Chinese importers recall tainted milk products from New Zealand
China's consumer quality watchdog on Sunday announced a list of four companies that have imported potentially contaminated products from New Zealand dairy company Fonterra.
The four Chinese importers are Hangzhou Wahaha Health Food Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Wahaha Import & Export Co., Ltd., Shanghai Tangjiu (Group) Co., Ltd. and Shanghai-based Dumex Baby Food Co., Ltd., according to China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).
Sources say the four importers have initiated recalls of potentially contaminated products.
The administration has also issued a consumer warning for three batches of Karicare-brand dairy products produced by New Zealand company Nutricia.
23 backpackers missing on central China mountain
Authorities in central China's Hubei Province are searching for 23 backpackers who went missing in a mountainous scenic spot on Saturday.
Police in the city of Yichang received a report Saturday night from a bus driver who said that his passengers -- a group of 23 independent travelers -- had not returned from the Huangniuyan Scenic Spot near the Three Gorges Dam.
The driver said the travelers entered the tourist site Saturday morning, adding that contact with the group was lost in the evening.
Municipal firefighters are working with local residents to search for the missing tourists.
China-Russia drill enters battle planning phase
The China-Russia joint drill, code-named Peace Mission-2013, has entered the phase of battle planning as China's last troops arrived at the designated area.
Peace Mission-2013, which takes place in Chelyabinsk in Russia's Ural Mountainous region from July 27 to Aug. 15, has three phases -- troop deployment, battle planning and simulated combat.
A Chinese military official says the second phase will focus on issues such as coordinating campaign intention, making decisions, preparing plans and organizing coordination, which will lay the foundation for the third phase.
US embassies in Yemen closed following security threats
Heavy military have surrounded the US and British embassies in Yemen's capital, a day after US authorities warned of the threat of an al-Qaeda attack.
Roads leading to both compounds have numerous military checkpoints and vehicles are thoroughly searched if they tired to approach the area.
The UK is also to close its embassy in Yemen on Sunday and Monday.
It came after the US issued a global travel warning to US citizens about the threat of an al-Qaeda attack.
21 embassies and consulates in the Middle East have also been closed over the weekend.
DPRK's top leader sends "verbal message" to Hyundai chief
North Korea's top leader Kim Jong Un has sent a "verbal message" to the chief of South Korea's Hyundai Group, appreciating its former chairman's contribution to the inter-Korean relations.
The message comes on the 10th anniversary of the death of Hyundai's former chairman Jong Mong Hon.
Kim said in the message that Jong "explored the road of national reconciliation and cooperation, and did a great work for developing the inter-Korean relations and achieving the country's reunification."
Jong, who aggressively sought inter-Korean business projects, committed suicide in 2003 amid a probe into allegations that the government of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung secretly gave massive money to North Korea ahead of the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000.
Mugabe wins Zimbabwe presidential election
Zimbabwe's incumbent president Robert Mugabe, 89, won the presidential race Saturday for the sixth time, extending his 33-year rule of the country since its independence in 1980.
The veteran president won more than 2.1 million votes, or over 61 percent from about 3.4 million registered voters in the elections,
Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe's most formidable opponent, refused to accept the results, saying he and his party will exhaust all legal remedies to challenge the results.
China congratulates Zimbabwe for the success of the election and hopes political parties in Zimbabwe will accept the results of the election.
Australian PM announces Sept. 7 as federal election date
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that the federal election will be held on Sept. 7.
Kevin Rudd met Governor-General Quentin Bryce earlier Sunday afternoon and asked her for permission to call on the election on Sept. 7.
Iran's supreme leader endorses Rouhani as next president
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has endorsed Hassan Rouhni as the country's next president in a ceremony held Tehran.
The moderate cleric, Rouhani, will succeed the outgoing hardliner Ahmadinejad and will inherit his legacy of ailing economy and troubled foreign policy.
China becomes largest source of overseas students
More than 2.6 million Chinese studied outside the country over the past 34 years, making China the world's top source of overseas students.
In 2012, more than 399 thousand Chinese went to study abroad, funded by the government or their employers, or at their own expense, according to the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange under the Ministry of Education.
China ranked first in the world in terms of the number of overseas students.
Data show that currently, around 74 percent of Chinese overseas students are studying in the United States, Australia, Japan, Britain and Canada. |