International community calls for de-escalation amid Iran-Israel tension

China

International community calls for de-escalation amid Iran-Israel tension

2024-04-20 09:28 Last Updated At：19:07

The international community on Friday urged restraint among related parties to prevent a further escalation of tensions in the Middle East, in the wake of Iran's retaliatory strikes on Israel earlier this month and Israel's counterattack on Friday.

Early Friday, Israel launched a drone attack on Iran, apparently in retaliation for the Iranian attack on Israel last weekend, according to official sources from both countries.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for an end to "stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East," said his spokesman.

"The secretary-general reiterates that it is high time to stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East," said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement issued after reports that Israel has carried out strikes on Iranian targets.

"The secretary-general condemns any act of retaliation and appeals to the international community to work together to prevent any further development that could lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and beyond," said the spokesman.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Russia had conducted telephone conversations with both Iran and Israel.

Russia had made it clear to Israel that Iran does not want to escalate the tension with Israel.

On the same day, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for the Russian president, said that Russia advocates for all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that could further escalate the tense situation.

German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said on Friday that de-escalation of the situation is of utmost urgency and Germany is calling on all parties to prevent conflicts in the Middle East.

The spokesperson also said that Germany is actively trying to communicate with the relevant parties through all diplomatic channels to persuade them that the situation should not and must not be allowed to escalate further.

On Friday, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing deep concern about the ongoing tense situation in the Middle East region, and called on all relevant parties to refrain from taking any actions that could exacerbate regional tensions.

The statement calls on all relevant parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid causing serious repercussions and plunging the region into new instability.

China's film market embraces May Day moviegoing frenzy

2024-05-03 11:30 Last Updated At：12:17

China's movie box office is enjoying a moviegoing frenzy over the May Day holiday, amassing over 900 million yuan in just the first two days of the five-day vacation period.

As of 21:50 Thursday, data from box office tracker Maoyan showed that the holiday, which started on May 1 and will run until May 5, had seen around 913 million yuan (roughly 126.13 million U.S. dollars) in combined revenue from box office sales and presales.

Eight films are featuring on the silver screen during the holiday led by highly anticipated peacekeeping mission-themed film "Formed Police Unit", Hong Kong action crime thriller "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In", and comedy "The Last Frenzy".

"So far, the occupancy rate of the cinema during prime time has reached between 80 percent and 90 percent. Compared with the same period last year, there has been an increase of around 30 percent in the number of moviegoers during the May Day holiday," said Yuan Teng, general manager of a cinema in Yingtan, east China's Jiangxi Province.

Industrial insiders also pointed out that during the holiday, animation films are trending in domestic film industry, fueled by fast-growing demand for family-oriented movies plus a soaring number of young moviegoers.

As of 21:02 Thursday, the animated feature "Spy x Family Code: White", as one of the top-earning films in Japan this year, has earned more than 147.15 million yuan (around 20.33 million U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, "Howl's Moving Castle," a restored version of the 2004 masterpiece by Japanese animation guru Hayao Miyazaki, raked in 76.8 million yuan (about 10.61 million U.S. dollars).