Tension over Ukrainian crisis escalates, G7 imposes sanctions on Russia
Tension has escalated over the crisis in Ukraine where armed pro-Russian fighters are still holding a group of international observers and Ukrainian army officials as of Saturday, some of whom they accused of being NATO spies.
Media reports say the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has sent a negotiating team to try to secure the release of its observers.
Russia and the West are facing probably the worst standoff since the Cold War as the Ukrainian crisis worsens. Russia has deployed troops and helicopters to the borders with Ukraine, while NATO sent extra forces to eastern Europe.
Kerry calls for Russian help in securing inspectors' release
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called for Russian help in securing the release of European monitors detained by pro-Russia militants in eastern Ukraine.
In a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the third this week, the top American envoy appealed for Moscow's support "without preconditions" for the efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Ukrainian government to win the release of the OSCE military inspectors and their Ukrainian guides.
For his part, Lavrov urged Washington to use its influence to help to secure the release of leaders of anti-government protests detained in southeastern Ukraine, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Floating objects slow recovering bodies from sunken S.Korean ferry
Corridors and passenger cabins of the sunken South Korean ferry, which capsized off the country's southwestern coast, were jammed with floating objects, hampering search for bodies trapped inside the hull amid fast currents and bad weather.
As of Saturday night, 187 people have been confirmed dead, and 115 others remained missing. No one has been found alive since 174 passengers and crew were rescued on April 16 when the ferry sank en route to the southern resort island of Jeju from western port of Inchon.
Only two more bodies were recovered Saturday.
Search for Malaysia missing plane fruitless
A Malaysian official says two weeks of scouring the Indian Ocean floor with a U.S. Navy submersible drone has not produced any finds.
The official has declined identification since he is not authorised to comment on the search effort.
Some Malaysians think that officials should expand their theories for the plane's disappearance if the current search is fruitless.
Afghanistan heads for presidential runoff
Afghan presidential elections would go into the second round after the preliminary result showed Saturday that none of the candidates obtained an outright victory.
The final result of the presidential elections is scheduled to be announced on May 14 after the complaints are examined.
Japan's confidential wartime files about China revealed
China has published more than 110,000 confidential Japanese documents from wartime to expose Japan's history of invasion.
The 395-volume photocopied files about wars and relations with China were issued by Japan's foreign ministry , the army and the navy.
Japanese authorities destroyed most of its confidential documents on the eve of its surrender in 1945 to cover its wartime crimes. U.S. troops occupying Japan obtained the remaining ones and transferred them to the United States. The original versions were returned to Japan in 1979.
China's Thread-binding Books Publishing House bought the copyright of the documents and has publicized them for the first time in China.
President Xi vows intense pressure on terrorism
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to resolutely crack down on terrorism and secessionism with high intensity to safeguard national security.
Xi Jinping made the remarks at a group study session on national security and social stability by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Calling terrorism the common enemy of the people, Xi Jinping urged improving counter-terrorism systems and abilities and the public to build a "wall of bronze and iron" to fight against terrorism.
He said resolute and decisive measures must be taken and high pressure must be maintained to crack down on violent terrorists who have been swollen with arrogance.
Lawmakers urge harsher punishment on air polluters
Chinese lawmakers have asked to speed up revisions to the country's air pollution prevention and control law, suggesting heavier punishment to air polluters.
A lawmaker with the Hebei Provincial People's Congress, the local legislature, told a symposium in Beijing that the existing law is too lenient for air polluters and the revision should focus on the increasing of punishments.
He said only when enterprises pay a heavy price for polluting the air can they become more self-driven to abide by the law.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, plans to revise the air pollution law this year, according to the meeting. The law, adopted in 1987, has been revised twice in 1995 and 2000. |