ATHENS, May 21 (Xinhua) — Greek conservatives received a clear mandate from Greek people to continue efforts to change the country with a strong government, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday after his New Democracy (ND) party won the general elections by a huge margin. ND garnered 40.79 percent of the votes, securing 145 seats in the next 300-member parliament, according to 96.03 percent of the votes counted, official results released by the Interior Ministry showed. The main opposition party,…

CAIRO/RIYADH, May 21 (Xinhua) — Regional organizations and countries on Sunday welcomed the week-long ceasefire agreement reached between Sudanese warring parties late Saturday in Saudi Arabia. Arab League (AL) said in a statement on Sunday that it welcomed the Agreement on a Short-Term Cease-fire and Humanitarian Arrangements, which will facilitate the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid and the restoration of basic services in Sudan.  AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed the necessity for the two warring parties to fully implement…

KHARTOUM, May 21 (Xinhua) — The Sudanese Army announced on Sunday its commitment to the Agreement on a Short-Term Cease-fire and Humanitarian Arrangements it signed with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah late Saturday. “The armed forces announce their commitment to the agreement and hope the RSF will abide by what it says,” the Sudanese army spokesman said in a statement. “The duration of the short-term cease-fire is seven days and will enter…

HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 22 (Xinhua) — “Re-enacting the Cold War would be foolish,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Sunday, calling for settling the Ukraine crisis under a framework of the United Nations. Lula made the remarks at the just-concluded Group of Seven (G7) summit working session as an invited state leader. The Ukraine crisis should be discussed under a framework of the United Nations rather than the G7, he noted at a press conference on Monday, criticizing the…

May 16 (Xinhua) — The China-Central Asia Summit will be held from May 18 to 19 in the historic Chinese city of Shaanxi. It is of milestone significance in the history of the relations between China and Central Asian countries. Over the years, the countries have been growing their relations following the principles of mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times and win-win cooperation, yielding fruitful cooperation results. Below are some key figures that illustrate the cooperation and exchanges…

RAMALLAH/GAZA, May 18 (Xinhua) — The Flag March held by Israeli nationalists in Jerusalem on Thursday sparked outrage and condemnation from the Palestinian public and officials. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian presidency’s spokesman, told reporters in Ramallah in the West Bank that “Jerusalem is and will be the eternal capital of the independent state of Palestine.” On Thursday afternoon, tens of thousands of Israelis participated in the march to commemorate the “Unification of Jerusalem” amid tight Israeli security measures. Participants…

HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 19 (Xinhua) — Amid waves of protests, the Group of Seven (G7) leaders’ annual summit got underway on Friday in Japan’s western city of Hiroshima. Hundreds of protesters from all over the country, even abroad, gathered in Hiroshima’s Funairi Daiichi Park, not far from the summit’s venue, to decry the finger-pointing bloc that advertises its own version of world order. Seen on-site were huge banners and placards that read “Junk G7,” “No Build-up to War” and “No…

KIGALI, May 19 (Xinhua) — African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat has called for African solidarity in dealing with security issues on the continent. Speaking during a panel discussion Thursday on “Foreign Interference in Africa: The Enduring Destabilizing Factor” during the ongoing National Security Symposium in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, Faki said there is a need to operationalize African institutions and theoretical instruments designed to achieve the “collective security of the continent.” He said undermining Africa’s established mechanisms opens…

NAIROBI, May 17 (Xinhua) — Strengthening the resilience of public health systems in Africa to help them withstand climatic shocks and the threat of future pandemics will be dependent on sustained investments in supportive infrastructure, upskilling of workforce, research, and harnessing of digital technologies, experts said. The experts who spoke Tuesday evening at a virtual forum convened by the Brookings Institution, a think tank, stressed that sufficient health financing is key to reducing Africa’s growing disease burden that has worsened…

ACCRA, May 17 (Xinhua) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board on Wednesday approved a 3-billion-U.S. dollar Extended Credit Facility for Ghana to help the country address its current economic crisis. In a statement, the IMF said the decision would enable an immediate disbursement of about 600 million dollars to Ghana, adding that the facility would support “a comprehensive reform program” by the Ghanaian government to tackle the deep economic crisis brought on by a combination of large external…