UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi says in Geneva that talks for a solution to end conflicts in Syria will continue this weekend, and neither the government delegation nor the opposition is going to withdraw.

He's met separately the delegations of the opposition and the government.

The international conference on Syria kicked off on Wednesday in the Swiss resort Montreux, pulling for the first time representatives from Syrian government and its opposition to sit down to the negotiating table. 

According to schedule, they were supposed to start direct talks on Friday. However, a UN spokesperson says the process of negotiation "didn't go on as foreseen in the beginning".

 

Three dead, two injured in Xinjiang explosions

Three people have been killed and two injured in three explosions in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

An investigation into the explosions is underway.

 

Xi Jinping to lead national security commission

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been tasked with heading the country's new national security commission.

Premier Li Keqiang and and top legislator Zhang Dejiang have been appointed as the commission's deputy heads.

The organization is an affiliate of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

 

China denounces Abe's remarks on Diaoyu Islands, ADIZ

China has denounced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's latest remarks on the Diaoyu Islands and China's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang voiced "strong dissatisfaction" over Abe's remarks which was made at the parliament on Friday. 

Qin Gang said it's just and legitimate for China to set up the ADIZ, about which Japan is not entitled to criticize," Qin said in a press release. 

On the Diaoyu Islands, Qin Gnag said the status quo was that the disputes have been shelved and it is Japan which was changing such a situation by sparking disturbances and infringing upon China's territorial sovereignty. 

Qin Gang urged Abe to take a correct attitude, stop provocation, admit his mistakes and change his track.

 

Investigation uderway for Cairo police headquarters attack

Bomb attacks have rocked the Egyptian capital, Cairo, killing at least five people and injured scores more. 

The attacks came a day before the third anniversary of the uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

Investigations are underway.

 

North Korea offers to S.Korea to hold reunion of separated families

North Korea has offered to allow reunions for families separated by the Korean War. 

The proposed reunions between families in the North and South would occur after the Lunar New Year.

The statement sent by North Korea says the reunion would take place at a resort in North Korea and the date can be determined according to when the weather begins to warm up.

 

IAEA asks for donations for inspection of Iran's nuclear plan

The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, needs donations.

The head of the agency, Yukiya Amano, says the money is necessary so the organization can step up inspections of Iran's nuclear program.

The IAEA boss released a statement calling on "countries which are in a position to do so" to make funding available.

The Vienna-based nuclear watchdog needs 6 million Euros, or just over 8 million US dollars, to enhance its monitoring and verification procedures.

 

Beijing reports human H7N9 bird flu case

A man in Beijing has been confirmed to have caught the H7N9 bird flu, the first case reported in the city this year.

Health authorities say the man, reportedly in his 50s, had contact with pigeon before he became ill.

Prior to this, all human H7N9 bird flu cases were reported in the country's south and east.

 

China's Hengyang reelects legislators after vote-buying scandal/xinhua

Sixty lawmakers in the central Chinese city of Hengyang have been re-elected, despite a vote-buying scandal that lead to the dismissal of 500 lawmakers last month.

The 60 deputies were re-elected by secret ballot to the 12th Hunan Provincial People's Congress.

The scandal emerged on December 28th when the provincial legislature announced hundreds of lawmakers had been disqualified, dismissed, or had resigned.

An investigation has shown that 56 provincial legislators offered 110 million yuan (18 million U.S. dollars) in bribes to 518 municipal lawmakers and another 68 staff.

 

China reports heavier air pollution in December

The density of two key air pollutants has shot up in China. The pollutants, PM2.5 and PM10, have increased by more than 50 and 30 percent respectively.

74 monitored Chinese cities failed to meet air quality standards for most of December. 

The Yangtze River Delta reported particularly poor air pollution levels.

Six of the ten cities with the most serious pollution problems are located in north China's Hebei Province.