China and India have agreed to both make efforts to achieve a fair and mutually beneficial solution to their border problems.

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and India's National Security Advisor, Shivsharkar Menon held in depth discussions at the 17th meeting of special representatives for the border issue.

The pair discussed several areas of interest including border talks, bilateral relations, and international and regional issues of mutual interest.

Both sides agree China and India have kept positive momentum concerning border talks and managing disputes.

Yang Jiechi has also met with Indian Vice President Mahammad Hamid Ansari in India's capital to launch the India China Year of Friendly Exchanges.

 

Cross-Straits chiefs agree to regular communication

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan have agreed to regular talks between the cross-Straits affairs departments on both sides.

The agreement comes following a meeting of chief officials from the two departments in Nanjing on Tuesday.

Zhang Zhijun, head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, met with Wang Yu-chi, Taiwan's mainland affairs chief, in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Both sides have voiced hope that the newly-established communication channel can help to deepen mutual political trust.

The meeting was arranged after the two officials met on the sidelines at an economic conference in Indonesia last October.

 

Dozens Dead in Algerian Plane Crash

77 people have died after an Algerian military transport plane crashed in the north-east of the country.

The disaster has left only 1 survivor after the Hercules C-130 crashed into a mountain during bad weather conditions.

The plane was headed to Constantine when it went down in Oum al-Bouaghi province.

Most on board the aircraft were military personnel and their family members including children.

Dozens of emergency and medical workers responded to the site despite the difficult mountainous terrain and wintery weather.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has sent his condolences to the affected families and has called for three days of national mourning.

A commission has been established to investigate the crash though officials have speculated the bad weather conditions are to blame.

This is the worst plane crash in Algeria in over a decade.

 

Syrian peace talks are not making much progress

International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition are not making any significant progress, following a face-to-face meeting with the warring parties in Geneva.

Brahimi is due to meet with representatives from Russia and the United States this Friday.

Meanwhile China on Tuesday has urged the international community to create "favorable conditions" for the ongoing Syria peace talks.

Hua Chunying also says China will continue to work with concerned parties to ensure a "safe and smooth" transport of chemical weapons material out of Syria.

A third shipment of chemical weapons material was removed from Syria earlier this week.

 

Two Koreas to hold senior-level talks

North Korea and South Korea are set to hold a rare high-ranking officials meeting on Wednesday.

South Korea's Unification Ministry made the announcement during an emergency press briefing.

The vice-ministerial-level officials from both sides will discuss overall inter-Korean affairs during the meeting, with no specific agenda being selected in advance.

It is expected that the planned reunions of separated families will be included in the talks.

 

Thailand to hold new elections in late April for blocked polling stations/xinhua

Thailand's election commission has decided voting will take place in late April in areas where polling stations were disrupted during the national election.

Anti-government protesters affected advance polling in late January, and the main vote on February 2nd, in dozens of constituencies.

Thai media is reporting a new round of advance voting will happen on April 20th, with the official voting day falling on the 27th.

The EC will not organize new elections in areas that remain vulnerable to violence and violations of law, calling such an effort a 'waste of time.'

 

More H7N9 Cases

Four more human cases of the H7N9 bird flu virus have been reported in China on Tuesday.

Of the four, one death has been reported in Fujian province along with another two patients who have recovered and been discharged from local hospitals.

The fourth patient is a 70-year old man in Zhejiang Province.

The new cases bring the total number of human infections to 180 people in China this year.

So far at least 30 people have succumbed to the H7N9 bird flu since the beginning of January.

Medical experts have not found any evidence of human to human transmission, but warn poultry raised at home could be dangerous if exposed to birds from poultry markets.

 

China-Iceland FTA effective later this year

China's Ministry of Commerce says the Free Trade Agreement between China and Iceland will come into effect in the second half of this year.

This marks the first FTA between China and a European country.

The FTA's commencement means Iceland will not impose tariffs on all industrial and fishery products imported from China.

Meanwhile, China will not implement tariffs on over 7-thousand kinds of goods from Iceland.

That's about 82 percent of imports from the country.

Iceland is the first developed European country to recognize China as a full market economy, as well as the first European country to negotiate an FTA with China.