Hourly News 每日新闻 11:00 2013/06/21（在线收听）

Hourly News

China urges for more consensus with Vietnam

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has met with visiting Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang.

The premier has suggested the proper handling of issues in the South China Sea is of vital significance for bilateral ties and regional peace.

Li Keqiang has also told Sang the two sides need to avoid "internationalizing" the issue.

For his part, the Vietnamese President has repeated his contention the two countries should manage and resolve their sea-related issues through friendly consultation.

China urges resumption of six-party talks

The Chinese government has issued a new call for the resumption of the six-party talks.

The call has been made at meetings between Chinese and North Korean officials here in Beijing.

The Chinese side has told the DPRK delegation denuclearization, peace and dialogue are conductive to the interests of all involved.

For its part, the North Korean side says it's ready to join in any form of talks, including the six-party format.

Meanwhile, the U.S, Japan and South Korea are also calling for meaningful steps in denuclearization by Pyongyang in exchange for better ties with the North.

Mainland, Taiwan negotiators hold talks over service trade agreement

The mainland's negotiator for cross-Strait ties has started talks with his Taiwan counterpart inShanghai in connection with a service trade agreement.

It is the first time Chen Deming and Lin Join-sane have sat a negotiation table since they took office as their side's chief negotiators.

The service trade agreement is one of the follow-up agreements included in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in 2010.

ECFA is designed to reduce tariffs and commercial barriers between the mainland and Taiwan.

Over 111,000 affected in SW China rainstorms

One person is missing after a series of heavy rainstorms in Sichuan.

Around 27-hundred others have been forced from their homes by the heavy rains around the city ofGuangyuan, which is located in the northeast of the province near the border with Gansu andShaanxi.

Heavy rains have been pounding the region since Tuesday.

Forecasters are warning of more heavy downfalls today in the region, which is home to over 100-thousand people.

Flood and landslide alerts are currently in place.

France reports third victim due to floods

Flooding in southwestern France has claimed one more life.

This brings the death toll from the flooding in the Pyrenees to three.

The latest victim drowned after her car was swept away in flooding.

Thousands have been forced from their homes in the region.

The flooding has also done millions of euros of damage around the Roman-Catholic commune ofLourdes, which draws in millions of pilgrims every year during July and August.

Egypt's court upholds Mubarak's release over illicit gains

An Egyptian court has upheld a previous court order to release ex-president Hosni Mubarak in connection with allegations of illicit gains.

A Cairo Criminal Court has declined an appeal by the prosecution to temporarily release the former president.

However, the ex-president will have to stay in custody in connection with other charges, including the looting of public funds.

Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison a year ago.

However, he successfully appealed.

His retrial on that original conviction is due to begin on July 6th.

New Palestinian PM submits resignation: source

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has reportedly offered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas.

It's unclear if Abbas is going to accept the resignation.

This reportedly comes just two weeks after he was first sworn in.

It's being reported Hamdallah wants to resign because of "attacks on his power."

Hamdallah, a long time academic, was tapped to replace Salam Fayyad.

Fayyad quit over differences with members of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party.

Obama to nominate new FBI director: media

It's being reported US President Barack Obama is due to announce his choice for the new head of the Federal Bureau of Invesigation later this Friday.

Media reports say Obama is going to nominate former Deputy Attorney General James Comey to replace Robert Mueller.

Mueller is due to leave office in September.

Comey is a former number-2 in the Justice Department during the tenure of former President George W. Bush.

He has been in the US government's national security aparatus for the past 2-decades.

Mueller is retiring after taking over the FBI shorly before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

S China school girl rapists sentenced

A former school principal and a government clerk in Hainan have been jailed for rape.

The former principal of a local Primary School has been sentenced to 13.5-years years in prison for raping primary school girls last month.

A former clerk at the property administration bureau in the city of Wanning has been sentenced to 11.5-years for the same crime.

Appeals are expected.

The case involved the men spending the night with groups of primary school girls in hotels.

Six stand trial over officials' sex video scandal

6 people have stood trial in Chongqing for allegedly blackmailing government officials with secretly recorded sex videos.

All are facing extortion charges.

Prosecutors say two of the suspects conspired to lure officials into having sex with women.

They would then secretly record their encounters in order to blackmail them and to gain profits for their business.