DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “Iranian gets death sentences for nuclear scientist's murder” plus 9 more

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) --Iran has sentenced Ali Jamali-Fashi to death, for the assassination of a nuclear physicist in 2010.

The physicist, a professor at Tehran University, was killed last year by a remote control bomb attached to a motorbike, near his home in northern Tehran.

Iran has accused Israel and the US of being behind a string of attacks on its nuclear scientists and scholars.

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) --In the latest development in Libya, forces opposed to the fugitive Muammar Gaddafi are closing in on his home town of Sirte. The rebels have rejected an offer by Gaddafi to negotiate. They have captured the eastern town of Bin Jawwad, forcing regime loyalists to flee after days of fighting.

With his regime crumbling, Muammar Gaddafi is on the run. But his chief spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim. says the Libyan leader is still in the country.

As the call for negotiations came, new signs emerged of arbitrary killings of detainees and civilians by Gaddafi forces during the rebels' push into Tripoli earlier this week, including some 50 charred corpses in a lockup.

National Transitional Council officials reject any idea of talks with Gaddafi, saying he's a criminal who must be brought to justice.

Mahmoud Shammam, Information Minister of National Transitional Council, said, "There is no negotiation. There were no negotiations before. And there will be no negotiations. They are criminals. They are running from justice and we are following them as criminals, we are not talking to them. We are going to arrest them."

NATO warplanes have struck Muammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte over the last few days because it says the town remains a threat to civilians. Meanwhile, Libyan rebels also control the road between Tripoli and Sabha, a bastion of support for Gaddafi in the southern desert. Rebels plan to advance on Sabha after taking control of Sirte.

Rebel military spokesman Ahmed Bani says that negotiations are taking place with tribal leaders in Sirte to "stop the bloodshed", as rebels threatened to advance on the city, if they don't agree to surrender.

He adds that the liberation of the cities will happen sooner or later, probably in a matter of days.

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) --A close race was emerging on Sunday in the contest to replace Prime Minister Naoto Kan as the leader of Japan's DPJ ruling party. Whoever wins the most votes on Monday is almost certain to become the new Prime Minister as the DPJ controls the lower house of the parliament, which chooses Japan's chief.

Five candidates all promised the same thing on Sunday---resolving the nuclear crisis and reviving the country's battered economy.

But Japanese people don't seem at all encouraged by these remarks.

Company employee Makoto Suzuki said, "To be honest, I don't expect anything from the candidates. It would be extremely difficult that any candidate could show leadership in the current situation under the "twisted parliament".

But the people's opinions are not at the center of race this time.

Former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara is leading in public opinion polls but this can't guarantee his victory, for the vote is conducted among the ruling DPJ's lawmakers. Instead it's Trade Minister Banri Kaieda who is forecast to be the likely winner. That's because he's gained support from DPJ power broker Ichiro Ozawa, and former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

The extremely short campaign process--just the weekend before Monday's vote--was not even carried live on any of the major TV networks.

Prof. Koichi Nakano of Political Science in Sophia Univ. "In some way, I think the political bickering is a cover for a lack of serious policy differences-which is even more pathetic I think."

The winner needs to win a majority of 200 votes, which is not likely to happen. And a run-off between the top two is highly expected.

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- A trip to Japan would mean so much to comic and animation fans, because almost every one of their beloved cartoon figures from the Japanese cartoon scene has its own museum or theme park. Let's pay a visit to just three of them.

First we arrive at a magic field dominated by one of girls' favorite characters, Hello Kitty. The Hello Kitty theme park is located near the city of Tokyo, where thousands of fans come to experience the theatre, restaurant and gift shop. But one thing they shouldn't miss is the song and dance show.

Other characters in the Sanrio Universe sometimes also appear in the park, but the Kitty cat is without a doubt the real highlight.

And for animation fans, Hayao Miyazaki, the prominent manga artist and film director, has attained international acclaim in his fifty-year career. He is the co-founder of the top-class Studio Ghibli, and the museum of the same name in Mitaka is exclusively dedicated to him as well.

Miyazaki fans will be surprised to find a collection of all their favorite cartoon characters there, including Totoro the lovely forest spirit, and the giant robot soldier from the author's 1986 debut film, "Castle in the Sky." But don't be afraid, because the five-meter-tall soldier on the rooftop is the guardian of the Ghibli Museum.

We head next to the costal town of Sakaiminato. It's the birthplace of Shigeru Mizuki, a master in the genre of tokai the supernatural folklore, and the author of Japanese horror manga "Hakaba Kitaro", the collection of tales of a one-eye ghost boy who fights against evil forces.

Since 1959 the manga has been adapted to several TV productions, and hence has become one of Japanese readers' favorite series crossing manga, animation and even video games. The popularity of "Hakaba Kitaro" also turned the small town into the latest hot spot for tourists.

From the postboxes to the vending machines, the figure of Kitaro the ghost boy can be seen almost everywhere in town.

The extension is a crucial step in boosting cross-border use of yuan, and will better meet enterprises' needs and further facilitate trade and investment, the central bank said on its website.

The Ministry of Commerce also released draft guidelines on how foreign investors can use yuan acquired overseas for direct investment in the country.

Foreign investors will be able to make direct investments in China with yuan legally obtained overseas, according to a draft released by the ministry, which is currently soliciting public feedback on the new rules.

Analysts said these moves indicated China's ambitions of pushing forward the internationalization of the yuan.

The pace of internationalization of the yuan speeds up. The first trial of cross-border trade settlements in yuan was approved in Shanghai in July 2009. Then the pilot area was expanded to 20 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in June 2010. Overseas, the program was extended to all countries and regions after being piloted in Hong Kong, Macao, and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Now the new policy released on Aug. 23 allows all parts of the country to be able to use the yuan or Renminbi, in cross-border trade settlements.

It was generally regarded that the new policy can help enhance the acceptance of the currency by trade partners of the surrounding countries and regions of China and trade partners in many developing countries and regions. It can also boost the acceptance willingness of some American and European trade partners to the yuan.

China's yuan settlement in cross-border trade surged to 957.57 billion yuan ($149.62 billion) in the first half of 2011, 13.3 times more than that for the same period of last year, according to statistics from the central bank.