The 2026 ASEAN Media Partners Cooperation Week kicked off in Nanning, the capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Saturday.
The event is jointly hosted by China Media Group (CMG) and the local government.
This year's event welcomes nearly 200 government officials, diplomats, media professionals and scholars from China and ASEAN countries.
At the opening ceremony, representatives from China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand called for closer media cooperation in areas such as AI, digital technologies, joint content production, professional training and technology sharing.
The event has also launched a series of cooperation projects, covering China-ASEAN media innovation, fruit trade, the Pinglu Canal, Nanning's city development and joint reporting.
Media representatives from various ASEAN countries visited Nanning City and Qinzhou City on Friday and Saturday, where they toured key projects involving the Pinglu Canal and port-based industries. Through an ASEAN perspective and an international lens, they captured the new landscape of Guangxi's development and openness, thus able to truly picture the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and ASEAN.
2026 ASEAN Media Partners Cooperation Week begins in Nanning
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday formally tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a government, giving the former military chief a chance to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Netanyahu's right-wing coalition lost its parliamentary majority in October's election.
Eisenkot, leader of the centrist Yashar party, received recommendations from 67 lawmakers in the 120-seat parliament, compared with 46 for Netanyahu.
At the ceremony, Herzog called for unity and a "stable government that can last."
Eisenkot warned that Israel was facing a "critical moment," saying the objectives of its multi-front conflicts "remained unfulfilled," its international relations were in a "devastating crisis," and its democracy was facing one of its gravest challenges.
"If we continue on the current path, we risk reaching a point of no return," he said, calling for new leadership "that people can look in the eye and trust."
He said he was convinced it was possible to form a new government with a substantial majority in the Knesset, and that he was open to Netanyahu's Likud party and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party joining a government under his leadership.
He said they were invited to "support the government under my leadership and the principles I've outlined."
"I intend to be the prime minister of all citizens of Israel, those who voted for me and those who haven't," Eisenkot said.
Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension. Netanyahu will remain caretaker prime minister until a new government is sworn in.
Eisenkot's four-party alliance holds only 48 seats and would need support from Arab lawmakers or other parties to form a government.
Netanyahu on Saturday called for a national unity government, while Eisenkot's party said Likud could join a government led by Eisenkot if it abandoned its far-right allies.
Under Israeli law, if Eisenkot fails to form a government within the allotted time, Herzog may assign the task to another candidate, or at least 61 members of the 120-seat Knesset can ask the president to entrust the mandate to a candidate of their choice. If these efforts also fail, the Knesset will be dissolved and new elections will be held.
Israeli opposition leader Eisenkot officially receives mandate to form gov't
