" Li Liqing (top) of China competes with Carmen Brussig of German during the Women's Judo 48KG gold medal contest of Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro http://www.montrealcanadiensteamstore.c … und-jersey , Brazil, on Sept. 8, 2016. Li Liqing won the gold. (XinhuaOu Dongqu)
RIO DE JANEIRO， Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Li Liqing won the women's judo -48kg title at the Rio Paralympics by defeating Germany's defending Carmen Brussig by ippon on Thursday.
Li， 23， shed tears of joy after securing her first Paralympic Games gold medal.
""It means so much to me，"" said Li， who has visual impairment. ""I have been with my coach Zhang Guifu for seven years. He is like a father to me. That is why it was so emotional. He taught me everything. I owe this gold medal to him.""
""[Today] was very exhausting. I thought I could win， I was confident， but the result was very close.""
Brussig said: ""It was a very hard competition， harder than the world championships， even harder than London 2012. It's fair to get the silver medal. It was a very tough match， but I'm happy with what I've got.""？
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WASHINGTON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated Danny Russel, a veteran diplomat in charge of Asian affairs at the White House, to be the next assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
In nominating Russel and others for key administration posts, Obama said they will bring both a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles.
Russel, a 28-year State Department foreign service veteran, has served as special assistant to the president and senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) since 2011.
He was NSC's director for Japan, South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 2009 to 2011. His other assignments included director of the office of Japanese affairs at the Department of State, U.S. consul-general in Osaka-Kobe, Japan; deputy chief of mission separately at the U.S. embassies in The Hague and in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Russel accompanied Secretary of State John Kerry in his first trip to China last month.
Once confirmed by the Senate, he will succeed Kurt Campbell, who left his post in early February.
A view shows Khazer camp for displaced Iraqi people who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul in Iraq January 5, 2017.(REUTERS)
MOSUL， Iraq， Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi government forces fight heavy clashes in the northern city of Mosul to drive out the Islamic State (IS) militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq， the Iraqi military said.
In the second phase launched on Dec. 29 to push into the eastern side of the city， Iraqi federal police and army soldiers on Thursday continued their heavy fighting with slow progresses in Mosul's southeastern neighborhoods of al-Salam， Palestine， al-Shaimaa， Domiez and Sumer， a statement by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said.
In the past two days， the troops recovered the nearby neighborhoods of al-Mithaq and Wahda after heavy clashes with IS group.
Thursday's fighting left dozens of IS militants killed and five of their vehicles destroyed， the statement said.
The latest battles in southeastern Mosul brought the troops closer to the center of the east side of the city， according to the statement.
In the eastern front， elite forces of Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) have cleared areas they recaptured earlier， including a vast industrial area on Tuesday.
Fighting including sporadic clashes continued Thursday on the northern front without a change in the front lines， killing two militants and seizing ten vehicles， it said.
The battles in Mosul came as the CTS commandos， army troops and federal police launched on Dec. 29 the second phase of a major offensive to free Mosul. The troops made their new push into several neighborhoods in the eastern side of Mosul， locally known as the left bank of the Tigris which bisects the city.
Last month， battles in Mosul had been slowed as extremist militants used locals as human shields， resorted to suicide car bombs and made mortar and sniper attacks in stiff resistance.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a recent report that the military operations in Mosul， have pushed some 132，000 civilians to flee their homes in the city and its adjacent districts since the beginning of military offensive in October to reclaim the IS largest stronghold in Iraq.
More than 1.5 million people were trapped in the city of roughly two million population previously. Cold winter worsened the conditions for the displaced people who suffered severe shortages of food and water， while camps and other emergency shelters reached maximum capacity.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Oct. 17 announced a major offensive to retake Mosul， the country's second largest city.
Since then， Iraqi security forces， backed by international coalition forces， have inched to the eastern fringes of Mosul and made progress on other routes around the city.
Mosul， some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad， has been under IS control since June 2014， when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled， enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
Children learn "nuo" dance under the instruction of folk artist Ye Genming in Sanxi Township of Nanfeng County, east China's Jiangxi Province, June 9, 2017, to greet the first national cultural and natural heritage day. (XinhuaLong Tao)
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