British PM highlights China-UK cultural exchanges

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasized on promoting cultural and artistic exchanges at a cultural exchange event in Shanghai, China on Saturday, the last day of his four-day visit to China.

Joined by celebrated British actress Rosamund Pike and others, Starmer visited the Design Innovation Institute Shanghai and engaged in exchanges with Chinese students.

When asked what he found most inspiring about Chinese culture, Starmer referenced the parable of "blind men feeling the elephant."

"Firstly, the fable is fantastic because it symbolizes the way in which the rest of the world doesn't really know or understand the whole of China. And you've got the touching of the leg and thinking that that's a trunk or the belly and thinking that that's a wall," said the prime minister.

Pike, known for starring in major films such as Gone Girl (2014), began her career as a stage actress, and has recently returned to live theater with Inter Alia, a legal drama that premiered last year at the National Theatre in London. Her dedication to the craft proved inspirational for the students she talked with.

She also has a long-standing connection with China, having visited south China's Kunming City at the age of 20. Later, when promoting Gone Girl, she selected a Chinese name to go by. She noted that even on the streets of London, people call her by this name -- a source of immense pride for her.

"So, when you have a long name like Rosamund Pike, it makes a name that's just too long for to be to be meaningful in Chinese. So, I gave myself a Chinese name maybe 10 or 15 years ago, which is Pei Chunhua. And I'm proud of it. I'm very proud of it. I'm proud that Chinese people like it. They like the meaning of it, and understand what I tried to say with it. And yes, I feel sometimes I'm walking through London and somebody says Pei Chunhua and I turn around. It's very nice. It's very nice," said Pike.

Cultural exchange activities played a major role in Starmer's visit to China, highlighted by his tour of the Palace Museum in Beijing on Thursday.

British PM highlights China-UK cultural exchanges

British PM highlights China-UK cultural exchanges

The death toll in the war-torn Gaza Strip has risen to 71,769 since the conflict between Hamas and Israel erupted on Oct 7, 2023, with the number of injuries reaching 171,483, Gaza's health authorities said on Saturday.

In the past 48 hours, hospitals in Gaza received 17 more bodies, including 12 new deaths and five bodies recovered from the rubble, the authorities said.

Since the ceasefire agreement took effect on Oct 10, 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 509 people and wounded 1,405 others, according to the Gaza health authorities.

Israel will reopen the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt for pedestrian traffic in both directions on Sunday, an Israeli government-affiliated body announced in a statement on Friday.

Israel's office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said in the statement that exit from and entry into the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing "will be permitted in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission."

The move is part of a U.S.-proposed Gaza ceasefire plan. Israel said last Sunday that it would reopen the Rafah crossing after recovering the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza, which was retrieved from Gaza earlier this week.

Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 71,769