UN delegation reaffirms support for Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity

A visiting United Nations delegation concluded its trip to Lebanon on Saturday, reaffirming UN support for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Against the backdrop of heightened security tensions between Lebanon and Israel, the UN delegation conducted visits to Lebanon and Syria on Friday and Saturday. The mission focused on assessing the security situation in southern Lebanon, reviewing the operations of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and evaluating Lebanon's adherence to relevant Security Council resolutions and ceasefire agreements.

Concluding the visit, Samuel Zbogar, Slovenia's permanent UN representative and Security Council president for December, held a press conference during which he reaffirmed the Council's commitment to the full implementation of Resolution 1701.

"We reaffirmed council support for Lebanon's territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence. We also reaffirmed commitment to full implementation of Resolution 1701 in support of Lebanon's as well as regional security and stability. All parties must uphold the November 2024 cessation of hostilities agreement," said Zbogar.

The delegation also received a detailed briefing on the challenges currently facing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). In light of the ongoing regional tensions and Israel's continued military actions in Lebanon, Zbogar stressed the critical importance of maintaining stability both in Lebanon and across the wider region, while also acknowledging the diligent efforts of UNIFIL.

Since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict in October 2023, Lebanon's Hezbollah has intermittently launched attacks on northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas' engagement with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. In response, the Israeli military has conducted retaliatory airstrikes and artillery bombardments on targets in southern Lebanon.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has been in place since November 2024, but Israel has continued to conduct near-daily strikes in southern Lebanon, saying it targets Hezbollah activity.

UN delegation reaffirms support for Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity

China's 42nd Antarctic Expedition team has started unloading supplies for scientific exploration after arriving at waters near the Zhongshan Station, a Chinese research base in Antarctica.

The ongoing seven-month scientific exploration mission is supported by Chinese icebreakers the Xuelong and the Xuelong 2, which set sail from Shanghai on Nov 1.

The two icebreakers will deliver about 2,000 tons of supplies to the Zhongshan Station for scientific exploration.

The Xuelong 2 arrived first at a designated unloading spot about 12 kilometers from the Zhongshan Station. Later, the ship's Ka-32 helicopter transported in batches more than 300 tons of polar fuel to the research base when weather conditions were favorable.

"Nearly 90 members of the expedition team carried by the two ship are already at the Zhongshan Station, preparing for receiving supplies and assignments for scientific exploration," said Wang Tao, person in charge of unloading operations at the Zhongshan Station.

Thanks to more than 30 hours of efforts by the Xuelong 2 to widen the channel and lead the way, the Xuelong, which was carrying about 1,500 tons of supplies, has also arrived at the unloading spot.

The unloading operations, involving a combination of sea-ice transport and helicopter lifts, are expected to be finished within two weeks.

And then, the Xuelong and the Xuelong 2 will proceed to China's Qingling Station and Changcheng Station in Antarctica, respectively.

The expedition team includes more than 500 members from over 80 institutions on the Chinese mainland, along with researchers from more than 10 other countries and regions, such as Thailand, Chile and Portugal, as well as China's Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, in support of broader international scientific collaboration.

They will conduct multi-disciplinary scientific surveys, advance several major national research projects, and test domestically developed equipment under polar conditions.

Particularly, scientific drilling experiments in lakes deep in the Antarctic inland ice sheet will be carried out for the first time.

China's 42nd Antarctic Expedition team unloads supplies at Zhongshan Station