UN chief condemns Syria killings
UN Secretary-general Ban Ki- moon has strongly condemned an incident of massive killings in a village in Syria.
It was reported that more than 92 people were killed in the incident. Syrian opposition groups said it was caused by an artillery barrage by government forces on Friday evening. However, Syria's state media blamed the massacre on "armed terrorist groups. "
In a statement released in New York, Ban called the killings an "appalling and brutal crime," adding that "those responsible for perpetrating this crime must be held to account."
The statement reiterated that all violence in all forms in Syria must cease.
8 civilians killed in IASF air strike in east Afghanistan
Eight civilians were killed Saturday night in an air strike conducted by the NATO-led coalition forces in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia.
An Afghan provincial official says the overnight attack happened in Gerdasera district and caused the tragic killing of eight Afghan civilians.
Also in Paktia, a total of 20 Taliban militants were reportedly killed Saturday night in an operation by coalition forces and Afghan security forces.
4 NATO soldiers killed in blasts in Afghanistan
Four NATO soldiers have been killed in separate explosions in restive southern Afghanistan.
The military alliance has confirmed four International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service members died following separate improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in southern Afghanistan SAturday.
The Taliban stepped up their attacks on Afghan and NATO troops since a rebel offensive was launched earlier this month in the war- ravaged country.
First body of missing soldiers in Pakistan's avalanche recovered
The first body of the 127 soldiers who went missing in Pakistan's Siachen avalanche on April 7 has been recovered in the wee hours of Sunday.
According to the local media reports, the first body recovered was found in a sanitary room of an army camp that had been engulfed by a huge avalanche in Pakistan's northern Siachen Glacier area early last month and the body had been shifted to a military hospital in Skardu, a city near Siachen.
Sunday's recovery of the first body of the missing people in Siachen avalanche marked a breakthrough in the 50-day-long intensive search operation that has involved painstaking efforts of hundreds of rescuers including volunteers from foreign countries.
Iranian envoy criticizes Western media for politicizing technical issue in IAEA report
Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali-Asghar Soltanieh criticized Western media "attempts to politicize a normal technical issue" in the latest IAEA report on Tehran's "nuclear energy program.
The IAEA said in its latest report on Iranian nuclear issue that its inspectors have detected traces of up to 27-percent-purity enriched uranium in the country's Fordow nuclear fuel enrichment plant.
Soltanieh criticized Western media hype and said " as mentioned in the IAEA report, the issue is a normal technical subject that is being investigated by experts,"
He said highlighting and politicizing a technical issue indicates certain efforts to sully the atmosphere of constructive cooperation between Iran and the IAEA.
Confucius Institutes welcome U.S. decision to continue courses
Confucius Institute Headquarters has welcomed a decision made by the U.S. government to allow all Confucius Institutes in the country to continue with their courses.
Xu Lin, head of Confucius Institute Headquarters, or Hanban, says the new directive showed the U.S. government's official recognition of the Confucius Institutes.
Xu says the headquarters welcomes the quick move of the U.S. Department of State to fix the mistake.
China launches telecommunication satellite
China successfully sent a telecommunication satellite, "ChinaSat 2A," into orbit last night, using a Long March-3B carrier rocket launched from the southwestern Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
The satellite, developed by China Academy of Space Technology, will be used to meet the demands for China's radio and TV broadcasting and broadband multimedia transmissions.
Official arrested for allegedly raping over 10 girls in central China
An official in central China's Henan province has been detained after allegedly raping over 10 underage girls.
Li Xingong, former deputy director of the general office of the Yongcheng city committee of the Communist Party of China, confessed to having raped more than 10 girls during police interrogation.
The local authorities have ordered swift and severe punishment on the suspect in accordance with relevant laws.
The case is still under investigation.
Environmental protection urged amid economic slowdown
Officials and experts say governments and enterprises should hold on to emission reduction efforts despite cooling economy and resist the temptation of spurring economy through energy-inefficient industrial projects.
They told a forum on recycling economy in Bejing that we need to refrain from using the current economic slowdown as an excuse to loosen the environmental protection standards for mega projects with high energy consumption and high emission.
Chinese banks encouraged to seek private investment
China's banking regulator says the country's financial institutions should focus on attracting more private investment.
It says banks are encouraged to gain investment from well-managed private enterprises of good repute.