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Kenya Airways received its third Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft last week and plan on putting it on the Nairobi-Beijing direct route. Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Titus Naikuni while receiving the aircraft said there are plans to expand existing routes and introduce flights to Beijing. "We are also looking into going to Beijing this year," Naikuni said. The national carrier is already operating daily flights to Guangzhou, and plan to introduce a flight to Shanghai by the end of the year. The latest acquisition pushed the airline to the number one spot in the continent as the airline with the largest network, and the youngest and most modern fleet.

Chinese firm given nod to build Lamu berths

China Communication Construction Company has started the construction of three berths in Lamu Port at Kenya's north-eastern coast. This is after President Uhuru Kenyatta signed a Sh42 billion deal with the company to construct the first three berths of the ambitious Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor project. The project which has seven components once complete will see the construction of a mega port with 32 berths in Lamu, a standard gauge railway linking the three countries as well as a pipeline for crude oil. Other key infrastructural developments to be undertaken under the project include three airports, refineries and roads.

Checks on foreigners stepped up in Beijing

Immigration officers in Beijing have intensified inspections of foreigners as an increasing number have started to use China to enter third countries illegally, officials said.

Ji Lixia, assistant head of the Beijing office of China Immigration Inspection, said the number of foreigners being deported has continued to rise in the past three years, but he declined to give an exact figure or the growth rate.

Some reports have said that about 200 foreigners were deported last year after attempting to enter China without proper documentation.

Since Jan 1, 2013, many Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have launched a 72-hour visa-free policy for visitors from some countries who have valid airline tickets to a third country.

At least 26 people were killed and more than 260 injured on Aug 1 by powerful gas blasts in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung.

The explosions overturned cars and ripped up roads as terrified residents fled an inferno.

President Xi Jinping conveyed his condolences to victims' families, saying he was deeply concerned after learning of the heavy casualties.

The explosions sparked massive fires, which tore through the city's Cianjhen district, leaving a yawning trench running for hundreds of meters down the middle of a major thoroughfare and littering the streets with bodies.

Dramatic video footage captured by car dashboard cameras showed multiple blasts and pillars of flame erupting from manholes as drivers frantically tried to avoid being engulfed.

Four firefighters who went to the scene after residents smelled gas were among those killed in the blasts and rescuers were searching for two others who disappeared.

Philippines jails 12 Chinese fishermen

Twelve Chinese fishermen received prison sentences ranging from six to 12 years from a Philippine Palawan regional court after the group's vessel rammed into Tubbataha Reef Natural Park in April last year.

The Palawan court convicted them of poaching and violating the Tubbataha Reefs National Park Act of 2009, according to the Philippine newspaper Philstar. The vessel's captain, Liu Wenjie, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and 11 other fishermen got sentences ranging from six to 10 years.

Each was fined $100,000, according to provincial prosecutor Allen Ross Rodriguez, who added that the 12 will be imprisoned at the Iwahig Penal Colony in Palawan.

In April 2013, the Chinese men were caught when their fishing vessel ran aground in Tubbataha Reef. According to The Associated Press, the boat was carrying frozen meat of protected pangolins, a species of anteater.

China, India ties shift to high gear

The engine driving Sino-Indian ties has been turbo-charged recently and the neighbors, once wary of each other, are now discussing multibillion-dollar deals, working together for Asian prosperity and transforming their relationship, India's ambassador to China said.

Ashok Kantha, whose association with China began nearly 35 years ago, said in an interview with China Daily that there has been a complete makeover in Sino-Indian ties. In 1981, Kantha came to China after studying Chinese at Nanyang University in Singapore.

Greece evacuates 79 Chinese from Libya

Seventy-nine Chinese nationals were evacuated from Libya and taken to Athens on board the Greek frigate Salamis.

The evacuees arrived safely at Piraeus port near the Greek capital on Aug 2 after a 27-hour trip across rough seas, and were set to return to China within two days.

The 117-meter warship, which can carry 220 passengers, was sent to Tripoli on July 31 to pick up Greek embassy employees as well as Greek and foreign citizens.

The operation was ordered because of the worsening security situation in the Libya. Clashes between rival militias in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi had left at least 214 people dead and 981 others wounded since July 13.

Breast-feeding in China far below world average

China's health authority reported a breast-feeding rate of 27.8 percent, far below the world average of 38 percent, at an event to mark World Breastfeeding Week, from Aug 1 to 7 each year.

According to the World Health Organization, breast-feeding is the best way to provide newborns with the nutrients they need.

Breast-feeding is recommended until infants reach six months, and it should be continued with supplementary foods for up to two years.

In China, the breast-feeding rate for babies up to six months is expected to reach at least 50 percent, according to the Outline Program for Development of Chinese Children (2011-2020), issued by the State Council.

"Breast-feeding is crucial to newborns' health, but we are still far from that goal," said Qin Geng, deputy director of the Maternal and Child Health Department of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/08/2014 page2)