Hourly News 2013-08-06

    2013-08-06 11:15:12     CRIENGLISH.com       Web Editor: Han

 

 

 

 

 

Fonterra apologizes for tainted milk powder scare

New Zealand dairy firm Fonterra has apologized for its tainted milk powder scandal.

Batches of the whey protein from the dairy giant were allegedly found containing toxic bacteria.

Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings says Fonterra regrets any distress and anxiety that the scare may have caused.

He also says Fonterra is committed to China and is working with regulators to address the problem.

Fonterra is New Zealand's biggest exporter - it sells over 370-thousand tons of infant formula each year to China.

Around one-third of all the dairy imports here to China this year come from New Zealand.

 

China warns against rush to set code of conduct in South China Sea

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is warning about rushing to set the code of conduct in the South China Sea.

The Foreign Minister's comments were made in Vietnam during his official visit to the country.

Wang Yi says China has agreed to work on the code with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

However, he says it is unrealistic to expect the deal to be worked out immediately.

He says any new code of conduct must be consensus-based, saying no individual countries should impose their will on others. 

Wang Yi has met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Vietnamese General Secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi.

Both sides have reiterated their commitment to developing their relationship.

 

U.S. senators in Cairo over Egyptian political crisis

Diplomats are continuing their efforts to defuse the political tension in Egypt.

U.S. senator John McCain and Lindsey Graham are now in Cairo to hold talks with senior officials.

Their visit coincides with the trip of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.

Burns has met with top Egyptian leaders as well as a delegation from an Islamist alliance backing ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

US and European diplomats have been meeting both government officials and supporters of Morsi in recent weeks, trying to calm the situation in the country which has sometimes been marred by violence.

 

A Turkish court sentenced nearly 300 accused of plotting against the government

Turkey's former army chief has been sentenced to life in prison, after five years of trials, for plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's ruling government.

A Turkish court sentenced nearly 300 people, including a number of well known journalists and two serving parliamentarians for their part in the so-called Ergenekon plot.

At least 21 were acquitted, but for others jail terms ranged from life to dozens of years.

Critics say the charges were aimed at taming the secularist establishment which has long dominated Turkey.

 

Chinese gov't calls for efforts to handle heat

Chinese central government has issued a statement, asking local authorities in the south to make more efforts to control the damage brought on by the lingering heat wave and drought.

The State Council is asking local governments to make sure there is access to safe drinking water for residents and to sustain farming activities.

Government figures show 4.5 million people are now short of drinking water.

The heat wave in the east and the south is expected to last until the middle of this month.

 

China lifts cap on life insurance interest rate

The 2.5 percent pre-determined interest rates attached to life insurance products here in China have been scrapped.

The move is the latest effort by central government to liberalize the country's interest rates.

The People's Bank of China has already loosened its grip on bank lending rates.

Under the new regulations, insurance companies can set their own rates to a maximum of 3.5-percent.

The rigid 2.5 percent cap left much of the insurance products on offer here in China much the same.

 

Self-proclaimed qigong master probed over alleged gun ownership

Police in east China's Jiangxi Province are now investigating the self-proclaimed Qigong master Wang Lin over his alleged possession of firearms.

Wang claims to be a master of Qigong, a traditional martial art combined with meditation.

He stirred up controversy last month over images of his "supernatural power" shows as well as his pictures with several celebrities.

 

Large snake kills two children in Canada

A large snake has strangled two children to death in Canada.

Local police say the reptile escaped from a pet store in New Brunswick before killing the two boys living at an apartment above the shop.

Police have already captured the snake.

 

First giant panda cub born in south China's Guangdong province

A giant panda has given birth in South China's Guangdong Province.

It is the first time the province becomes a native home to giant pandas.

The cub was born at the Chime Long Safari Park in Guangzhou City and is reportedly in good health.

There are only five places in China where giant panda cubs have survived after birth: Southwest China's Sichuan, Southeast China's Fuzhou, Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai.

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