Briefly

CHINA

Li pledges to deepen relations with ASEAN

Premier Li Keqiang and Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah exchanged congratulatory messages on Monday on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue relations. Both leaders hailed the development of ties between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the three decades and pledged that the two sides will build an even closer strategic partnership.

PAKISTAN

28 killed, 40 injured in bus-trailer collision

A speeding bus carrying mostly laborers traveling home for a major Muslim holiday rammed into a container truck on a busy highway in central Pakistan on Monday, killing 28 people and injuring 40, police and rescue officials said. The bus had left the city of Sialkot and was traveling on Taunsa Road to Dera Ghazi Khan city in eastern Punjab Province. The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, said senior police officer Hassan Javed. Rescuers transported the dead and injured to a nearby hospital, with some of the injured in critical condition. The passengers were traveling to their homes in Rajanpur to celebrate the upcoming Eid al-Adha feast.

RUSSIA

Military tests new hypersonic missile

Russia has tested a Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, successfully hitting a ground target off the coast of the Barents Sea at a range of more than 350 kilometers, the Interfax news agency cited the Defence Ministry as saying on Monday. Footage distributed by the ministry showed the Admiral Gorshkov warship launching the cruise missile at a target on the Barents Sea coast in northern Russia, saying the flight speed reached nearly Mach 7. Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed the development of the new weapon in a state address in February 2019, saying it could hit targets at sea and on land with a range of 1,000 km and a speed of Mach 9.

AUSTRALIA

Poll: Govt support falls to 2-year low

Support for the Australian government has fallen to its lowest level in two years amid coronavirus lockdowns in the country's two biggest cities. According to the latest Newspoll published on Sunday night, the governing coalition trails the opposition Labor Party 47-53 on a two-party preferred basis. It represents the coalition's worst electoral position in the current term. The poll found that voter satisfaction with Prime Minister Scott Morrison's handling of the pandemic has fallen nine points since late June to 52 percent, down from a high of 85 percent in April 2020. It was conducted as millions of Australians in Sydney and the state of Victoria were in lockdown in response to outbreaks of the Delta strain of COVID-19.

China Daily - Agencies - Xinhua