About 1,100 participants from 38 countries and regions will participate in the 2017 China International Skills Competition and International Forum on Skills and Development that kicks off in Shanghai and Suzhou today. After joining the WorldSkills International (WSI) in October 2010, China has dedicated itself in the development of world skills. It has integrated deeply with WSI’s global family, and is now bidding to hold the 46th WorldSkills Competition (WSC) in 2021 in Shanghai. Its bidding slogan is “New Youth, New Skills, New Dream.”

The executive director, Isis-Women's International Cross Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE), Helen Kezie-Nwoha has called on African governments to put mechanisms in place to be able to address the challenge of refugees at home. Her call follows concerns over a number of European countries that have started rejecting refugees.

The Core Group commends the efforts undertaken by the President of the Republic to implement the recommendation of the Presidential Advisory Commission and the work he has undertaken, together with the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the representatives of political parties and other political stakeholders to forge the necessary consensus for the nomination of a Prime Minister and the formation of a consensus government.

North Korea’s release of two detained Americans signals Kim Jong Un is responding to pressure from international sanctions over its weapons program and a probe of human-rights violations, analysts said.

Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms in recorded history, has affected over 4 million people and is estimated to have killed more than 10,000, according to officials in the Philippines. Some coastal cities, including Tacloban whose population is about 220,000, were almost completely flattened, which means that aid efforts around the country remain severely hindered.

Australia will commit a further $8 million to humanitarian aid in Syria, leading a charge while other global players lack urgency, Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr says. The plan aims to ensure medical care reaches an estimated 2.5 million Syrians in need of aid in the conflict-ravaged Arab nation where more than 30,000 have died.