Iran says it tested medium-range missile and nuclear fuel bar

伊朗進行中程導彈及核子燃料測試

Iran's navy says it has test-fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile during a drill in international waters near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian navy commander Seyyed Mousavi.

"Iran's navy has succeeded to equip its all shielding coastline precinct with various of short and long-range shore-to-sea missile systems. By using these systems we can set and hit any target at any time and in any place, if we think it is necessary."

The Iranian navy's 10-day drill coincides with increased tensionsin the Persian gulf as US sanctions on Iran's banking was signed off over the weekend and Iran's threats of closing the Hormuz Strait, a key global oil route.

Iranian state television, meanwhile is reporting that Iranian scientists have produced the nation's first nuclear fuel rod, saying that they plan to use it to produce cancer treatments.

Israel and Palestine downplay imminent resumption of peace talks

巴以即將恢復和談

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are set to meet this week in the Jordanian capital Amman.

However, both sides are playing down the prospects of any imminent resumption of peace talks

The United Nations, the United States, the EU and Russia, have set a January 26th deadline to resume peace negotiations.

However, Fatah's central committee now says there can be no peace talks unless the Israeli government stops it settlement activity.

Peace negotiations between the two sides have been stalled since late 2010, after Israel refused to renew its partial freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Japanese cult fugitive surrenders

日本邪教逃犯最終落入法網(wǎng)

A former member of Japan's Aum Shinrikyo cult has turned himself in to police after nearly 17 years on the run.

Makoto Hirata gave himself up at a police station in Tokyo just before midnight on New Year's Eve, saying he had enough of being on the run.

He had been in hiding since the cult's sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995 that killed 13 people and sickened around 6-thosuand others.

He is now been detained on suspicion of conspiring to kidnap and kill Kiyoshi Kariya, a cult follower who tried to get a relative out of the group.

The victim's son says he just wants to know the truth.

"I just want him to tell us everything he knows, the whole truth."

Two other Aum Shinrikyo members remain on the run.

Former yoga teacher Shoko Asahara started Aum Shinrikyo in the mid-1980s.

The group developed into a paranoid doomsday cult obsessed with the idea that World War III is about to break out.

Los Angeles hit by wave of arson fires on New Year's Eve

洛杉磯新年前夕遭受火災
Los Angeles has been hit by a wave of arsons through the new year.

Firefighters in the Hollywood area have been responding to numerous calls of parked cars getting torched.

So far, no one has been hurt.

However, property damage estimates are continuing to rise, with close to 40 suspicious fires being reported.

Local authorities are suggesting the wave of arsons is the worst in the city since the 1992 riots swept across Los Angeles.

A 60-thousand dollar reward is being offered for tips leading to the arrest of a suspect.

Health authorities still search for cause in bird flu death

Health authorities in China's Guangdong are still searching for the source of a case of bird flu that led to the death of a local bus driver.

The 39-year-old man died Saturday in Shenzhen after being hospitalized with a fever. Following his death he was tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

Authorities say the man didn't have any contact with poultry prior to him falling ill..

So far none of the 120 people who had close contact with the victim have shown any symptoms.

China's PMI Rebounds to 50.3% in December

China's Purchasing Managers' Index, which measures this country's manufacturing activity, has rebounded to 50.3 percent in December.

The December PMI data reverses two consecutive months of declines.

December's PMI is up from the 49 it hit in November.

A PMI reading above 50 signals expansion.

However, HSBC's preliminary PMI readings for December have only rebounded slightly from November's 47.7 to 48.7.

Tian'anmen's VIP stand opens to common visitors

The rostrum overlooking Beijing's famous Tian'anmen Square is now open to the public.

The ceremony-reviewing stand on the Tian'anmen Gate has played host to some 5-thousand people yesterday.

People who want to visit the reviewing area need to make a group appointment first.

The reviewing area was once the exclusive domain of top Chinese leaders and distinguished guests.

The rostrum is the same place that late Chinese leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Direct flights to be launched between Chinese mainland's Huangshan and Taipei

Direct flights between Huangshan and Taipei are now due to be launched later this month.

Taiwan's EVA Air is due to run three direct flights per week.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists from Taiwan visit Huangshan in Anhui.

Huangshan, or the Yellow Mountains, are a world cultural and natural heritage site.