North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has met with Chinese vice-President Li Yuanchao.

Li is in Pyongyang to attend this weekend's ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the signing of the armistice which brought the fighting to an end in the Korean War.

As part of their meeting, Li Yuanchao says the anniversary Saturday marks an opportunity to remember those from both China and North Korea who lost their lives to defend their homelands.

He goes on to say the relationship between China and North Korea is entering a new period which is - quote - "built on the past and prepared for the future."

The armistace which ended the fighting in the Korean war was signed on July 27th, 1953.

 

GSK to appoint new head for China operation

GlaxoSmithKline has appointed a new General Manager here in China.

Herve Gisserot has been the senior vice president for Europe.

He's taking over as the General Manager from Mark Reilly.

Reilly had been in charge of GSK's operations during the current bribery scandal which has gripped its Chinese subsiduary.

The Ministry of Public Security alleges GlaxoSmithKlein funneled billions of yuan through travel agencies here in China to bribe doctors and officials to help increase sales.

Mark Reilly is expected to return here to China to be questioned in connection with the investigation.

 

UN chief Ban Ki-moon says over 100,000 people killed in Syria

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon says the number of people killed in the Syrian conflict has now surpassed 100-thousand.

The latest estimate is 7-thousand people higher than the figure issued by the UN only a month ago.

Ban Ki-moon has issued the statement at UN headquarters in New York alongside US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Both are stressing the urgency of finding a political solution to the conflict.

 

Spanish PM declares three days of mourning for train crash victims

Spain's Prime Minister has declared 3-days of mourning following Wednesday's deadly train crash in the country's northwest.

Mariano Rajoy, who hails from the region where the accident took place, took time to visit the site.

The death toll from Wednesday evening's train crash now stands at 80.

95-others have been hospitalized, with 35 of them said to be in critical condition.

Initial indications are the train took a sharp curve just outside the city of Santiago de Composetela at around 180-kilometers per hour.

The maximum speed for the corner is listed at 80.

 

Egyptian army gives 48 hours for Islamist to join "national rank"

The Egyptian military has issued a new ultimatum to Islamists in the country.

In an ominous statement, the Egyptian military has given a - quote - "last chance" for supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi 48-hours to join the national ranks.

Otherwise, the Egyptian military says it will adopt a new strategy to deal with, what it calls, "black terrorism."

The statement follows a call by the country's military chief and defense minister for supporters of the military to hold a mass rally this Friday in support of the military.

Supporters of Morsi have condemned the comments by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as call for civil war.

 

Moscow says no Snowden extradition request from U.S.

The Russian government says it has not recieved an extradition request from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

But at the same time, the Russian side does say it's recieved a letter from US Attorney General Eric Holder, explaining the US position on Snowden.

The US ambassador to Russia says while the US government hasn't filed a formal extradition request, it does want Snowden returned to the United States to stand trial.

Snowden remains in limbo in the international transit lounge at Moscow's main airport.

The 30-year old has been stuck there for around a month, as the US has revoked his passport.

Snowden has applied for asylum in Russia.

The status of that appeal remains up-in-the-air.

 

Plane skids off runway in NW China

No injuries have been reported after an airliner skidded off the runway during a landing last night in Xi'an.

The Tianjin Airlines flight veered off the runway while landing shortly after 6:30 in the evening.

One of the plane's tires burst as part of the botched landing.

Airport officials in Xi'an say the pilot's vision was hampered by a sudden downpour.

Much of Shaanxi has been innondated by heavy rains through the course of this week.

 

14 dead in NW China rainstorm

14-people are dead and one remains missing in Shaanxi after torrential downpours caused numerous houses to collapse.

The downpours have cut off roads and caused in several rivers to spill over their banks in the city of Yan'an.

Officials are estimating economic losses of some 1.8-billion yuan.

 

Number of overseas Chinese students expected to reach 500,000

The number of overseas Chinese students this year is expected to increase by around 20-percent.

This would put the number at around 500-thousand.

Last year around 17-percent of Chinese graduates decided to study overseas.

The same analysis also suggests that over 90-percent of the Chinese students studying abroad last year were self-funded.

 

Amazon reports unexpected losses

US online retail giant Amazon is reporting unexpected losses through its latest quarter.

The Seattle-based company is reporting a net loss of 7-million US dollars through Q2.

This represents a 2-cent a share loss.

Most analyists had been anticipating Amazon was going to report a profit of around 6-cents a share.