Angela Merkel with Wen Jiabao open Hanover industrial fair
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has made a stop in Germany in an effort to try shore up business ties with that country.
Wen Jiabao and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have opened the Hanover trade fair.
The world's largest industrial fair has representatives from some 5-thousand manufacturing and technology companies from 69 countries.
500 of them are Chinese companies.
Wen Jiabao says China remains committed to strong bilateral trade.
Wen Jiabao and Merkel are also set to sign a deal on a new Volkswagen plant in China later on this Monday.
Germany is part of Wen Jiabao's current European trip, which will also take him to Sweden and Poland.
China-Russia joint naval drill kicks off

A week of joint naval drills between China and Russia has now begun in the Yellow Sea off China's east coast.
This marks the first joint naval exercises between the two countries.
The drill involves a total of 16 vessels and two submarines from the Chinese navy, as well as four warships from the Russian navy's Pacific Fleet.
The exercise will focus on maritime air defenses and the defense of marine traffic arteries.
UN observers tour central Syria, establish liaison with all parties

The advance team of UN observers in Syria has now established contact with all groups in two central regions of the country.
The observer’s stops have included locations near the flashpoint of Homs.
This comes just a day after the UN Security Council unanimously approved the deployment of up to 300 UN military observers in order to monitor a fragile ceasefire which is supposed to be in place between the Syrian government and opposition fighters.
There are currently 7 observers on the ground right now.
Hollande, Sarkozy to face off in French presidential run-off

As expected, French socialist candidate Francois Hollande and incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy are now set to due battle in a May 6 run-off.
Preliminary results of Sunday's vote indicate Hollande has secured some 27.6-percent support, one percent ahead of Sarkozy.
National Front candidate Marine Le Pen has taken third place with about 19.7 percent of the vote, attracting a surprisingly high numbers of voters with her far-right proposals.
Polling ahead of the first round of voting indicates Hollande is expected to take the runoff against Sarkozy.
Israel "deeply concerned" about Egypt's gas deal cancellation

The Israeli government is now expressing "deep concern" about Egypt's cancellation of its gas supply deal.
Egypt's national gas supplier has announced its backing away from the long-term deal to supply Israel with gas.
The deal was first signed as part of the peace treaty between the two countries in 1979.
The continued sabotage of the pipeline is being cited as one of the main reasons for the decision to back away from the deal.
Tour bus-truck crash kills 13 in east China

13 people have been killed in a tourist bus crash.
21 others were injured in the crash, after a bus full of tourists from Shanghai slammed into a truck in the city of Changshu in Jiangsu.
Initial indications are the bus lost control.
The reason why the bus went out of control is now being looked into.
Arsonist detained amid capsule scandal in N China gelatin plant

A staffer at a gelatin factory in Hebei has been detained after allegedly setting fire to the plant amid the scandal surrounding contaminated drug capsules.
Reports broke out a week ago that the plant provided industrial gelatin to medicine capsule production companies instead of the gelatin which is safe for human consumption.
It's believed the lawyer for the company and his brother encouraged an employee to start a fire in a bid to destroy the evidence.
So far 9 people have been officially charged in connection with the scandal, while 45 others have been detained.
Thousands stranded, trains suspended by heavy winds

Some 7-thousand passengers have been stranded because of strong winds in Xinjiang.
Seven trains had to be shut down because of the winds, which have been reaching as much as 120-kilometers per hour in southern Xinjiang.
The passengers are stuck in stations along the Southern Xinjiang Railway link.
It's unclear when the train services through southern Xinjiang will be restored.
Section of Sichuan-Tibet highway collapses in Tibet

Traffic has now resumed after a roadbed collapsed on a section of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway.
A section of the highway collapsed at a section of the highway in Tibet stranded some 400 people for a time.
Local authorities say the roadbed became degraded because of its proximity to a lake.
Traffic through that region is still being restricted.
Volvo says it plans to more than double vehicle models in China

Volvo now says it plans to more than double its number of models available here in China.
Volvo currently sells 6 models in China.
The company is planning to introduce 10 new ones in China within six years, including a number of high-end vehicles.
The Volvo brand is owned by Geely.
The new models are part of Geely's plans to double its sales to some 800-thousand cars a year around the world in the next 10 years.
Russia's Progress space freighter docks with ISS

A Russian cargo spacecraft has docked with the International Space Station for an urgent delivery.
The cargo flight is carrying oxygen, fuel and scientific equipment.
This is the second of the five scheduled cargo launches this year.
The Progress freighters have become the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades.