China's economy remains resilient with potential, vigor: spokesperson

A spokesperson with China's top political advisory body has said the country's economy remains resilient and is full of potential and vigor.

Guo Weimin also said the country should continue to implement a strategy to expand domestic demand to accelerate recovery and spur consumption.

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will start its annual session on Saturday afternoon in Beijing.

It will conclude a week later on March 11th.

G20 members push for multilateral cooperation to tackle global crises

G20 foreign ministers have ended their meeting with a call to strengthen multilateral cooperation.

Participants said joint efforts will help tackle climate change, economic recovery and the debt crisis.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang called for boosting policy coordination and safeguarding food and energy security.

WHO enhances disease detection, medical supplies due to flooding

The World Health Organization has warned that heavy flooding in southern Africa risks fuelling the spread of cholera.

The warning came even as Africa saw new cholera cases falling to nearly 2,900 in the week ending February 26th.

Twelve African countries are reporting cholera.

Heavy flooding is a main cause of cholera outbreaks in southern Africa, with Malawi experiencing its worst-ever cholera outbreak.

UN continues to deliver cross-border aid into Syria

Twenty two truckloads of aid from the World Food Programme and the UN Children's Fund have crossed into Northwest Syria from Turkiye.

It brings the total of cross-border delivery to 557 trucks since February 9 in the wake of massive earthquakes.

The United Nations has carried out 18 inter-agency cross-border missions to Northwest Syria since the first interagency visit to Idlib on February 14.

The world body is currently supporting structural damage assessments of affected buildings to help facilitate families' return.

Longer-term shelter operations are also being identified for families that cannot return to their homes due to the scope of the damage.

Farmers protest new environmental laws

In Belgium, thousands of tractors have taken to the streets of Brussels to new environmental laws.

Farmers say the new rules could force many farms to shut down.

Italy's economy contracts by 0.1 percent in Q4 2022

Italy's economy contracted by 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year.

Data from the country's National Institute of Statistics shows that on a year-on-year basis, Italy's GDP in the quarter increased by 1.4 percent.

Industrial and agricultural production declined in the fourth quarter year-on-year, while the services sector grew over the same span.

China honors Shenzhou-14 mission astronauts with medals

Three astronauts from the Shenzhou-14 crewed mission have been awarded medals for their service to China's space endeavors.

Launched on June 5 of last year, the Shenzhou-14 spaceship sent the trio to China's space station core module Tianhe, where they lived and worked for six months.

They performed extravehicular activities three times and conducted a series of space science and technology experiments during the stay.