CHINA, U.S. AGREE TO BUILD NEW TYPE OF RELATIONS

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, agreed to build a new type of relations between China and the United States which could avoid the traditional path of confrontations and conflicts between major countries.

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Germany struggles to hold back ‘catastrophic’ flood waters

Thousands of emergency workers, troops and volunteers in Germany battled Sunday against central Europe’s worst floods in over a decade, which have forced mass evacuations and which one politician termed a “national catastrophe”.

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Koreas hold first talks in two years

North and South Korea held their first official talks for more than two years Sunday, confronting decades of mutual distrust in a search for some positive end to months of soaring military tensions.

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People-smuggling boat sinks off Australia :

Thirteen dead, dozens missing

Thirteen people were confirmed dead and dozens missing after a suspected people-smuggling boat sank off Australia’s remote Christmas Island, authorities said yesterday. Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said aerial surveillance of a debris field of wood and life jackets had spotted 13 bodies and a full-scale hunt -- involving 15 ships and 10 aircraft -- was under way for survivors. “This is a search and rescue, trying to find people alive,” Clare told reporters, describing the incident as “another terrible tragedy, another terrible reminder how dangerous these journeys are”.

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