China to send envoy to North Korea

•BEIJING • China will send a senior diplomat to North Korea on Friday as an envoy of President Xi Jinping , reopening a channel of dialogue with the isolated regime. The Foreign Ministry's announcement of the trip by Mr Song Tao, who heads the Communist Party's external affairs department, came a week after United States President Donald Trump visited China and asked Mr Xi to fix the problem of North Korea's nuclear programme.

WASHINGTON POST

Travel firm Ctrip suspends top staff

SHANGHAI• • China's leading online travel agency said it has suspended two senior employees after video footage of workers abusing toddlers at a company daycare centre went viral, sparking nationwide outrage. Mr Shi Qi, a group vice-president, and vice-president Feng Weihua were suspended pending an internal probe, said a company letter made public yesterday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Police arrest two over cow smuggler killing

NEW DELHI • Indian police have arrested two Hindu farmers in connection with the killing of a Muslim man suspected of smuggling cows to a slaughterhouse.

The two suspects were detained on Monday and arrested the next day, said Superintendent Rahul Prakash, the top police officer in Alwar, yesterday.

REUTERS