Briefly

CHINA

Samoa prime minister to pay official visit

Prime Minister of the Independent State of Samoa Fiame Naomi Mata'afa will pay an official visit to China starting from Wednesday. Leaders of the two countries will have in-depth discussion on bilateral ties and other issues of shared concern during Fiame's nine-day visit, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday. Ties between China and Samoa, one of the first Pacific island countries to have established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, have enjoyed sound and steady development over the past five decades, no matter how the international situation has changed, Lin said. Noting that next year marks the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, Lin said China hopes to take the visit as an opportunity to deepen political mutual trust and expand practical cooperation with Samoa.

INDIA

New Delhi smog over 60 times WHO limit

Residents of India's capital New Delhi choked in a blanketing toxic smog on Monday as worsening air pollution surged past 60 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum. The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants peaked at 907 on Monday morning, according to IQAir pollution monitors, with a reading above 15 in a 24-hour period considered unhealthy by the WHO. Authorities in New Delhi shut schools, halted construction and banned nonessential trucks from entering the city on Monday.

MIDDLE EAST

Israeli strikes kill 20 in Gaza, children included

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed 20 Palestinians on Monday, including six people who were killed in attacks on tents housing displaced families, medics said. Four people, two of them children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a tent encampment in the coastal area of Al-Mawasi, designated as a humanitarian zone, health officials said. At least 43,922 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's military campaign in Gaza, the Palestinian territory's health ministry said on Monday.

China Daily - Agencies