Traces of a sea turtle coming ashore to lay eggs were recently discovered on a beach near a community in Yongxing Island, Sansha City, South China's Hainan Province, marking the first such discovery on the island in years. 

Staff from the local marine protected area administration, along with turtle patrol members from Beidao, visited the site and identified the likely nesting location, according to a post on the city's official WeChat account on Friday.

Visible signs at the site included a large pit consistent with the size of a sea turtle and evidence of disturbed sand. Chen Shan, a veteran turtle patrol officer with over a decade of experience, was able to pinpoint the general nesting area based on these traces, the post said. 

"From the trail patterns, we can reasonably determine the location of the nest. After laying eggs, sea turtles typically cover the entire nest with sand. Judging by the condition of the tracks, the turtle likely came ashore about a week ago. At this time of year, it usually takes 40 to 50 days for the hatchlings to emerge," said Chen, as he patrolled the area and pointed at the nesting site. 

The Xisha Qundao, where Yongxing is located, are currently home to China's largest natural nesting ground for green sea turtles. As a national first-class protected species and a flagship animal for marine conservation, sea turtles play a vital role in maintaining ocean biodiversity. Thanks to years of conservation efforts, sightings of sea turtles in the waters around the Xisha Qundao have increased, said the post. 

So far this year, a total of 43 sea turtle nests have been recorded across the Xisha Qundao, with this being the first on Yongxing Island, according to the post.

"According to records, there hasn't been a turtle nesting on Yongxing Island for nearly 10 years. This recent event shows that the environment is improving. We'll mark the nest with a sign indicating the estimated date and assign it a number to remind passersby not to step on it. We'll also be increasing patrols on other islands and reefs," said Yu Yangfei, a staff member with the local marine protected area administration.

3,125 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Iran, including a 10-month-old baby, a 70-year-old senior, and citizens from Hong Kong and Taiwan, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday when sharing the latest updates on the evacuation of Chinese citizens from Iran and Israel. 

As the Chinese nationals who are willing to leave Iran have all been safely evacuated, the large-scale and well-ordered evacuation of Chinese personnel in Iran has been completed by the Chinese government, said Guo at a regular press briefing on Monday. 

The spokesperson noted that the evacuation was acting on the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China's diplomatic and consular missions in Iran and other countries, the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Administration.

Guo stated that the China's Embassy in Israel helped and organized the evacuation of over 500 Chinese nationals from Israel to safety, and helped some nationals from the UK, India and Poland safely evacuate. "During the evacuation, countries, including Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt and Jordan, offered China valuable support. We express sincere appreciation for that," Guo said.

The world grappled Sunday with the US inserting itself into Israel's war by attacking Iranian nuclear sites, AP reported on Monday. According to the report, experts warned that worldwide efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons by peaceful means would be at stake in the days ahead, while fears of a wider regional conflict loomed large.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Iran early on Monday, as of Saturday, the vast majority of Chinese nationals in Iran have been safely evacuated, with the remaining few having avoided high-risk areas.

Fu Lihua, minister-counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Iran, said the embassy arranged for vehicles to transport Chinese nationals from Tehran and surrounding areas via land border crossings. The embassy staff have been on call day and night to answer assistance calls, assess the number of personnel, maintain contact with Chinese nationals, provide evacuation route guidance, and dispatch personnel to the Bajgiran border crossing between Iran and Turkmenistan to assist with customs clearance.

Fu said that as the situation rapidly deteriorated, the desire among Chinese citizens in Iran to evacuate grew stronger. The embassy quickly organized a total of 17 buses in four batches to evacuate Chinese nationals via land border crossings, and set up working groups at the Astara border crossing between Iran and Azerbaijan, where outbound personnel are concentrated.

The second flight which departed from Turkmenistan and carried 119 Chinese nationals evacuated from Iran arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport on Sunday morning.

"Still, some Chinese nationals choose to stay in Iran and Israel. Our Ministry reminds them to stay safe. Our colleagues in Chinese diplomatic and consular missions in Iran and Israel have stayed on their post, and will continue to do everything possible to offer Chinese nationals there assistance," Guo said at the Monday press conference.

Many Chinese nationals who have been safely evacuated from Iran thanked their motherland and shared their experience on social media platforms. One of them surnamed Liu was working on trade missions in Tehran and safely returned to Beijing after being evacuated by bus to Azerbaijan. 

Liu told the Global Times on Monday that he heard explosions during the early hours of June 13 while sleeping. At that time, Liu didn't perceive any significant danger nor believe the conflict would be prolonged.

However, Liu recalled that the situation escalated on June 16 afternoon when he could see smoke rising near his neighborhood. By June 17, seeing shops that had remained open in Tehran the previous day all closed down, Liu said he "grew genuinely frightened and started considering evacuation."

Through the overseas Chinese association in Iran, Liu paid 200 yuan and boarded an evacuation bus which departed from a Tehran Chinese hotel - Fardis Hotel - at 5 pm on June 17. Due to traffic congestion, what should have been a seven-hour journey to the Iran-Azerbaijan border at Astara port took until early morning of June 18, Liu told the Global Times on Monday.

"Staff from the Chinese Embassy in Iran came to coordinate our departure in the afternoon (of June 18), and we finally crossed at around 7pm. Azerbaijan-based Chinese embassy staff sent buses to transfer us to Baku, arriving at around 3am Thursday [June 19]," Liu recalled.

Liu said he had considered staying in Georgia or Baku, but the escalating situation made him decide to return to China immediately.

An article by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on encouraging young people in the new era to bravely take on responsibilities in advancing Chinese modernization, will be published on Thursday.

The article by Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will be published in this year's ninth issue of Qiushi Journal, the flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee.

The article highlights the role of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) in rallying young people as broadly as possible to contribute to building a strong nation and achieving national rejuvenation.

It underscores the importance of strengthening the ideals and convictions of the younger generation. The CYLC is encouraged to organize and mobilize youth to take an active role in China's modernization efforts.

Young people should serve as pioneers and vital forces in areas such as scientific and technological innovation, rural revitalization, green development, social services, and national defense, the article notes.

The article also calls on Party organizations at all levels to strengthen their leadership in youth-related work and to support the CYLC in fulfilling its missions creatively.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) has taken note of the public sentiment arising from the reports concerning Xiao, a thoracic surgeon at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital. The Commission has established an investigation team that adheres to the principles of seeking truth from facts and being objective and fair, according to a NHC spokesperson in a statement on Thursday.

The investigation team will work with relevant parties to conduct a thorough investigation into the individuals involved, including Xiao and Dong, as well as the related institutions. Any illegal or irregular issues discovered will be dealt with seriously in accordance with the law and regulations, the spokesperson said.

Previously, the China-Japan Friendship Hospital issued a statement on Sunday regarding a complaint against Dr. Xiao, an associate chief physician in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, following allegation of personal misconduct and medical ethics violations. The hospital decided to terminate employment with the doctor, according to the statement.

Xiao's wife filed a real-name report alleging that Xiao engaged in affairs with multiple women during their marriage and had left the operating room for extended periods, neglecting anesthetized patients due to emotional reasons, according to media reports. The incident subsequently sparked discussion on social media.

Chinese researchers have systematically assessed the critical role of polar regions in achieving global sustainable development goals, noting that the polar regions may have already emerged as a “bottleneck” to global progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The research, led by Li Xin, professor from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with Guo Huadong, academician from the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, Cheng Guodong, academician from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, and Chen Deliang, academician from Tsinghua University, was published in Nature Communications. The study proposes a set of SDG targets and indicators that incorporate the global climate impacts of the cryosphere and the distinctive vulnerabilities of polar regions.

The paper suggests that, by strengthening global collaborative governance and taking decisive action, polar regions could be transformed into key drivers of advancing global sustainable development.

According to lead author Li Xin, polar regions are highly sensitive to climate change, and environmental transformations in these areas are critical to sustainable development at both local and global scales.

However, the importance of the polar regions has not been adequately represented in current UN SDGs framework.

This oversight stems primarily from long-standing policy misconceptions, which view these regions are sparsely populated, economically marginal and contributing minimally to global sustainability efforts.

The article integrates multi-source observational and modeling evidence to reveal the changing characteristics of key climate elements in these regions.

The results show that Arctic temperatures are rising at a rate of 0.68 C per decade, significantly higher than the global average. Pronounced warming trends are also observed in Antarctica and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

As temperatures rise, cryosphere, ecological and hydrological systems in polar regions, have undergone substantial, interconnected, and complex changes, profoundly impacting the achievement of the UN SDGs to combat climate change and its impacts.

The article points out that the melting of polar glaciers and ice sheets directly affects the availability and sustainable management of water resources and sanitation and exacerbates sea level rise, threatening sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. The reduction of polar sea ice is associated with increased extreme weather events, impacting global ecosystems and indirectly affecting biodiversity and ecosystem services.

In conclusion, polar regions represent both a limiting factor and the “weakest link” in achieving the global SDGs and should not be “forgotten” in the global sustainability agenda. Proactive and inclusive measures must be taken to ensure that polar regions are not left behind.

The article calls on the international community to increase attention and resources investment in polar issues, and to strengthen support in key areas such as information infrastructure, long-term monitoring, scientific and technological innovation and capacity building. Through successful cross-border initiatives, global partnerships can be reinforced to advance sustainable development in both polar regions and globally.