Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has summoned the Japanese ambassador following Thursday's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine by Japan's Prime Minister. 

Wang Yi is warning Japan not to make any further provocations.

Wang Yi also says China will fight to the finish if Japan continues to deliberately challenge the baseline of China-Japan relations.

Abe's visit to Yasukuni is the first by a serving Japanese prime minister since 2006.

 

China to escort transporation of Syria's chemcial weapons

Chinese military forces are being tapped to provide an escort for the maritime transportation of Syria's chemical weapons.

The Chinese Defense Ministry is working with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is currently working to destroy Syria's chemical stocks.

It's unclear how many Chinese vessels will be deployed in the mission.

The mission is a first for the Chinese navy to escort chemical weapons transfers.

 

UN expects military reinforcements arrive in South Sudan in 48hrs

The UN says it hopes military reinforcements and critically needed equipment will be arriving over the next 2-days for its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.

Hilde Johnson, the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, says UN troops are overstretched in their efforts to ensure civilian safety.

Currently, over 50-thousand civilians have taken refuge at various UN bases after 11 days of fighting between the government forces and troops loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar.

 

One killed 97 injured during clashes in Bangkok

Authorities in Thailand say a police officer has been killed in clashes with protestors.

Clashes erupted Thursday outside an election registration venue in Bangkok, forcing riot police to fire teargas and rubber bullets at rock-throwing protesters. 

Close to 100 people have been injured, with 25 police officers among them.

Anti-government protesters have been protesting to try to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and scuttle a February ballot.

Thailand's Election Commission is callilng for the February 2nd election to be postponed.

However, this is being rejected by the Thai government.

 

New ministers enter Turkish government

Ten new ministers have entered the Turkish cabinet a day after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to reshuffled his inner-circle.

The move comes after 3 ministers were forced to resign over bribery and corruption allegations connected to their sons.

All three ministers have denied any wrongdoing by their sons or the government.

The probe comes after rising tensions between Erdogan's AKP party and US-based Turkish cleric Fethuallah Gulen's movement.

Turkey is preparing to go to the polls in March for municipal elections.

 

An-12 cargo plane crashes, killing nine in Russia

A 9 crew members aboard a Russian cargo plane are dead after it crashed while landing in southern Siberia.

A Soviet-era An-12 cargo plane went down at an airport in the city of Irkutsk, which is located about 200-kilometers north of the border with Mongolia.

The plane reportedly crashed into a pair of warehouses on the ground, as it went down in a military-controlled area of the city.

There were no casualties on the ground.

 

Five arrested over China's fatal fire; at least 2 dead in explosion

Prosecutors in Guangdong have approved formal charges against the 5-people currently being held in connection with a deadly fire earlier this month.

The nature of the charges have not been detailed.

However, the 5 are accused of being responsible for a fire at a wholesale market in Shenzhen which left 16 people dead.

Meanwhile, still in Guangdong, at least 2 people are dead following an explosion in the city of Meizhou yesterday.

The explosion ripped through a fireworks storeroom.

The conditions of 4 others caught up in the blast remains unclear.

 

Blast rips through shopping mall in SW China; casualties unknown

An explosion has ripped through a shopping mall in the city of Luzhou in Sichuan last night.

It's unclear if anyone has been killed, though pictures on the internet have shown at least one person being removed from the scene by a stretcher.

It's unclear at this point what caused the blast.

The explosion was strong enough to cause a nearby bus station to collapse.

 

China makes breakthrough in allowing private capital in telecom

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Ministry has granted licenses to 11 private companies for the resale of certain mobile services.

This is being viewed by some as a breakthrough in the largely monopolized sector. 

The move will enable the firms, including e-commerce giant Jingdong Mall, to partner and compete with the backbone operators through the resale of mobile services.

To gain the licenses, private firms must sign a cooperation agreement with one of the three main telecom operators -- China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom -- before filing an application with the Ministry.

The Ministry also says its going to grant more licenses to qualified private businesses. 

This comes after authorities opened the telecom sector to private capital this summer.

 

China confirms goat plague outbreak in Xinjiang

Agriculture officials in Xinjiang have confirmed a number of goats in the region have died from so-called Goat Plague.

The outbreak of Ovine Rinderpest, or PPR, has been confirmed in Hami Prefecture, which is located in the eastern part of Xinjiang near the border with Mongolia and northern Gansu.

34 goats had already died of the disease before it was confirmed, and the remaining 200 in the flock had already been showing symptoms.

Those goats, along with dozens more, have since been culled to try to prevent the spread of the Goat Plague.