介绍:
Chinese premier calls on Malaysia to continue to exert all efforts to find MH370
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is calling on Malaysian authorities to continue the search for the remains of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and its passengers.
The comments come as the Malaysian government officially declares the ill-fated flight an accident, with all 239 people onboard presumed dead.
At the same time, Malaysia Airlines is beginning the process of compensating the families.
The flight disappeared on March 8th of last year en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Investigators have concluded the flight banked west, then south into the southern Indian Ocean.
However, months of searching has failed to turn up any evidence of the missing airliner.
Close to two-thirds of those onboard the flight are Chinese nationals.
China, Japan agree to launch maritime, aerial crisis management mechanism
The Chinese Defense Ministry says that China and Japan have agreed to launch a maritime and aerial crisis management mechanism at an early date.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun says the agreement came as a result of bilateral talks in Tokyo earlier this month.
It is being reported that the two sides have agreed to set up a hotline, use a common radio frequency for their ships and planes around their disputed islands in the East China Sea to avoid inadvertent conflicts.
China and Japan agreed to defuse tensions and improve bilateral ties in November after relations were strained for more than two years over the Diaoyu Islands dispute.
China to expand Shanghai FTZ policies nationwide
The Chinese cabinet has announced a number of policies currently in-place in the Shanghai free trade zone are going to be expanded nationwide.
The State Council says the rest of the country is going to be able to adopt 22 different measures connected to investment, foreign trade, finance, service and government supervision by June 30 at the latest.
The move, which will be open to around 100 different areas of China, is being designed to try to allow more foreign investors into the wider regions of China.
Cross-Strait economic talks open in Taipei
Delegations from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are meeting in Taipei to review the implementation of a landmark trade agreement signed by the two sides in 2010.
The meetings are co-chaired by Zheng Lizhong and Shih Hui-fen, each of whom is deputy head of the quasi-offiical negotiation body from each side.
The one-day meeting will hear reports from working groups on goods and service trade, investment, dispute settlement, among other economic issues concerning both sides.
Japanese PM: never give in to terrorism
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says extremist acts by the Islamic State "unforgivable".
Abe's comments come on the heels of a new recording from Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.
In it, the voice is heard saying a Jordanian pilot currently being held by the militants is going to be killed unless an Iraqi prisoner held in Jordan is freed by sunset on Thursday.
That would make the deadline just hours away.
Jordanian authorities have said they're willing to hand over the Iraqi suicide bomber if the Jordanian pilot is released and demanded a proof that he is still alive.
Spain blames Israel for death of peacekeepr
Spain's UN ambassador is pointing the finger at Israel for the death of a Spanish UN peacekeeper in the Golan Heights.
The Spanish peacekeeper was killed amid clashes between Isreali forces and Hezbollah fighters in the region.
Attacks began after missiles were fired at an Israeli military convoy along the border on Wednesday, killing two Israeli soldiers.
This is the most serious escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, which controls the Lebanese government, since the two sides went to war in 2006.
Checkpoint skirmish kills 18 in Afghanistan
At least 17 people are dead following an attack on a security checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan.
The dead are said to include 11 pro-government tribesmen and 7 militants, who are said to be Taliban fighters.
The Taliban has been stepping-up its offensives in the lead-up to the end of NATO's official role in the country, which concluded at the end of last year.
The United States is still maintaining around 20-thousand troops in the country.
Cuban leader warns US against interference of internal affairs
Cuban President Raul Castro is warning Cuba will not accept any interference from the United States, cautioning any approach like that will make rapprochement between the two countries "meaningless."
His comments follow a meeting between a US Assistant Secretary of State and Cuban dissidents.
The conversation comes a day after the US and Cuban government officials finished their first sessions, in an attempt to try to normalize relations.
But at the same time, Castro insists he's committed to the talks.
He's also issued a call for US President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to end the decades-long embargo against Cuba.
Obama holds the ability to end the embargo by not signing an order to add Cuba to a list known as "Trading With The Enemies" Act.
UN chief warns against anti-Semitic hatred
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is warning the international community is being tested by increasing anti-Semitic hatred.
The comments from the UN chief come as the United Nations marks the 70th anniversary of Auchwiztz.
Over one million people, mostly Jews, were murdured there between 1940 and 1945.
Ban Ki-moon notes there has been rising anti-Jewish, as well as anti-Islamist sentiment in Europe and other parts of the world in recent years.
