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China has said that it will hold third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation next year to give a new boost to development and prosperity in Asia-Pacific and the wider world. Chinese President Xi Jinping made such statement while addressing the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Thailand. Xi called for building an Asia-Pacific of peace and stability, highlighting the critical importance of mutual respect, solidarity and cooperation, and consultation among all parties for the greatest denominator when something comes up, according to China Daily. Xi calls for promoting prosperity for all in Asia-Pacific. Xi stressed the need to make sure that development is for the people and by the people, and that its fruits are shared among the people, calling for efforts to promote prosperity for all in the Asia-Pacific.

The United States has notified El Salvador that the temporary protected status of its citizens and those of five other countries will be extended through June 30, 2024, Salvadoran Ambassador to the United States Milena Mayorga said Thursday, voanews.com reported. The other countries are Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras and Nepal, according to a document filed Thursday by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The action means their temporary protected status (TPS) will no longer expire on December 31, 2022, as previously scheduled. "Thanks be to God," said Mayorga, who tweeted the document, adding work visas for recipients would be valid for another 18 months. According to the American Immigration Council, TPS is provided to nationals of certain countries experiencing problems that make it difficult or unsafe to deport them back to those countries. The Department of Homeland Security announced the extension, set to be published next week, "to ensure its continued compliance" with two ongoing court cases, the document said. President Joe Biden's administration in October pulled out of settlement talks that could have provided further protections to the TPS enrollees from these countries, according to plaintiffs in the case.

Russia and Ukraine have tortured prisoners of war during the conflict in Ukraine, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has said, citing examples of mistreatment including beatings, the use of electric shocks and forced nudity, Aljazeera reported. The OHCHR’s Ukraine-based monitoring team’s findings were based on interviews with more than 100 prisoners of war (POWs) on each side of the war, which will soon drag into its ninth month. On Tuesday, the office called on Kyiv and Moscow – both of which are parties to the Geneva Conventions that set out the laws of war, including on the treatment of POWs – to “investigate and prosecute all allegations of violations”. Matilda Bogner, head of the monitoring mission, told a Geneva press briefing that the “vast majority” of the 159 Ukrainian prisoners interviewed reported torture and ill-treatment. She gave examples of dog attacks, electric shocks with Tasers and military phones, and of sexual violence. Bogner said the treatment was aimed at intimidating and humiliating detainees, according to Aljazeera. One man who was held in a penal colony near Olenivka, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, said members of Russian-affiliated armed groups “attached wires” to his genitalia and nose and electric-shocked him.  

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday during a meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, that as leaders of two major countries, they need to chart the right course and find the right direction for bilateral ties and elevate the relationship, Xinhua reported.