Briefly

CHINA

Forum held to boost media cooperation

Nearly 60 representatives of media authorities and heads of mainstream media from China and members of the League of Arab States vowed to strengthen cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic during a virtual forum on Tuesday. Xu Lin, minister of the State Council Information Office, urged media from both sides to play a more active role and reach consensus in recording the China-Arab joint efforts in fighting the epidemic. The Fourth China-Arab States Press Cooperation Forum was co-hosted by the State Council Information Office of China and the Secretariat of the Arab League. A communique was released after the forum on the broad consensus to expand media cooperation.

UNITED STATES

Trump mulls pardon for ex-aide Flynn

US President Donald Trump has told allies he plans to pardon his former national security adviser Michael Flynn who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. Moscow has always denied claims of interference in the poll. The source said Trump could still change his mind on the planned pardon, which was first reported by Axios. If Trump does grant a reprieve to Flynn, it would be the highest-profile pardon issued by the president since he took office. Flynn was one of several former Trump aides to plead guilty or be convicted at trial in former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into foreign interference in the 2016 election to boost Trump's candidacy.

EUROPEAN UNION

737 Max jets move closer to clearance

European regulators on Tuesday began the timetable for a return of the Boeing 737 Max to Europe's skies early next year after an almost two-year flight ban caused by fatal crashes. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, set out conditions for putting the grounded jets back into service, including new training and updating of MCAS software implicated in the crashes that killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019. Tuesday's publication marks the start of a 28-day comment period, which the EASA said would lead to a formal clearance for the aircraft from mid-January, once public and industry feedback had been studied.

POLAND

8 coronavirus cases found in farmed mink

Polish scientists have identified the country's first cases of coronavirus in mink at a farm in Poland's north, the Medical University of Gdansk said on Tuesday. Poland, a major producer of mink fur, started coronavirus tests among its farmed mink and checks on workers this month after a mutated virus was found in farmed mink in Denmark, leading to a nationwide cull there. No coronavirus cases among mink had previously been discovered in Poland. Veterinary and sanitary authorities said last week that 18 coronavirus cases had been identified among mink farmworkers since the start of the pandemic, but it was unlikely that they were infected by the animals.

NEW ZEALAND

Nearly 100 whales die in mass stranding

About 100 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins had died in a mass stranding on the remote Chatham Islands, about 800 kilometers off New Zealand's east coast, officials said on Wednesday. Most of them were stranded during the weekend but rescue efforts have been hampered by the remote location of the island. New Zealand's Department of Mass whale strandings have occurred throughout recorded modern history, and why it happens is a question that has puzzled marine biologists for years.

China Daily - Agencies - Xinhua