介绍:
Nearly 300 still missing in ferry disaster
Bad weather has suspended diving operations to search for hundreds of people believed to be still trapped inside a ferry that sank off South Korea's southern coast.
Navy and Coast Guard divers tried to enter the capsized ship more than 10 times today, but were hampered by poor underwater visibility and strong currents.
Nine out of 475 passengers, mostly high school students, aboard the vessel have been confirmed dead, while 179 others have been rescued.
But the fate of the remaining 287 remains unknown.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has paid a visit to the scene of the ferry wreck as rescue work was underway.
The ferry was on its way to the southern resort island of Jeju from Incheon.
Experts say it could have hit an underwater rock.
Survivors are blaming the ship's crew, saying they were repeatedly told to stay put where they were, even when the ship began tilting.
Putin urges intra-Ukraine dialogue
Russian President Vladimir Putin is urging Ukrainian authorities to hold dialogue with their eastern and southeastern regions.
In a televised call-in with the nation, Putin described Kiev's decision to send armed forces into the east of the country as a "grave crime."
Putin also dismissed allegations that Russian forces were present in east Ukraine and emphasized the importance of international talks on the crisis taking place in Geneva.
Russia is joining with the US, the EU and Ukraine in the four-way talks.
Earlier, Ukraine's interior minister said three pro-Russian militants had been killed and 13 wounded in a clash in the Black Sea port of Mariupol, in southeast Ukraine.
Arsen Avakov said around 300 men attacked the National Guard base in Mariupol late Wednesday but were repelled by government troops.
Bluefin-21 completes third search mission
A mini-submarine searching for the missing Malaysian plane has completed a full mission at its third attempt.
The Bluefin-21 completed its first full 16-hour deployment at a depth of 4,500 meters late on Wednesday after a series of technical problems cut short the first two attempts.
The data from the sub's latest mission is being analyzed. Previous forays have not shown anything significant.
A sample taken from an oil slick found in the same area is also being tested.
Meanwhile, a massive air and surface search is continuing, though it is becoming less likely to yield results.
Up to 12 aircraft and 11 ships are involved in today's search for the missing plane.
Fate of abducted Nigerian school girls unknown
Mystery surrounds the fate of more than 100 teenage girls who were abducted from a school in the remote north-east of Nigeria early this week.
The military says all but eight of the 129 girls have escaped, but parents of the girls say many are still missing.
It is thought Islamist militant group Boko Haram took the girls to forested areas near the Cameroonian border.
The air force, army, police, local defense units and volunteers have all been involved in the search for the schoolgirls.
Australia's New South Wales names new Premier
Australia's New South Wales state has elected Mike Baird as the new premier after Barry O'Farrell's sudden resignation.
Baird, the state's 44th premier, has been sworn in and promised to restore confidence in the State Government.
Barry O'Farrell announced his resignation Wednesday over a corruption inquiry.
He is believed to have received a 3,000-Australian-dollar bottle of wine from a businessman back in 2011 but failed to declare it.
16 percent of Chinese soil is polluted
An official report shows about 16 percent of soil in the Chinese mainland is polluted.
It says over 19 percent of farming land in the country is polluted.
The report was jointly issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources.
It was based on a survey conducted from April 2005 to December last year on about 6.3 million square km of land across the mainland.
The report concludes that the main pollution source is human industrial and agricultural activities.
It says the general condition of the land is not optimistic as the quality of farming land is worrying and deserted industrial and mining land suffers serious pollution.
Internet rumormonger gets 3-year jail term
A court in Beijing has sentenced an Internet rumormonger who defamed celebrities and the government to three years in prison.
Qin Zhihui was given two years on defamation charge and another year for affray.
He was found guilty of spreading rumors about several celebrities as well as China's former Ministry of Railways, via Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like service.
大家还在听
