China UN ambassador on Sudan and South Sudan resolution approval

China is calling for a balanced resolution of the Sudan and South Sudan issue.
Li Baodong, Chinese UN Ambassador, made the remarks after the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on the conflict.
Both Sudan and South Sudan say they are satisfied with the resolution.
Under the legally binding resolution, the two countries should immediately cease all hostilities within two days of the adoption of the resolution and resume negotiations through the African Union within two weeks.
The resolution also calls for negotiations to be concluded within three months on critical issues including division of the oil fields and compensation.
Clinton, Geithner arrive in Beijing for Strategic and Economic Dialogue

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have arrived in Beijing.
The two are here for the latest session of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which is set to open today.
The Chinese side is going to be represented by Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo during the two-day dialog.
During her time, Clinton is also due to co-chair talks on people-to-people exchanges with State Councilor Liu Yandong.
Chinese vice premier visits Belgium

Visiting Chinese vice premier Li Keqiang says that China will continue to support the stability of the euro currency.
He made the remarks during talks with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo in Brussels.
Li stated that China is confident that Europe could overcome its current difficulties.
Li Keqiang is also asking Belgium to transfer more high-end technologies to China. He has pledged to create a fair, reasonable and predictable law and policy environment for Belgian companies investing in China.
China, ROK start talks on free trade area

China and South Korea have started negotiations aimed at setting up a Free Trade Area between the two countries.
One of the main sticking points in the negotiations is expected to be agriculture.
South Korea hopes the FTA will help raise the nation's GDP by around 1 percent within 5 years.
China is South Korea's largest trading partner, with South Korea ranking as China's third-largest partner.
Chinese fishermen face arrest by ROK

Two Chinese fishermen are now facing formal charges in South Korea after their fishing boat was boarded by the South Korean coast guard, leaving four South Korean officers

injured.
The two are among nine Chinese fishermen who were detained on Monday after their boat was boarded in the Yellow Sea.
The remaining seven Chinese sailors have since been freed.
The South Korean authorities are demanding 13-thousand US dollars for the release of the fishing boat.
France to send home 45,000 illegal immigrants in 2012

French interior minister Claude Gueant has announced that 45,000 illegal immigrants had been expelled from the country over the previous year, a 20 percent increase on year earlier.
The announcement seeks to re-affirm President Nicolas Sarkozy's more hard-line approach on immigration compared to his Socialist candidate and favorite in the weekend's presidential election, Francois Hollande.
The figures also deflect attention away from Sarkozy's perceived weak record on economic affairs. Sarkozy has further pledged to withdraw France from the European Union's passport free Schengen Zone unless EU borders are strengthened.
Immigrants or children of Immigrants make up 20 percent of France's population and there are an estimated 180,000 new arrivals every year.
Gingrich suspends campaign for U.S. Republican presidential nomination

Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, has called off his bid to become the Republican Party's presidential candidate.
Gingrich – who is well behind Mitt Romney in the race - made an official announcement to pull-out in Washington on Wednesday. However, he refused to make an immediate endorsement of Romney, who is virtually certain to challenge President Barack Obama in the general election in November.
Gingrich says that he will now concentrate on campaigning for issues he believes in, such as space exploration.
His campaign is reported to be 4 million USD in the red.
7 dead, 11 trapped in NE China flooded coal mine

At least seven people have been killed in a flooded coal mine in Heilongjiang, while 11 others are still trapped.
Twenty-eight miners were working underground when the accident happened yesterday morning at a coal mine in the city of Hegang.
10 miners have so far come out alive.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
4 dead in torrential rains in Jiangxi

Continuous torrential rain in Jiangxi Province has left four people dead.
18,000 residents have been relocated, according to the provincial civil affairs department.
Torrential rain has affected 543,000 residents in 34 counties, districts and cities of the province and more than 5,700 houses have been destroyed.
The national and regional authorities have initiated an emergency response to deal with the disaster.
Lost train tickets no longer mean lost seats

China's railway authority is set to allow passengers to buy replacement tickets for ones lost.
Starting from May 10th, railway passengers who lose their tickets can use their ID to purchase a replacement ticket for the same seat.
The Ministry of Railways says the move is designed to protect the interests of real-name ticket holders.
China applied the real-name ticketing system to all trains at the beginning of this year to curb the rampant ticket scalping during the Spring Festival travel rush.