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Drought continues in China, 51 million people affected
Severe drought has affected 51 million Chinese and left more than 16 million people and 11 million livestock with drinking water shortages.
China's State Commission of Disaster Relief says more than 4 million hectares of farmland have been affected and 940 thousand hectares would yield no harvest.
The commission says the ministries of finance, agriculture, civil affairs and water resources had appropriated more than 370 million yuan (54.4 million U.S. dollars) to the provinces, autonomous region and municipality to combat the drought.
The funds are generally to be used to purchase drinking water, equipments and supplies for urgent water construction projects.
Weather forecasts show no obvious indications of rain in the drought region in the next 10 days.

BJH-biz: Severe Drought Strikes West China's Power Supply
Severe drought in China's southwest is putting a strain on the supply of coal for electricity.
China Economic Net reports some cities and provinces are already seeing blackouts and power shortages.
More than 20 million people throughout the region are dealing with water shortages and about 6.5 million hectares of cropland are suffering from drought.

Workers trapped after railway tunnel collapse in north China
At least 10 people are trapped after a section of a railway tunnel in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region collapsed Friday.
A Local safty official saies the accident occurred Friday afternoon when workers were digging the tunnel in Zhuozi County of Ulanqab City, about 150 km from Hohhot, the regional capital, and 400 km from Beijing.
More than 300 rescuers and 60 machines are drilling through the rubble in a bid to improve ventilation, establishing contact with the trapped workers, and to send food and water.
The entrance of the tunnel has been cordoned off.
Rescuers teams have been despatched to the site.

Cross-Strait agreements on fishing, farm produce, product quality to take effect
Three agreements signed by the Chinese mainland and Taiwan negotiators to cooperate in farm produce quarantine, employment of fishermen, and to deal with different product quality standards are to take effect on Sunday.
The three agreements were reached on Dec. 22 last year.
Under the pact on farm produce quarantine, the two sides agreed to address differences in food safety standards and set up a mechanism to cope with farm produce quarantine emergencies.

Sandstorm hits north China's Inner Mongolia, Ningxia
A sandstorm has hit western part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China, which also brought dust to the Chinese capital.
A local meteorological expert says the visibility was 600 to 900 meters and the wind speed was about 68 kilometers per hour in some areas of Inner Mongolia on Friday.
He says given the severity of the sandstorm, Beijing will be affected, though it will just get some dust, but not the sandstorm.

HK announces 2 mln HKD donation to help Chilean earthquake victims
The Hong Kong government Friday announced a 2 million HK dollars donation for earthquake victims in Chile.
The decision came after the government accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and the money will be given to the World Vision Hong Kong to undertake a relief project in Chile.

China opposes illicit trafficking of small arms, light weapons: Envoy
China says it opposes illicit production of and trafficking in small arms and light weapons, and is ready to work with the international community to properly solve this problem at an early date.
Li Baodong, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, made the statement when he was speaking at an open debate of the UN Security Council meeting on the impact of illicit arms trafficking on peace and security of the Central African region.
He said China is willing to work together with the international community towards an early and appropriate solution of this problem.

Israeli air force bombs Gaza
Israeli air force has bombed a target in the south of Palestinian Gaza Strip.
The news desk of the army did not give the detail the place of the target they struck, saying that the strike comes in response to the Palestinian rockets attacks against the Jewish state during the past days.
The IDF holds Hamas as solely responsible for maintaining peace and quiet in Gaza Strip.

Russia, U.S. likely to clinch new arms deal in April
Russia and the United States are likely to sign new arms control deal in Europe in April.
Deputy head of the Russian government office, Yuri ushakov, has told reporters that most probably, the treaty will be signed in April.
He said the signing ceremony will not take place in Washington DC. The most probable location is Europe.
Yuri Ushakov said this after talks between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Clinton, who is on a two-day visit to Moscow, said earlier Friday that the United States and Russia were "on the brink" of signing a new deal.

Egyptian president resumes activities after recovery
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resumed his activities on Friday, 12 days after a successful surgery he underwent in Germany.
The 81-year old made a number of telephone calls Friday, and also issued a number of presidential decrees including one by which he appointed a new sheikh for Al-Azhar.
Mubarak underwent successful surgery March 6th after he suffered acute gall bladder inflammation, accompanied by gall stones.