介绍:
-China quake death toll hits 410
Chinese authorities have updated the death toll from Sunday's Yunnan earthquake to 410 with 12 people missing.
The 6.5-magnitude quake has also left 2,373 people injured.
Thousands of police, firefighters and soldiers have been mobilized for rescue efforts, which are being made difficult by poor road conditions in the remote mountainous area.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is currently in the quake-hit area to supervise relief work.
-Philippines sentences 12 Chinese fishermen 6-12 years of jail term
A regional court of the Philippines has sentenced 12 Chinese fishermen imprisonment ranging from six to 12 years.
The 12 fishermen strayed into Tubbataha protected area in southwestern part of the Philippines last year.
The court convicted the Chinese fishermen for violation of Tubbataha Protected Area Law of 2009.
The court also imposed a penalty of 100,000 U.S. dollars for each of the accused.
Last year in response to the incident, China's Foreign Ministry said the Chinese government always attaches great importance to the security of its fishermen abroad, while educating and supervising them on their fishing activities.
-Israeli military withdraws from Gaza as 72-hour truce begins
The Israeli military says it has pulled back all of its ground forces from the Gaza Strip, as a three-day truce between Israel and Hamas went into effect.
A military spokesperson adds that the military is maintaining offensive positions around the Gaza Strip and will respond to attacks if they arise.
The Egyptian ceasefire proposal was endorsed Monday by the Palestinians and was accepted by Israel late at night.
Previous three-day ceasefire crumbled only hours after it went into effect last week.
-UN chief urges Palestinians, Israelis to abide by ceasefire
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the Palestinians and the Israelis to abide by the 72-hour Gaza ceasefire they had both approved.
Ban welcomed the efforts leading to the new arrangement, which began in the Gaza Strip at 8 a.m. local time Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General urged the parties to commence talks in Cairo on a durable ceasefire and the underlying issues as soon as possible.
Israel's offensive on Gaza has left more than 1,820 Palestinians killed, mostly civilians. The Israeli side has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians.
-Libya's new parliament elects president
Libya's new parliament has elected Akila Saleh Issa as its president during the first parliamentary session in the eastern city of Tobruk.
In a heavily guarded hotel, Issa was chosen as the president of Libya's House of Representatives after getting 77 out of the 158 votes.
Sources say Issa was an independent lawmaker and had played some judicial roles under Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader.
According to Libya's transitional plan, a presidential election will ensue [in'sju:] to end the country's transitional phase.
-Egypt to dig new canal alongside Suez Canal: State TV
Egypt has announced it will launch a project to dig a new 72-km canal alongside the original Suez Canal.
The Suez Canal Authority made the announcement during the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal Corridor project.
The new project will be implemented in one year from now, and is expected to provide more than one million job opportunities.
Egypt says it intends to allow the country's own companies to build the giant waterway.
-S. Korea denounces Japan's renewed claim to disputed islets
South Korea has denounced Japan's renewed territorial claim to a pair of islets lying halfway between the two countries.
The islets are called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
The Japanese government laid its repeated claim to the rocky outcroppings in its defense white paper earlier today, saying the islets are Japan's indigenous territory.
South Korea's foreign ministry says such claim is "unacceptable," urging the Abe cabinet to rescind it and take measures to prevent recurrence of such provocations.
-China orders factory safety overhaul
China has announced a nation-wide safety overhaul regarding explosive materials following a deadly factory explosion in eastern China.
The authorities say the campaign will target factories that produce aluminum, magnesium, coal, wood, paper, tobacco, cotton, and plastic, among other materials affected by possible ignition sources.
The explosion in a wheel-polishing shop at an autoparts plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province on Saturday killed 75 people and injured 185 others.
-China launches joint probe into OSI China
Chinese food and industry watchdogs have launched a joint probe into OSI China, the investor behind scandal-ridden Shanghai Husi Food.
Shanghai Husi has been accused of repackaging stale meat with fresh meat, and then selling it to fast-food outlets.
Police have arrested six of the company's senior executives.
The US-based OSI has been carrying out its own investigation into all of its Chinese units, promising to build an Asian quality control center in Shanghai.
