BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has been appointed head of the new national security commission by the ruling Communist Party’s decision-making Politburo, the latest sign of his rapid consolidation of power.
The move puts Xi in charge of a commission that deals with crises at home and abroad and comes nearly a month after the government said that Xi would head a leading group to steer the country’s overall reforms.
Premier Li Keqiang and Zhang Dejiang, number three in the party’s hierarchy and head of China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament, will be vice-chairmen of the commission, state news agency Xinhua said on its microblog.
Nepal doctors call off strike
KATHMANDU: Hundreds of Nepalese doctors yesterday ended a five-day strike after the government agreed to meet their demands for medical education reforms.
Hospitals and clinics across the Himalayan nation have been shut since Sunday in support of an orthopaedic surgeon who launched a hunger strike, leaving thousands of patients without treatment.
Govinda KC, who works at the state-run Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, began his protest two weeks ago over the allegedly political appointment of the institution’s new dean.
North urges family reunions
SEOUL: North Korea yesterday made a sudden proposal for the resumption of reunions for families separated since the Korean War, saying the programme could help improve cross-border ties.
South Korea immediately welcomed the offer, which followed a recent series of trust-building gestures from the nuclear-armed communist country. The North’s Red Cross faxed a message to its South Korean counterpart, calling for a family reunion event after the Lunar New Year on January 31, according to its official Korean Central News Agency. Agencies
