Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his counterpart Israel's Peres
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres here in Beijing.
President Xi says he feels the current Middle East peace talks are at a critical juncture, and is calling for tangible progress in Israeli-Palestinean peace talks at an early date.
He also notes China is willing to continue high-level exchanges with Israel and to set up an inter-governmental mechanism of economic and technological cooperation, mentioning sectors such as agriculture, environmental protection, and education.
For his part, Peres says Israel hopes China will continue playing an important role in the peace talks.
Peres kicked off a three-day visit here to China on Tuesday.
This is his second visit to China since becoming Israeli president in 2007.
Australian ship fails to detect further signals
The Australian ship that picked up possible signals that could be from the black box recorders of the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner has been unable to detect any further signals.
The signals were detected over the weekend but have not been heard since.
Search officials say it is crucial that the signal be picked up one more time before dropping a remote submersible into the water to scour the ocean floor for wreckage.
Time is running out, because the locator beacons on the black box recorders have only approximately a month's worth of battery life.
Officials say the search will continue for the next several days, if need be.
It's now been a full month since the plane disappeared with 239 passengers and crew.
Iran nuclear talks restart
Iran and six world powers have started a new round of negotiations aimed at settling the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
Chief negotiators from Iran and the P5+1 group began a two-day meeting at the U.N. complex in Vienna.
The P5+1 Group is made up of the 5-permanment members of the UN Security Council and Germany.
Both sides say they want to start drafting a comprehensive agreement in May, some two months before the July deadline for finalizing the accord.
An interim agreement which requires Iran curbing some nuclear activities in return for limited sanctions relief is set to expire in a few weeks.
U.S. says Iran's selection of new UN envoy "not viable"/xinhua
The United States says Iran's choice for its new UN ambassador is not 'viable.'
On Monday, the US Senate passed legislation denying entry into the US for the candidate, Hamid Aboutalebi.
The US is concerned about his alleged involvement in the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
In November 1979 a militant group seized the US embassy in Iran, holding 52 Americans hostage for more than 400 days.
Russia accuses NATO of cold war mentality over diplomatic restrictions
Russia is accusing NATO of holding on to an old "cold war" mentality in its handling of the current dispute over Ukraine.
The comments follow NATO's move to bar all but the most senior diplomats from NATO headquarters in Belgium.
Moscow says restrictions on its diplomats "confirm once again that the alliance is not capable of overcoming the 'cold war' mentality and prefers sanctions over dialogue.'
Ties between Russia and NATO have strained following a string of incidents in Ukraine which have led to that country's split.
US threatens Russia with tougher sanctions
The US is accusing Russia of stirring the unrest in Ukraine, and is again threatening further sanctions against Moscow if certain activities do not stop.
US Secretary of State John Kerry delivered the warning after pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine vowed to vote on splitting from the country.
Kerry says Russian Special Forces and agents have been the catalyst behind the unrest.
Earlier, Russia's foreign ministry accused the U.S. of shifting the blame on Russia, saying the Ukraine government is responsible for the unrest.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says a new draft constitution should be presented to these largely Russian-speaking regions.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine change its constitution to turn the country into a federation.
UN, partners renew anti-polio efforts in Middle East after first case detected in Iraq/xinhua
The United Nations and its partners in the fight against polio have re-launched vaccination efforts in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt.
This, after a new case of the disease was discovered in a baby boy in Iraq. This is the first new case in that country in 14 years.
Officials say it's now even more imperative to boose routine immunizations.
As of the end of last month, 27 children in Syria have been paralyzed by the polio virus. Prior to the current outbreak, no polio cases had been detected in the country since 1999.
WFP warns of potential drought in Syria
A UN agency is warning about a possible drought in Syria, saying it could cripple the country's already perilous food-security situation.
The World Food Programme has been monitoring weather conditions in the war-torn country, saying the amount of rainfall since September has been less than half the long-term average.
The UN agency says the worst affected drought areas account for half of Syria's wheat production.
The current dry conditions are expected to have an impact on the next cereal harvest.
The UN says 4 million people in Syria received food aid in March. The country's been in a state of civil war for about three years.
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