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Tung Ho-Pin broke new ground with Renault on Sunday when be became the first Chinese driver to be named in a Formula One team line-up.

The Netherlands-born 27-year-old, already the first Chinese national to drive a grand prix car, will be Renault’s official third (reserve) driver this season.

Tung will also be racing in the GP2 support series with the DAMS team in Renault colors.

“This step will be the breakthrough I think in terms of media attention, of interest,” he said at the launch of the new Renault F1 car.

“I will be the first Chinese guy ever who is officially part of a F1 team and that’s going to be a big thing, I think.

“It’s a very nice thing. China has had race since 2004 but never had Chinese involvement within a team. Now they have and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Tung first tested with Williams in December 2003 after winning that year’s Asian Formula BMW series and again with Renault late last year.

He is managed by Gravity Sport Management, owned by Genii capital which recently bought a large stake in the Renault team, and had been linked to a possible race drive.

“As a driver you always want to race but in the end this is a fantastic opportunity,” he said. “To be officially third driver is already a big thing. I am showing the world I am on the threshold of F1.

“I hope to gain as much experience as I can and gain a race drive in the near future.”

Asked whether he might get a chance to drive in Friday practize in this year’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Tung said he would certainly be there.

“Never say no but for the moment that’s not the case,” he said of the possibility of a home-track appearance.

Michael Schumacher’s doctor confirmed on Tuesday the German legend has completely recovered from his neck injury and is fully fit to challenge for the Formula One world title this season.

The seven-time world champion has returned to the sport after a three-year absence and is currently taking part in preseason testing with his new Mercedes team in Valencia, Spain.

“The nicest thing is that Michael can focus completely on his driving,” Dr Johannes Peil said. “Nothing is bothering him, he doesn’t feel constrained or bothered. We already had this impression during the preparation period and this impression was confirmed after the first 40 laps.”

On the advice of Dr Peil, Schumacher pulled out of an offer to compete for his former Ferrari team in place of the injured Brazilian Felippe Massa last summer. He was suffering from a neck injury suffered in a motor accident on a Spanish circuit in February 2009.

The 41-year-old will compete in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14.

Ten members of a U.S. charity group have been detained by Haitian police for allegedly trying to traffic children from the earthquake-devastated country, Haitian authorities said.

Ten members of a U.S. charity group have been detained by Haitian police for allegedly trying to traffic children from the earthquake-devastated country, Haitian authorities said.

The five men and five women with U.S. passports were caught late Friday while they were about to cross border to enter the Dominican Republic with 33 children, aged between two months to 14 years.

Head of the charity group told police they had good intentions and came to help local children who had lost parents in the quake or were abandoned.

However, when questioned, most of the children said their parents are still alive and some could give contact information of their families.

The U.S. embassy in Haiti confirmed the detention of its citizens for “alleged violations of Haitian laws related to immigration.”

The Haitian authorities on Sunday warned of a rise in child smuggling cases which was making use of the chaos in the aftermath of the quake on Jan. 12.

The person in charge of a Haitian social welfare institute said “numerous children” have left Haiti without obtaining legal authorization.

Thirteen people were killed and 17 others wounded on Sunday as gunmen stormed a high school party in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican town bordering the United States.

Chihuahua’s Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the attack occurred about 01:30 a.m. local time (0730 GMT) on Sunday, inside a house in Ciudad Juarez, 1,800 km north of Mexico City.

The office also said that there were some 60 people at the party, mostly adolescent students.

Some 20 armed men entered the house and shot at them before escaping the crime scene in seven vehicles.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

Doctors treating the injured said 11 people were killed on the spot and two others died at hospital due to the grave condition of their wounds.

This has been the most violent attack in Ciudad Juarez since the beginning of 2010.

The deaths were part of a weekend shoot-to-kill spree in which 24 people were killed in violence related to turf battles between drug cartels in the country.

Ciudad Juarez, a town of 1.5 million residents, holds Mexico’s record in bloodshed. Last year alone, more than 2,600 people were killed there in drug-related gang crimes.

Thirteen people were killed and 17 others wounded on Sunday as gunmen stormed a high school party in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican town bordering the United States.

Chihuahua’s Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the attack occurred about 01:30 a.m. local time (0730 GMT) on Sunday, inside a house in Ciudad Juarez, 1,800 km north of Mexico City.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was under fire from the opposition leader on Monday amid political funding scandals involving senior members of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and frayed relations with the United States.

Sadakazu Tanigaki, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP), used a parliament session to accuse the prime minister of indecisiveness, claiming that the DPJ has lost the faith of the public due to undemocratic practices.

Chief of General Staff of the United Kingdom army General Sir Richard Dannatt is set to arrive in Kathmandu on Thursday for an official visit to Nepal, according to a press statement issued by Nepal Army Directorate of Pubic Relations on Monday.

The statement said that Sir Richards will make courtesy call to President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Defense Minister Bidya Devi Bhandari, Nepal Army Chief Chattra Man Singh Gurung during his visit.

He will also attend various programs at British Gurkha Camp in west Pokhara and British Gurkha Camp in Kathmandu and some other places.

Democratic Party of Japan Secretary- General Ichiro Ozawa said Monday that he again met prosecutors on Sunday, and maintained his innocence in a scandal involving the purchase of land in Tokyo using undeclared funds.

In question is the origin of some 400 million yen (US$4.4 million) that Ozawa gave to his fund body Rizunkai in 2004 to fund the purchase of land and led the arrest of two former aides and a current aide in January.

“I am willing to cooperate with prosecutors as much as possible on this issue,” Ozawa said at a news conference Monday.

The prominent DPJ politician also maintained that he had no awareness of any wrongdoing carried out by people associated with his funds body.

While he refused to accept being involved with any wrongdoing, the DPJ strongman said his responsibility “will be heavy” if he is ever charged.

Meanwhile, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper on Monday said that 76 percent of the people it surveyed believed that Ozawa should resign from his role as secretary-general of the DPJ.

Opposition leader Sadakazu Tanigaki on Monday accused Ozawa of being the real power behind an undemocratic DPJ, and said that the funds scandal was “extremely abnormal.”

In response, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said “I believe prosecutors will carry out a fair investigation, and I will follow and assess it in a calm manner.”

US President Barack Obama on Monday projected the US budget deficit would soar to a fresh record in 2010, challenging his push for fiscal responsibility while driving to defeat double-digit unemployment.

Obama is under pressure to convince investors like China that he has a credible plan to control the country’s deficit and debt over time. Polls show voters are also worried by the state of US finances, and he plans to create a bipartisan fiscal commission to figure out future options.

Obama’s budget for the fiscal year to September 30, 2011, which must be approved by the US Congress, predicted a deficit of US$1.56 trillion in 2010, equal to 10.6 percent of the economy measured by gross domestic product (GDP), the White House said. This rise was partly due to spending associated with a package of emergency stimulus measures Obama signed last year.

The deficit projection compares with a shortfall of US$1.41 trillion in fiscal 2009. The funding gap was forecast to shrink to $1.27 trillion, or 8.3 percent of GDP in 2011, and fall to half that as a share of the economy when Obama’s term ends in 2013, meeting a key White House pledge