral currency swap arrangement for a term of five years.

The Bank Negara Malaysia says the size of the deal is maintained at 180 billion yuan or 110 billion ringgit.

The first agreement between the bank and the People's Bank of China was established in 2009.

U.S. advises against travel to Germany, Denmark over COVID-19 surge

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised against travel to Germany and Denmark due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in both countries.

The CDC says people should avoid traveling to the two European countries, which were designated with a "Level Four" notice, and anyone who must travel should be fully vaccinated first.

It currently lists about 75 destinations worldwide at Level Four.

La Nina alert issued for Australia's east

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has declared a La Nina weather pattern which is set to affect the northern and eastern parts of the country in the summer.

Andrew Watkins, the head of operational climate services, says he expects Australia will record more than average number of tropical cyclones, and an increased risk of widespread flooding.

But he adds that the weather conditions will reduce the risk of the big wildfires which burned across Australia's eastern states in late 2019 and early 2020.

Australia's last major La Nina event was between the summers of 2010 and 2012 and resulted in some of the wettest years ever recorded.