Chinese fishermen return home after 13-day DPRK detainment

A group of 28-Chinese fishermen kidnapped and held hostage in North Korea are now safely back in China, nearly two weeks after being seized.
The previous report put the number at 29, as one fisherman left the vessel due to sea-sickness before it was detained.
The fishermen and their three boats arrived in Dalian on Monday morning.
Most of them are in a normal physical condition.
It's being reported no ransom was paid.
The fishermen and their vessels had been seized by a group of North Koreans earlier this month, with the kidnappers demanding nearly 3-million yuan for their release.
Chinese Defense Ministry decries U.S. military report

The Chinese Defense Ministry is criticising a new Pentagon report, saying it misrepresents China's military development.
The Chinese defense ministry says its normal military development has been unfairly depicted in the report.
The ministry says characterizing China as a possible military threat is "wrong and groundless."
The defense ministry also contends the US side is deliberately playing up an imbalance of military power between the mainland and Taiwan as a way to try to sell more arms to to the island.
Chinese peacekeeping police team leaves for East Timor

A team of 13 Chinese police officers have left Beijing to join the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in East Timor.
It is the 17th peacekeeping police team China has sent to the Southeast Asian nation since 2000.
All thirteen of the police officers have been trained in international law, English, first aid, driving and shooting.
In the last 12-years China has sent more than 17-hundred police officers to eight peacekeeping missions around the world.
4 dead, 5 trapped in Liaoning colliery roof collapse

Four people have been killed following a roof collapse in a coal mine in Liaoning.
Twelve people were working in a shaft when the accident happened Sunday morning at a mine in Qingshui-tai township, in the provincial capital of Shenyang.
So far three have been saved.
Rescuers are working to find the remaining five people still trapped in the mine.
It's expected to take three days to clean up the debris, making their chances of survival slim.
Suicide bombing attacks Yemeni security soldiers, 96 killed

At least 96 people have been killed in coordinated suicide bombings in Yemen's capital.
More than 200 others have been injured.
The suicide bombers launched their attacks on military personell who were practicing for a parade in Sanaa.
The authorities in Yemen are pointing the finger at al-Qaeda.
The attack took place while Yemen's defense minister and army chief of staff were reviewing the parade practice.
Both survived the attack.
Obama meets "briefly" with Pakistani president

The US and Pakistan have failed to reach an agreement to reopen the supply route from Pakistan to Afghanistan at the Nato summit, which has just concluded in Chicago.
The supply lines were closed in late November after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in U.S. airstrikes along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
About 40 percent of NATO's nonlethal supplies had passed through the line.
Though the two sides didn't have a formal meeting at the summit, U.S. President Barack Obama met "briefly" with his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari, twice, on the sidelines of the summit.
Obama says Zardari shared his belief that the supply route will be reopened soon.
U.S., Japanese and South Korea discuss North Korean nuclear issues

Officials from U.S., Japan and South Korea are now in Seoul discussing nuclear issues on the Korean peninsula.
The trilateral talks come on the heels of reports that North Korea is working toward another nuclear test.
The envoys for the three countries are expected to assess the situation on the Korean peninsula and discuss ways to prevent the North from carrying out any more tests.
UN welcomes progress of Sudan-South Sudan airlift: spokesman

The United Nations has hailed South Sudan's efforts to fly thousands of its citizens stranded in neighboring Sudan back to their country.
The humanitarian airlift, which began on May 14th, has already transported more than 4-thousand people to South Sudan.
The airlift is being managed by the International Organization for Migration - an intergovernmental organization established in 1951.
A total of 12-thousand South Sudanese stranded in Sudan are expected to be airlifed from Khartoum to Juba.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese government is granting citizens of South Sudan residing in Sudan temporary identification cards.
Chinese company owns 5,000 movie screens overnight, in North America

Dalian Wanda Group has announced it is buying the U.S cinema chain, AMC Entertainment for 2.6 billion US dollars.
The deal will give Wanda access to more than 5-thousand screens mainly in the US and Canada.
The deal will turn Wanda into the world's biggest movie theater operator.
Wanda says AMC's headquarters will remain in the Kansas City area, and the day-to-day operations will remain unchanged.
Privately-owned Wanda also operates hotels, department stores and other businesses here in China.
Panda census and DNA collection begins in NW China

Forestry authorities in Gansu have started the first census and DNA collection on wild giant pandas.
Zoologists are expected to comb forests in the province to track individual wild pandas.
Based on the census results, scientists will further construct the sex ratio of the wild pandas, and set up a genetic diversity information database.
The survey is part of a larger census held every ten years.
The previous count found around 16-hundred wild pandas in China.