CRI Hourly News 2012 08 16

 China lodges 1 representations with Japan over nationals' detention 2

 
China has filed an official complaint with Japan over the detention of Chinese nationals who went to the Diaoyu Islands.
Chinese vice 3 foreign minister Fu Ying has summoned Japan's Ambassador to China over the issue.
The Chinese government is demanding the Japanese side to immediately release a group of 14 Chinese citizens currently being held, and free them without any conditions.
Japanese police are planning to send the activists 5 to Japan's immigration bureau before shipping 6 them back to Hong Kong.
Japanese authorities are holding 14 activists from Hong Kong, including 7 who landed on the disputed islands yesterday afternoon.
 
 
Chinese, Myanmar police bust 7 cross-border drug gang
 
Police from China and Myanmar are reporting the bust of a cross-border drug gang and the seizure 8 of more than 400 kilograms of drugs.
The authorities in Myanmar raided a drug-production facility in early July, arresting 10 suspects.
Subsequently, the suspected Chinese kingpin of the gant, Mu Ronghong, has arrested in Yunnan.
The group had been producing crystal meth.
Since the start of this year, 11 drug-related cases have been broken up amid cooperation among China and other countries in southeast Asia.
 
 
Hainan food poisoning found to be bacterial 9
 
Local authorities in Hainan say a recent case of food poisoning at a local hotel was caused by bacteria.
The outbreak of Salmonella over the weekend at the Howard Johnson hotel in Sanya on Sunday made over 140 people ill.
131 of them had to be hospitalized after eating breakfast at the hotel.
Over half the victims are still in hospital.
Service at the hotel's restaurant has since been suspended.
 
 
New tropical storm set to make landfall in Guangdong
 
A new tropical storm is approaching China.
Tropical storm Kai-Tak is expected to make landfall in Guangdong later tonight or early tomorrow morning.
It is expected to bring up to 80 millimeters of rain to Taiwan, Guangdong and Hainan.
Emergency flood control measures have been initiated 10.
China has been battered 11 by tropical storms this month.
Typhoons Saola, Damrey and Haikui have already caused billions of yuan in damage, and have left over 50 people dead.
 
 
Commercial banks' NPL ratio hits 0.9%
 
The non-performing loan ratio at China's commercial banks has levelled off at 0.9 percent as of the end of June.
This is the same rate compared to the first quarter.
The China Banking 12 Regulatory Commission is reporting non-performing loans have hit 456-billion yuan through the first 6 months of this year.
Foreign-funded banks are registering an NPL ratio of 0.6 percent.
Total banking assets have jumped 20-percent year-on-year to some 127 trillion yuan.
 
 
OIC suspends Syria's membership
 
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has announced the suspension of Syria from the 57-member bloc 13.
The decision follows a special meeting of the OIC in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
A statement from the organization also calls for an immediate 4 end to the fighting in the country.
Secretary of the Syrian Parliament, Khaled Aboud, says Syria's the suspension from the OIC will have no negative impact on the country.
 
 
UN concludes Syrian gov't, oppositions 14 both responsible for war crimes
 
An independent inquiry 15 by the United Nations has determined 16 both the Syrian government and the rebels have committed war crimes.
The report accuses both sides of committing crimes against humanity, including murder and torture.
The report is also blaming government forces and pro-government militia 17 members of being responsible for the massacre 18 in the village of Houla in May.
The full report is due to be presented to the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council next month.
 
 
Airbase under militants 19 attack in northwest Pakistan
 
A Pakistani Airforce base has come under attack by militants.
The base is located in the country's restive 20 northwest.
The Pakistani military has sent in commandos to the airbase.
The attack has been launched overnight by an unknown number of militants, who have managed to make it past a number of checkpoints.
Large fires and smoke can be seen billowing from the airbase.
The number of casualties is so-far unclear.
 
 
5-magnitude earthquake shakes NW Iran
 
Another strong earthquake has hit Iran's already-earthquake battered northwest.
The magnitude 5 quake hit around 10 in the evening local time in Iran's province of East Azerbaijan.
This is the same area that was rattled 21 Saturday by magnitude 6.2 and 6.0 earthquakes within a matter of minutes of one-another.
Those quakes leveled several local villages, leaving over 300 dead and over 3-thousand others injured.
No word yet on any additional damage or casualties from this most recent earthquake.
 
 
Unmanned U.S. military hypersonic test flight fails
 
The US Airforce's latest test of a hypersonic aircraft has failed.
The unmanned experimental aircraft, called the X-51A Waverider, has failed in its bid to travel 6-times the speed of sound, or over 73-hundred kilometers per hour.
A malfunction 22 in the test aircraft's control fins 23 caused the experimental jet to crash into the Pacific Ocean only 16 seconds after the test flight began.
The US Airforce says it feels confident further tests of the hypersonic design can work.
The test aircraft is called the Waverider, because in theory, once the jet hits a certian speed, it should be able to ride its own shockwaves.