Hello and welcome to this edition of CRI Roundup on Saturday, March 17th. I'm Qi Zhi in Beijing.
Let's take a look at some of the main events of the past week in China and around the globe.
China's top legislature and top political advisory body concluded their annual full sessions.
The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog traveled to North Korea to discuss shutting down the country's nuclear facilities.
Six major nations agreed on a new draft resolution imposing tougher sanctions on Iran.
And the rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas announced a national unity government after much fighting with both words and guns.
After eleven and half days, China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, concluded its annual full session Friday morning in Beijing.
More than 2,800 NPC deputies voted to approve two major pieces of legislation. The landmark Property Law grants equal protection to state and private property. The Enterprise Income Tax Law unifies the tax rate for domestic and foreign-invested companies.
Following the closing session of the NPC, the Chinese premier gave a press conference and pledged to deepen reforms aimed at sustainable development.
A day earlier, China's top advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, also ended its annual session. They adopted a political resolution that calls for both more effort for social harmony as well as a firm opposition to any form of secessionist activities that seek the "de jure independence of Taiwan".
On the world stage:
Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, paid a significant visit to the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Tuesday and Wednesday.
After meeting North Korean officials, ElBaradei said North Korea is "fully committed" to an agreement that requires the country to shut down its main nuclear reactor and let inspectors come as soon as the US drops financial sanctions.
"Specifically they are waiting for the lifting of financial sanctions associated with the Macau Bank...Once that is to happen they said that they are ready to fully cooperate with us and make sure that we implement the agreement within the time frame envisaged, which is 60 days only."
ElBaradei's trip to Pyongyang was followed by working group meetings in Beijing of the six nations involved in talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. A new round of talks will begin on Monday.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council along with Germany reached an agreement on Thursday about a draft resolution imposing tougher sanctions against Iran.
The draft calls to stop new financial assistance to Iran except for humanitarian and developmental purposes. It also imposes an embargo on the conventional weapons Iran can export.
The draft will now be submitted to the non-permanent countries on the Council. Acting US Representative to the UN Alejandro Wolff says the Council's goal is to move fast.
"We'd like to see the entire Council on board. It's important objective to get as many supporters as possible. But timeliness is also an important imperative here."
The Security Council is expected to have a meeting next Wednesday to discuss the Iran nuclear issue. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has formally asked to address the meeting to defend his country's nuclear program.
After many months of negotiations, periodically interrupted by fierce fighting, rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah agreed on a national unity government this past Thursday.
The new government, still led by Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and dominated by Hamas, includes some moderate figures from Fatah and independent parties. But the political document guiding the new government does not explicitly fulfill the international community's three demands — to recognize the right of Israel to exist, to renounce violence and to accept previous Israeli- Palestinian agreements.
Israel immediately announced it refuses to deal with the new government.
And that concludes this edition of CRI Round Up. Remember, if you have any comments or suggestions, or would like to listen to any of our programs online, you can visit our website at .
I'm Qi Zhi in Beijing. Thanks for listening. Stay tuned for more on China Radio International.