介绍:
NPC says decision on HK universal suffrage to stand despite veto
China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, says its decision on how to bring in electoral changes in Hong Kong last year will not be changed, despite today's vote by Hong Kong lawmakers.
Hong Kong lawmakers rejected a proposal to create universal sufferage to elect the city's Chief Executive earlier today.
28 of the 37 lawmakers voted against the proposed changes.
The proposed ammendment would have required a two-thirds majority to pass.
Under the proposed changes, all eligible voters in Hong Kong would have been given the opportunity to vote for a candidate which had been selected by a committee.
With the rejection of the proposal, it means current structure for electing the city's Chief Executive is likely to remain in-place.
This involves a select group of electors chosen from different areas of Hong Kong deciding who the city's Chief will be.
Cargo ship capsizes in Yangtze, casualties unknown
A cargo ship has capsized and sank in the Yangtze River in Nanjing.
Local maritime authorities say the ship was carrying 200 tons worth of a strong, caustic liquid when it went down.
It's unclear how many people were on the ship at the time, and casualties are still unknown.
Rescue effort is now ongoing.
Police sentenced for death for producing drugs
A former police officer in Liaoning has been sentenced to death following his conviction for producing drugs.
The former cop and his partner have been sentenced to death by a court in the city of Dandong.
The officer teamed up with a convicted drug manufacturer who was released from prison in 2011.
They established three meth labs in rural areas of Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, producing more than 100-kilograms of the drug during the year-and-a-half they were in business together.
They were busted in May of last year.
It's not known if the two plan to appeal their death sentences.
Chinese become biggest foreign buyers of US real estate
New statistics show Chinese nationals have surpassed Canadians as the largest foreign buyer of real estate in the United States.
Chinese buyers spent some 30-billion US dollars on homes in the US last year, accounting for 16-percent of all foreign home purchases in the US.
This has surpassed Canadians, who spent 11-billion US dollars last year.
Indian buyers are the 3rd most active, followed by people from Mexico.
The states of Florida, California, Texas and Arizona are the most popular locations for foreign buyers, with over half of all international home purchases taking place in those states.
WHO chief meets FM on MERS outbreak
Officials from the World Health Organisation have sat down with high-level South Korean officials, including the foreign minister, to discuss how to cope with the current outbreak of MERS.
The death toll from the virus now stands at 23.
There have been 165 confirmed infections in South Korea since it was first confirmed in the country on May 20th.
The current virual outbreak has a mortality rate of around 14-percent right now in South Korea.
Previous outbreaks of the MERS virus in the Middle East, where it originated, have seen mortality rates of over 40-percent.
South Korean health officials say they believe the current outbreak of MERS may have peaked, and could be completely isolated by the end of this month.
Close to 7-thousand people have been quarantined in South Korea.
S. Korea approves new PM, ending 2-month vacancy
South Korean lawmakers have voted to approve Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn as the countr's new Prime Minister.
The 2nd highest political position in South Korea behind only the President had been vacant for the past 2-months.
Former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo was forced to step down amid a bribery scandal.
Hwang Kyo-ahn was hand-picked by President Park Geun-hye to be the successor.
"Cuban Five" to visit Africa
The "Cuban Five," a group of intelligence agents jailed in the United States for over 16 years, is set to visit three different African countries starting this weekend.
The five are due to go on tours through South Africa, Namibia and Angola, meeting with local groups and celebrities.
The "Cuban Five" have been invited to Africa by the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party.
The five Cuban agents were arrested by the FBI in Miami in 1998, and were later convicted of espionage and other charges connected to the infiltration of Cuban-American groups in Miami.
The last of the group were released in December as part of a prisoner swap connected to the thawing of diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba.
Denmark kicks off parliamentary elections
Parliamentary elections are underway in Denmark.
More than 4-million people are eligible to vote in the election.
The campaign itself has been focused primarily on immigration.
Both Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt's left-leaning alliance and the center-right opposition have promised to further tighten Denmark's controls on immigration.
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