Briefly

CHINA

Chile's foreign minister to pay 5-day official visit

Chile's Foreign Minister Francisco Perez Mackenna will begin a five-day official visit to China on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian announced at a regular news conference on Monday. Over more than half a century since the two countries established diplomatic ties, China-Chile relations have stayed at the forefront of China's relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries, Lin said. China looks forward to using this visit to have in-depth exchange of views with the Chilean side on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest, so as to carry forward friendship, expand consensus, deepen cooperation and push bilateral relations to a new level, he added.

DR CONGO

Ebola outbreak now nation's deadliest ever

A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now the country's deadliest ever after killing more than 2,300 people in three months, government figures showed on Monday. The United Nations says the Ebola outbreak is "the fastest-growing on record" and is killing a victim every 30 minutes in the DR Congo. No specific vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain behind the current surge of Ebola, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids and causes a hemorrhagic fever. Declared on May 15, the DR Congo's 17th Ebola outbreak is thought to have already been spreading for several weeks by that point. In its latest toll on Monday, the Congolese authorities said that 2,325 people had died in the current outbreak, from 4,945 confirmed cases. The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever hit western Africa in 2013-16, killing more than 11,300 people, mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

IRAN

Deal reached with Oman on Hormuz

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Iran and Oman have agreed on the map of the new route for maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. He made the remarks at a weekly news conference in Tehran while elaborating on the latest progress of negotiations between Iran and Oman on the designation of a safe route for passage through the strait. Baghaei said the two countries are supposed to finalize the agreement in the form of a package comprising the map and a joint statement. Regarding the memorandum of understanding with the United States, he said that under the deal, the two countries were scheduled to hold negotiations on Tehran's nuclear issue and the removal of sanctions within a 60-day period, which ended on Monday. However, the negotiations never started, which he blamed on the US' "flagrant and extensive violations" of the deal.

CHINA DAILY-AGENCIES-XINHUA