Trains to and from Guangzhou have been suspended after landslides blocked a major line linking Guangzhou and Beijing.

An estimated 80-thousand passengers were not able to board their trains and passengers have been warned not to come to the station.

Floods triggered by continuous downpours since Friday have left at least nine people dead in Guangdong Province.

Meantime, relief work is underway as the worst flooding in decades in Northeast China killed at least 40 people since Friday.

 

Kenya president visits China

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is now in China for a 5-day visit.

His top agenda is expected to include cooperation in infrastructure, manufacturing, technological innovation and tourism.

This is Kenyatta's first visit to China since taking office in April.

Ahead of the Kenyan president said that "China is helping" in infrastructure development in his country.

 

36 members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood died in riot: report

Egypt's official news agency MENA says a total of 36 members of the Muslim Brotherhood have died in a riot as they attempted to escape, when being moved to a jail on Sunday.

Armed clashes broke out between security forces and militants who attacked police vehicles carrying detainees affiliated with the Brotherhood. 

Some 612 people were ordered to 15 days in custody, pending investigations over Saturday's clashes at Al-Fatah mosque, which left at least 79 killed.

 

UN chemical weapons inspectors arrive in Syria

UN inspectors have arrived in Damascus to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The team is set to visit three sites over the next two weeks, including a northern town near Aleppo which is at the centre of allegations of chemical weapons use.

Syrian government and the rebels are blaming each other for an alleged chemical weapons attack on Khan al-Asal in March, in which 25 people were killed with 130 others injured.

 

Syrian refugees poured into Iraq

Thousands of Syrian refugees have crossed the border in Kurdistan and are setting up makeshift homes.

A UN report says a total of 20-thousand refugees poured into the region of northern Iraq in just three days. 

Many of the new arrivals came across a newly-constructed pontoon bridge over the Tigris River at Peshkhabour.

Refugees coming into Iraqi Kurdistan say they were fleeing threats from Al Nusra Front, one of the main rebel groups opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

 

Koreas accept on family reunion

North and South Korea have agreed to re-open their talks over the reunion of families separated by the Korean War.

This will be the first of such talks in three years.

The North Korean government is proposing to hold the talks on Mount Kumgang resort.

Instead, South Korea says it prefers the meeting to be held on the South Korean side of the border village of Panmunjom.

The agreement comes days after the two sides reached a deal on operation of the joint Kaesong Industrial Zone.

 

Libyan interior minister resigns

Libyan Interior Minister Mohamed al-Sheikh has resigned three months after taking the post.

Al-Sheikh is reportedly not trusted by Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and some other lawmakers.

His predecessor Achour Chwayel also resigned six months after taking office.

Libya's interior ministry has come under recent pressure to handle the country's continuing violence.

 

Imprisoned Norwegian dies in DR Congo

One of two Norwegian nationals imprisoned in the Democratic Republic Congo since 2009 on murder charges, is reported to have died in his cell.

The cause of the death of 32-year-old Tjostolv Moland remains unclear.

Moland and his compatriot Joshua French were sentenced to death in 2009 for allegedly murdering their driver.

The two former soldiers were also convicted of spying for Norway.

Both men deny the allegation against them and always maintained their innocence.

 

China expects nationwide broadband by 2020

The State Council, China's cabinet, has rolled out a plan to complete broadband coverage of both urban and rural areas by 2020. 

State Council elevated national broadband development as a national strategy.

It also announced a timetable for implementation over the coming eight years.

The strategy aims to achieve WiFi coverage in key public urban areas by 2013 and fixed broadband coverage for half of Chinese households by 2015.

A policy supporting information products and services was released last week in a bid to boost domestic demand and fuel economic growth.

 

Design flaws blamed for Everbright trading errors: CSRC

China Securities Regulatory Commission or CSRC is suggesting it was a system error that caused irregular trading last Friday. 

CSRC says it was not human error, but design flaws in a trade unit of China Everbright Securities that triggered the inconsistent trading.

The flaws were reportedly triggered last Friday and resulted in huge orders at market prices, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index spiking almost 6 percent within three minutes.

 

China applauds appointment of Yi as deputy chief of WTO

The Chinese commerce ministry has issued a statement, applauding the appointment of Yi Xiaozhun as deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization.

Yi Xiaozhun will be the first Chinese national to play such a role.

The commerce ministry says the appointment demonstrates the role China and other developing countries play in the WTO.

Yi was China's vice minister of commerce before taking office in Geneva as China's permanent representative to the organization in 2011.