China starts 42nd Antarctic expedition with new equipment

China's 42nd Antarctic expedition team, who set sail from Shanghai on Saturday, will put into operation two sets of new homegrown equipment in the polar region for the first time, testing them in the icy wilderness of the Antarctic.

The two pieces of hardware equipment are China's independently developed Snow Leopard 6×6 wheeled vehicle and THT550 high-power fully hydraulic towing equipment.

The Snow Leopard 6×6 wheeled vehicle is a high-mobility vehicle system built for extreme environments and harsh conditions in the polar inland regions. It marks a key step in advancing China's polar land vehicles toward a systematic, multi-functional, and sustainable development model.

"This vehicle system will be used for the first time this year in the interior of East Antarctica for engineering verification and operational missions. Its main functions include rapid personnel transfer, efficient supply transportation, emergency ground support, and intelligent collection of route data along the expedition path," said Wang Tao, assistant expedition leader and head of China's Station in the Antarctic.

The THT550 tracked tractor is China's first self-developed high-power snow tractor. It features an independent four-track drive system that maximizes traction capability on rough and uneven icy terrain.

"The track system has very low ground pressure, making it ideal for traveling across the soft snow surfaces in Antarctica's interior. It has undergone extensive testing under low-temperature conditions in China. We believe it will play a major role in improving our country's transportation efficiency in the Antarctic inland regions," Wang said.

The 42nd Antarctic Expedition, which is expected to end in May 2026, brings together a diverse team of over 500 members from more than 80 institutions on the Chinese mainland, alongside researchers from over 10 countries and regions, including Thailand, Chile, Portugal and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, fostering broader international scientific collaboration.

China starts 42nd Antarctic expedition with new equipment

Hungarians voted in parliamentary elections on Sunday, with about 8.1 million people eligible to cast ballots, according to the National Election Office.

Polls opened at 06:00 local time and closed at 19:00, with initial results expected late on Sunday evening.

Of the total, about 7.6 million voters were eligible to cast ballots in person at more than 10,000 polling stations nationwide, while some 500,000 were eligible to vote by mail.

Five parties or alliances are competing in the election. The latest opinion polls showed strong support for both Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz-Christian Democratic People's Party alliance and the opposition Tisza party led by Peter Magyar.

Among smaller parties, the far-right Our Homeland Movement is seen as having a chance to enter parliament, while others, including the Democratic Coalition and the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, are widely viewed as unlikely to cross the threshold.

This election marks Orban's fourth parliamentary race since returning to power in 2010, with the outcome set to determine whether he can secure a fifth consecutive term.

Under Hungary's electoral law, parliamentary elections are held every four years. The Hungarian parliament has 199 seats, including 106 filled through direct elections in single-member constituencies and 93 allocated to parties that enter parliament. The party or alliance that secures a majority of seats has the right to form a government.

Hungarians vote in parliamentary elections