A Chinese alternative to the United States’ Artemis program, the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), is gaining traction among some countries according to this Takungpao article:

It is reported that the international lunar scientific research station proposed by China and jointly built by many countries has received positive responses from many countries. Russia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) have signed contracts to join, and more than ten countries and organizations are negotiating agreements. (据悉，由中国提出，联合多国共同建设的国际月球科研站目前已得到多国积极响应，俄罗斯、巴基斯坦、阿联酋和亚太空间合作组织等已签约加入，还有十馀个国家和组织正在协议谈判中。)

I’m not sure if this is really new information though, because a similar thing was said two years ago, so I ended up not posting anything about it. Since then I noticed that it’s become a heavily commented on SpaceNews article, so I figure that maybe I should make a post about it.

That said, the real news might be that there could be a signing of the ILRS Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO) in October according to this Weibo post (via Cosmic_Penguin on Twitter). The ILRSCO is the organization that will coordinate and manage the Moon base.