Xi meets Taiwan politician ahead of APEC gathering
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is set to open today on the Indonesian island resort of Bali, with heads of state and governments from a dozen countries on both sides of the Pacific expected to discuss a number of world economic issues.
Chinese Presdient Xi Jinping is now in Bali to attend the summit for the first time since taking office this year.
President Xi has already met with his counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Thailand ahead of the opening of the meeting.
Xi Jinping is expected to address at the closing ceremony
Typhoon Fitow makes landfall in east China
Typhoon Fitow has made landfall in eastern China.
The storm hit early this morning along the border between Fujian and Zhejiang.
Fitow is packing winds of over 150-kilometers per hour.
The storm has already cut power to many parts of southern Zhejiang.
Forecasters say Fitow is likely to burn out quickly now that it's made landfall.
However, a Red Alert remains in effect for the region.
Close to 750-thousand people have been moved to safer locations in both Zhejiang and Fujian ahead of the storm.
Numerous flights have also been cancelled.
So far there have not been any reports of casualties.
Death toll rises to 51 in Egypt's clashes
The death toll from clashes between security forces and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has hit 51.
More than 200 others have been hurt in the fighting, which broke out on Sunday amid the anniversary marking the October 6th war against Israel.
State television in Egypt is also reporting a group of Muslim Brotherhood supporters tried to use hand-grenades to overtake a metro line.
These reports have not been verified.
Sunday in Egypt marks the 40th anniversary of the so-called Ramadan, or Yom Kippur, war.
It was a 2-week battle among Egyptian and Syrian forces against Israel.
While the battle itself ended in an eventual stalemate, it is credited with being the catalyst for the 1978 Camp David accords, which normalized relations between Egypt and Israel.
Syria starts to destroy chemical weapons
Chemical weapons experts say they've begun the process of destroying Syria's chemical weapons stocks.
The team includes members of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Cutting torches and angle grinders are being used to destroy or disable a range of items, including missile warheads, aerial bombs and mixing and filling equipment.
The initial process is going to last for a number of days.
It's expected to take months to eventually verify and destroy all of the chemical weapons in Syria.
This comes following an agreement reached late last month to have all of Syria's chemical weapons put into international hands and destroyed.
A chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus a few weeks ago reportedly left over 14-hundred people dead.
This prompted the international community into action, with the US and Russia reaching an agreement to potentially avoid armed intervention in Syria's 2.5-year civil war.
Mexico monster truck tramples spectators, killing 13
Thirteen people have been killed in an accident during a Monster Truck show in Mexico.
The driver of the truck, who was taking part in a demonstration at a local air show, lost control, and slammed into the crowd.
The driver of the vehicle has been detained.
Authorities are suggesting mechanical failure may be to blame.
However, witnesses say the driver may have lost consciousness after hitting his head on the canopy of his vehicle after jumping over a pile of wrecked cars.
Bus plunges off cliff, killing 22 in Peruvian Andes
A passenger bus has plunged off a cliff in the Peruvian Andes, leaving 22-dead.
Another 31 aboard the bus were hurt, after the bus went off the cliff in the high mountain ranges around 400-kilometers southeast of the capital, Lima.
The bus plunged down a 100-meter ravine.
One of the survivors says the bus driver was distracted by a passanger at the time of the crash.
At least one foreigner, an Australian national, is among the dead.
Engine fire forces passenger plane to have emergency landing in Pakistan
A passanger aircraft was forced to make an emergency landingin the Pakistani port city of Karachi.
The Pakistan International Airlines flight landed safely shortly after takeoff.
Initial reports suggest one of the plane's engines blew out and caught fire.
The blow-out on the Airbus A310 was loud enough to create panic among locals near Karachi's main airport.
None of the 54 people aboard the flight suffered any injuries.
Two Chinese die in plane crash near Saipan
Two Chinese tourists are dead, and two others hurt, after their small plane went down in the western Pacific.
The group was part of a tour which was travelling between the American-held islands of Tinian and Saipan in the Mariana Islands.
The two injured are in serious condition.
The Chinese nationals are said to be from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Tinian and Saipan are popular tourist destinations.
The islands taken by American troops and used as jumping-off points during their fight with the Japanese during World War II.
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