Briefly

INDONESIA

Trilateral meeting held on regional, global affairs

China, Russia and Indonesia held a trilateral meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday on the sidelines of a series of foreign ministers' meetings on East Asian cooperation. The three sides exchanged views on regional and global affairs, and the food and energy security issues faced by developing countries. Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stressed the urgent need for countries to boost unity and practice true multilateralism at the meeting.

ISRAEL

Rally held against judicial overhaul

Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters staged rallies across the country on Tuesday, in the largest weekday protest in months against the hard-right government's plan to overhaul the judiciary. Despite the scorching summer heat, scores of Israelis took to streets, highways and junctions in major cities to hold protests in what they called a day of "disruption".They were protesting against a key bill in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the legal system. The bill passed the first out of three rounds of voting in the parliament overnight Monday.

CANADA

Lake ground zero for Anthropocene epoch

Scientists on Tuesday designated a small body of water near Toronto, Canada, as ground zero for the Anthropocene, the proposed geological epoch defined by humanity's impact on the planet. Layered sediment at the bottom of Lake Crawford — laced with microplastics, fly ash spread by burning oil and coal, and the detritus of nuclear bomb explosions — is the single best repository of evidence that a new and challenging chapter in Earth's history has begun, members of the Anthropocene Working Group concluded.

China Daily - Agencies - Xinhua