UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has asked the head of the UN chemical weapons inspection team to speed up the analysis of tests from samples collected from Syria.

It comes after the US secretary of State John Kerry said the US has found firm evidence of gassing in samples collected by first responders to the attack.

US President Barack Obama has announced that he had decided to defer any immediate action in Syria in order to seek authorisation from congress. 

Meantime, the Arab League has toughened its tone and called for punitive action against the Syrian government after an emergency meeting in Cairo.

 

Egypt to try ex-President Morsi for inciting murder

Egypt's state prosecutor has referred ousted President Mohammed Morsi for trial on charges of inciting the murder of protesters.

The accusations relate to violence last December when at least seven people were killed in clashes outside his presidential palace.

The date for the trial is yet to be announced.

Mr Morsi has been held at a secret location since he was ousted in early July.

Since then the military-backed interim government has cracked down on Brotherhood supporters, who are demanding Mr Morsi's reinstatement.

Last month, hundreds of protesters died when security forces stormed pro-Morsi camps in the capital. 

Fourteen other members of the Muslim Brotherhood are to stand trial on the same charges.

 

Xi Jinping: Thriving Industries to Breathe Life Into Old Bases

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that newly-emerging and manufacturing industries can both work to resurrect old industrial bases and spur innovation in northeastern China during his inspection tour in Liaoning Province over the past few days.

During a visit to the Dalian high-tech zone, President Xi Jinping pointed out that the facility would serve as an incubator that nurtures progress, utilizing the development strategy's potential in rejuvenating old industrial bases.

The northeastern Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning served as the industrial engine for the country's national reconstruction in the 1950s.

 

Relief efforts continue in SW China quake zone

Relief supplies are being transported into southwestern Yunnan Province after a 5.9-magnitude quake struck the region over the weekend, killing 3 with 50 others still missing.

Local officials say goods can be guaranteed in regions around the most-hit area of Deqen County.

The quake struck the juncture area of Deqen and Shangri-La counties in Yunnan Province and Derong County in Sichuan Province Saturday morning.

Earlier on Wednesday, a 5.1-magnitude quake hit the same area.

Some 100 schools with nearly 60,000 students have been affected. 

Schhols in the region are now closed until the opening of the autumn semester.

 

1 dead, 8 trapped in SW China mining accident

One miner was killed and another eight trapped in a coal and gas outburst at a coal mine early Sunday in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

A spokesman with the city's emergency response office says the accident happened Sunday morning when 12 miners were tunneling a mine shaft at the Bailongshan Coal Mine in the city of Qujing. Three of them were lifted out of the shaft.. 

Rescuers are trying to reduce the gas density to save the trapped miners, and the cause of the accident is being investigated.

The coal mine is operated by the Diandong Energy Co., Ltd. under the China Huaneng Group, a major state-owned energy company.

 

Shanghai liquid ammonia leak caused by detached pipe cap

Initial investigations are showing that the liquid ammonia leak which killed 15 in Shanghai was caused by a detached pipe cap.

A cap on a pipe carrying liquid ammonia reportedly fell off, releasing the chemical Saturday morning.

All of the 25 injured are receiving hospital treatment and are said to be in a stable condition. 

Local authorities have sent environmental monitoring vehicles to test the impact of the leak. 

No pollution was detected as of Sunday. 

The liquid ammonia was used in food refrigeration units at Shanghai Weng's Cold Storage Industrial Company Limited. 

Further investigations into the accident is under way.

 

China's manufacturing sees hefty rebound in Aug.

New data suggests China's manufacturing sector saw a strong recovery in August.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector rose to 51 percent in August from 50.3 percent in July.

The figure marks the second monthly expansion in a row.

It is also the highest reading this year.

A reading below 50 indicates contraction, while anything above signals expansion.

The 70 basis point expansion also represents the biggest increase since January. In the months prior to August, the data had fluctuated.

Analysts suggest the new data shows that manufacturing activities have a stronger growth impetus and the economy is firming in a more evident way.

China's economy has been stuck in a consistent slowdown, easing to 7.5percent growth in the second quarter from 7.7 percent in the first three months.