BREAKING NEWS

China says contact cut with workers held in Sudan

BEIJING - China's embassy in Sudan has lost contact with 29 Chinese construction workers held by rebels in the strife-troubled border state of South Kordofan, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.
The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) said on Sunday it was holding the Chinese workers for their own safety after a battle with the Sudanese army.
The army has been fighting the SPLM-N in South Kordofan bordering newly independent South Sudan since June.
But Beijing has said the workers were abducted and a Chinese Embassy official in Sudan told Xinhua they were out of contact.