Chinaurges for calm ahead of planned North Korean satellite launch
Chinais urging for calm and restraint amid escalating regional tension days before a planned North Korean satellite launch.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with his counterparts ofJapanandSouth Korearespectively in the city of Ningbo on Saturday.
The trio is scheduled to meet for their annual trilateral meeting on Sunday during whichNorth Koreais set to be high on the agenda.

Chinese diplomats greet rescued crew of China-linked hijacked cargo ship
A five-member delegation from the Chinese embassy in Tehran headed by Chinese Ambassador to Iran Yu Hongyang got aboard China-linked cargo ship Xianghuamen on Saturday afternoon to greet the rescued crew members.
Yu Hongyang greeted all the 28 rescued Chinese crew members of the ship on the behalf of Chinese government and Chinese people.
The ship with 28 Chinese crew members on board was hijacked Friday morning by Somali pirates in the Sea of Oman nearIran's southern port of Chabahar.
Later on Friday, the concerted efforts of the Chinese and Iranian governments led to the successful rescue of all the crew members.

135 buried in avalanche in northernPakistan
As many as 135 people including 124 soldiers and 11 civilians were buried when a huge avalanche hit an army camp inPakistan's northern Siachen Glacier area early on Saturday, according to an army statement.
Rescue efforts are underway and sniffing dogs, helicopters and troops have been employed in the rescue operation.
local media quoted a retired army general as saying the chance for the survival of the buried soldiers looks very slim taking into consideration the minimum temperature in the area is minus 50 degrees Celsius.

ECOWAS lift sanctions againstMali
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had lifted sanctions againstMali, one day afterMali's junta agreed on power handover.
The decision came one day after Mali's junta, which overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure in the coup, on Friday signed a framework agreement with the ECOWAS that the group would hand over power to the president of the National Assembly during the transitional period, in return for the lifting of sanctions imposed by ECOWAS and an amnesty of its members from prosecution.
The African Union says it welcomes the agreement, which provides a series of steps for restoration of constitutional order inMali.

Joyce Banda sworn in asMalawi's president
Malawi's Vice President Joyce Banda, a women rights advocate, has been sworn in asMalawi's president following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika due to a cardiac arrest.
In her acceptance speech, President Banda called for unity and thanked Malawians for being calm during the transitional period and called on the nation to mourn the falling President Mutharika peacefully.

Death toll rises to 14 in NE China road accident
The death toll of a fatal road accident in northeastChina's Liaoning Province has risen to 14.
Other 11 injured have been rushed to hospital for treatment.
The accident occurred yesterday afternoon when a bus plunged into a ditch on Xiajinxian section of the No. 201 State Highway in Zhongjia village of Dalian's free bonded zone.
Twenty-five passengers were aboard when the accident happened, according to local authorities.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.

12 Chinese still trapped in flooded mine
Rescuers raced against time to try to locate 12 miners trapped in a flooded colliery in northeastChina's Jilin Province on Saturday, more than 20 hours after the accident.
A total of 3,000 cubic meters of water has been pumped out from the tunnel of Fengxing coal mine in Jiaohe City, but the 12 miners remained missing.
More water pumps are being deployed to double the volume of water pumped out from the shaft.
The flooding occurred Friday when water from a neighboring colliery flooded Fengxing coal mine. Fifty-eight of 70 workers in the mine managed to escape.

Over 9 pct Chinese aged above 65 by end of 2011
A total of 123 million Chinese were aged over 65 by the end of 2011, about 9.1 percent of the total population.
The Health Aging Symposium held in Beijing says Chinese seniors aged 80 or above are expected to take 30 percent of the population aged 65 or above in 2050, and the ratio of working-aged Chinese to the country's seniors will drop from 10:1 in 2000 to 2.8:1 in 2050.

Beijingers to drink Yangtze River water by 2014
Beijing residents will have access to water from the Yangtze River within 30 months, as the first-stage construction of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project's central route is expected to be completed in October 2014.
Yangtze River water will reach the northern province of Shandong in December 2013 when the initial stage of the project's eastern route is finished., according to an official with the project office under the State Council.
The massive water transfer project is designed to take water fromChina's largest river, the Yangtze, to the country's arid northern regions. Water will flow northward via three routes -- an eastern route, a central route and a western route.