Zoo Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia held a ceremony on Friday to mark the opening of its giant panda exhibit, following the public debut of pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang at the zoo.
Nearly 100 guests from China and the United States attended the opening ceremony of the giant panda pavilion, known as the Arthur M. Blank Panda Grove.
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng, former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, and Atlanta Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks attended the ceremony and delivered remarks.
In his remarks, Xie said the pandas' names -- Ping Ping, meaning peace, and Fu Shuang, meaning double blessing, convey the Chinese people's kind wishes for the American people.
"The names of the new pair of pandas carry our warmest wishes to the American people and also for China-U.S. relations," Xie said.
At the event, the Chinese Embassy in the United States offered guests Chinese cultural experiences such as calligraphy, rubbing, and trivia quizzes.
Ping Ping and Fu Shuang also made their public debut on Friday.
Before meeting the public, the panda pair spent more than a month in quarantine, adjusting to the new bamboo, new caretakers and new environment.
They arrived in the southern U.S. city on a chartered flight on September 27, marking the return of Chinese giant pandas after nearly two years. The last pair of giant pandas and their offspring returned to China from Zoo Atlanta in October 2024.
The new pandas are expected to stay here for 10 years.
China and Zoo Atlanta have collaborated on giant panda conservation research for more than two decades, including the birth of seven giant panda cubs in five litters.
New home of giant pandas at Zoo Atlanta opens
New Zealand's ruling National-led coalition has secured a parliamentary majority in the general election, preliminary results showed early Sunday, putting Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on course to retain power for a second term.
The Election Commission's tally of all voting places has resulted in 11 "overhang" seats, increasing to 131 the total number of seats in parliament, which normally has 120.
Among the seats, the National Party, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First collectively secured 67, giving the three-party coalition a narrow majority to continue governing, while the opposition bloc of the Labor Party, the Green Party and the Maori Party garnered 57 in total.
The contest between the National and the Labor, led by former prime minister Chris Hipkins, remained exceptionally close, with each securing over 29 percent, according to preliminary figures.
Addressing supporters in Auckland, Luxon said the election was "too close to call," with the final outcome hinging on special votes to be counted. He acknowledged that negotiations and compromise would be needed to form the next government.
The outcome could still change when 700,000 special votes are counted days later. These include ballots cast by overseas voters and people voting outside their electorates, and are not included in the preliminary results, according to the Electoral Commission, which is scheduled to release the final official results, including special votes, on Nov. 27.
The Green Party has won a record 16 seats in parliament. The centrist Opportunity Party has also made a parliamentary breakthrough, projected to win seven seats, preliminary results showed.
The country has nearly 3.8 million provisionally enrolled voters for the 2026 general election, representing 93.6 percent of the estimated eligible population, below the final enrolment rates of 94.7 percent in 2023 and 94.1 percent in 2020, the commission said.
New Zealand uses the mixed-member proportional voting system to elect its parliament. Under this system, voters cast two ballots, one for a political party and another for their local electorate candidate. The government is usually formed by two or more parliamentary political parties.
New Zealand's National-led coalition wins majority parliamentary seats: preliminary results
