Hello, and welcome to this edition of CRI Roundup. I'm Zheng Chenguang in Beijing.Let's take a look at some of the major events that have happened in China and around the world during the past week.
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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said on Tuesday that China is concerned about the International Criminal Court prosecutor's allegations(主张) against the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Liu Jianchao said the court should help to make Sudan stable and resolve the Darfur issue without reversing its mission.
"The situation in Darfur is presently at a sensitive stage. I hope all sides can help resolve the problem through negotiations and avoid letting any new factors complicate the issue."
Liu Jianchao added that China and Sudan's long-term cooperation is based on mutual benefit.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo formally requested an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Monday for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Sudanese Vice President Ali Othman Mohammed Taha later rejected the allegations and dismissed them as "null and false".
Meanwhile, a new reinforcement of Chinese military engineering unit has arrived in the Darfur region in Sudan, joining the country's first group of peacekeepers.
This makes China the first non-African country to have deployed all its committed number of peacekeepers in the region.
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The first group of 364 children from China's quake-hit provinces has arrived in the Russian coastal city of Vladivostok for a three-week rehabilitation visit.
In Russia, the "Ocean" Children Center near the city of Vladivostok says it's prepared to receive the students from China's quake-hit regions.
Eteri Vakhtangovna Marzoeva is head of the education department at the rehabilitation center.
"We've made adequate preparation to accommodate the schoolchildren from Sichuan. We have rich experiences in children's education, and we know how to amuse(是他们开怀) them. We will also make our best efforts to provide them with a comfortable environment, to make them feel at home, and to help them get out of the horror of the earthquake."
Earlier, Hu Jintao met some of these children in Zhongnanhai, the compound for the central authorities. The Chinese president expressed the hope that all the schoolmates will rest well and recover as soon as possible with the help of Chinese and Russian teachers.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised to invite China's quake-affected students to his country for recuperative vacations during his China visit earlier in May this year. According to the plan, 1,570 students from three Chinese quake-hit provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu will pay recuperation visits to several Russian cities from 2008 to 2009.
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The Olympic torch has completed its journey in Anshan, a famous iron and steel city in northeast China's Liaoning province on Friday.
A total of 175 torchbearers participated in the relay covering nearly 8 kilometers. Among them, there are ordinary citizens and local farmers, like Jiang Baiqiu.
"I never expected that an ordinary farmer from the remote mountainous area would be chosen as a torch bearer. I think I'm a representative of thousands of local farmers here in Anshan. Therefore, I told myself that I must try my best to be an excellent torch bearer."
The Olympic torch will be [**or was carried, depending on the time of the broadcast] carried in the coastal city of Dalian on Saturday, its third and final stop in the Province.
Meanwhile, the games-time version of the official website of the Beijing Olympic Games, the information release platform for the Games, started operation in Beijing on Tuesday.
The official website provides information in five languages, namely Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Arabic.
The website will provide comprehensive information on ticketing, guidelines for spectators, guides to sports venues, as well as transport, hotels and entertainments.
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South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kwon Chul-hyun said the diplomatic relationship between the two countries is being destroyed over the ownership of the islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese.
Kwon Chul-hyun said it was "shameful" that the relation between South Korea and Japan is falling apart over the disputed ownership of the islands.
"Keeping a good diplomatic relationship is based on trust. Watching trust in the South Korea-Japan relationship being destroyed in relation to this Dokdo issue, I wonder if this means the diplomatic relationship between South Korea and Japan is starting to go backwards again. It is very shameful."
Japan wanted its students to learn about Tokyo's claim to the islands. South Korea angrily reacted to the moves, recalling its ambassador to Tokyo temporarily and bolstering security around the islands.
The dispute has also triggered protests in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul this week.
South Korea and Japan have long been at odds over ownership of the rocky islands located roughly halfway between the two countries. Seoul effectively controls the islands and has stationed police on them.
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American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that her country supports the effort of the international community to halt Iran's nuclear work, by sending a top diplomat to attend international talks with Iran's envoy in Geneva this weekend.
"I think it's going to be very clear to them that the international community and the P5 plus 1 are completely united in both tracks - that is offering the Iranians a way to really engage with the international community, but also being insistent that they need to suspend verifiably their program in order to enter negotiations."
The so-called P5-plus-1 stands for the five permanent members of the United Nations' Security Council, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany.
Senior diplomats from the group will meet on Saturday in Switzerland with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator to hear Tehran's final response to the incentives package.
For the first time, the United States will participate in such a meeting with the Iranians by sending the State Department's third-ranking diplomat, William Burns. US officials say he will be listening, but not negotiating.

