UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION COMMANDER.docVIP

UN PEACEKEEPING MISSION COMMANDER 　　Major General Wang Xiaojun was appointed on December 8 as commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara （MINURSO）， becoming the third Chinese commander of a UN peacekeeping mission to date. MINURSO was established in 1991 by the UN Security Council in a bid to monitor the ceasefire and organize a referendum in Western Sahara， a territory on the northwest coast of Africa. 　　Wang has 40 years of national and international military experience， having served as defense attaché at the Chinese embassies in Brazil， India， Sweden and the United States between 2006 and 2016. He also served as a UN sector commander in MINURSO from 2003 to 2004 and was a UN military observer in Kuwait from 1992 to 1993. 　　Wang， 57， holds a master’s degree in military administration and a bachelor’s degree in command and signals technology. 　　 Health Risks of Running Marathons 　　Beijing Youth Daily December 12 　　Two runners died at the Xiamen International Half-Marathon on December 10. One runner fell down and suffered sudden heart failure 4.5 km before the finish line， and another collapsed after finishing the race. 　　In addition to sudden deaths， marathons can also lead to various adverse health conditions， such as cardiovascular disease and irreversible injuries to joints and tendons， thereby affecting quality of life and shortening life expectancy. Marathons―feats of heroic athleticism that test the human body， mind and soul to their limits―actually harm rather than benefit health. 　　Although the World Health Organization recommends sports as an important means of preventing all kinds of chronic disease and advises adults to do a minimum of 150 minutes’exercise per week， it has never recommended or even mentioned marathon running. 　　Marathon competitions have recently flourished in China， shooting up from 22 in 2011 to 282 this year， driven by such events’potential to generate huge profits and increase host citi