US and China extend giant panda deal


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Giant pandas will be in residence at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC for three more years under an agreement between Chinese and US wildlife officials.

The panda loan deal between the US and China was due to expire this month.

The zoo said it had signed a three-year extension with the Conservation Biology Institute and China Wildlife and Conservation Association.

Under the agreement, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, born in August, will return to China in December 2023.

"Along with millions of Americans, I look forward to the next three years, watching Xiao Qi Ji grow and making further strides in conservation and in our understanding of giant pandas," said Steve Monfort, director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

The zoo has hosted giant pandas from China since 1972. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have been in residence for 20 years.

Xiao Qi Ji is their fourth surviving cub. The other three were returned to China.

There are an estimated 1,800 giant pandas in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan province, and another 600 living in zoos and breeding centres around the world.

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Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)


We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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