Two giant pandas arrive in US from China

Two giant pandas have arrived in the United States from China after a Washington summit between the two countries. A chartered FedEx cargo plane carrying Ping Ping and Fu Shuang landed in Atlanta on Sunday after leaving Sichuan earlier in the day. The pandas' transfer had been already agreed but the departure was announced on Thursday during President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington. The black and white mammals are immensely popular around the world, and China loans them out as part of a "panda diplomacy" programme to foster foreign ties. Ping Ping and Fu Shuang will spend the next 10 years at Zoo Atlanta, according to an agreement between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association. They departed from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport on the chartered plane at around 3am, Xinhua News Agency reported. A farewell ceremony was held for the pair before their journey by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Ping Ping, born in March 2020, was described by Xinhua as a "sturdy yet agile male panda", whereas Fu Shuang, "a chubby, vivacious female", was born in October 2020. Senior veterinarians and keepers from the United States were accompanying the pandas, monitoring their health in real time and attending to their dietary and...