China to seek "early, proper" solution with Russia on detained Chinese ships
China has voiced the will to maintain close contacts with Russia for an early and proper solution of the dispute on the detained Chinese fishing ships, which left a fisherman missing.
When commenting on a relevant question in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said such events are "sudden and individual" cases, and China hopes the two sides can solve them while bearing China-Russia friendship in mind.
Two Chinese fishing ships from China's eastern Shandong province were recently seized by the Russian side.
Media reports say that a Russian coast guard vessel fired shots to one of the two Chinese fishing ships that had been fishing in Russia's exclusive economic zone. A Chinese fisherman went missing after the boat he was aboard collided with a Russian ship that chased the Chinese one.
China has lodged representation over Russia's improper actions and hopes peoples of the two countries can view the event in an objective and calm way.
China alerts rainstorms for east and southwest
China's national observatory has issued an orange alert for rainstorms expected to hit the country's eastern and southwestern regions over the coming 24 hours.
The National Meteorological Center says some parts in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei,Tianjin, Shandong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangdong and Hainan will see heavy rains, with downpours and thunderstorms in some places.
On Saturday, the heaviest rain in 61 years lashed Beijing, leaving 10 people dead and more than 14 thousand city residents evacuated.
Meanwhile, the National Meteorological Center says a persistent heat wave will continue to scorch regions south of the Yangtze River, with temperatures reaching up to 37 degrees Celsius.
One missing, two injured in helicopter crash in SW China
One person was missing and two others injured after a helicopter crashed into a reservoir in the city of Chuxiong in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
Local authorities say the accident happened Saturday night at the Qingshanzui reservoir.
Three people were on board when the helicopter crashed, two of them having been rescued and sent to hospital for treatment.
Initial investigation showed the helicopter belonged to the Yunnan General Aviation Co., Ltd. Rescuers are searching for the missing person. Probes to the cause of the accident are underway.
Chinese navy escort ships complete first joint escort operation
The Chinese navy's 11th and 12th escort groups have accomplished their first joint escort operation in GULF OF ADEN.
The groups escorted six merchant ships from China, Singapore, Norway, South Korea and Portugal.
The farewell ceremony of the 11th group will be held on Monday. Then the flotilla will leave the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters and embark on a goodwill visit.
The 11th group has escorted 184 ships in 43 operations since it started the mission five months ago.
To date, the Chinese navy fleets have escorted more than 4,700 ships from countries all over the world.
3 NATO soldiers killed in E. Afghanistan
Three NATO soldiers have been killed in two separate incidents in restive eastern Afghanistan.
The NATO- led coalition confirmed this on Sunday.
Troops mostly from United States have been stationed in eastern Afghanistan within the framework of ISAF to curb Taliban-linked insurgency there.
Violence has been on the rise since Taliban launched an annual spring offensive in early May.
A total of 247 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan so far in 2012.
At least 5 killed in car bombing in Iraq
At least five people were killed and 14 wounded in a car bomb explosion on Sunday in the holy Shiite city of Najaf.
An Interior Ministry source says the attack occurred in the morning, when a booby-trapped car went off outside a popular restaurant in central Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad.
The powerful blast destroyed parts of the restaurant and badly damaged several nearby shops and buildings.
Violence in Iraq has ebbed from its climax in 2006 and 2007, when sectarian conflicts pushed the country to the brink of a civil war, but tensions and sporadic attacks are still common across the country.
Russia launches Soyuz rocket with five satellites
Russia on Sunday launched a Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with five satellites on board.
Aboard the rocket are Russia's remote-sensing satellite Canopus-B and research satellite MKA-PN1, Belarus' remote-sensing satellite BKA, Canada's communications satellite ADS-1B and Germany's mini satellite TET-1,according to the country's space agency Roscosmos.
The launch of the five satellites was initially scheduled in the first half of 2012, but the mission was postponed several times due to disputes between Kazakhstan and Russia over a drop zone of the rocket's first stage.