Russia remained at loggerheads with the US and its European allies ahead of a United Nations Security Council vote tonight on a new Syria resolution.

US President Barack Obama has said he hopes he and President Hu Jintao of China can find a “co-operative approach” to end the bloodshed in Syria.

In the midst of all our economic problems, the three-day visit of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping to this country is much more than a welcome diversion.

North Korea has tightened internal security and put troops on alert since the announcement of leader Kim Jong Il’s death, South Korean intelligence indicated today.

CHINA has launched an experimental module to lay the groundwork for a future space station.

China’s government vowed today to clamp down on inflation and urgently raise incomes as it pushes to spread the benefits of economic growth at a time when living standards are rising, but so are calls for greater change.

JITTERY Chinese authorities wary of any domestic dissent staged a concerted show of force yesterday to squelch a mysterious online call for a “Jasmine Revolution” apparently modelled after pro-democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East.

Michelle and Barack Obama welcomed a mix of Hollywood A-listers, captains of industry and prominent Chinese-Americans to the White House as they threw a “quintessentially American” state dinner for the president of China, complete with apple pie, ice cream and jazz music.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was in China today on a visit to a school - his second appearance in the country this year.

Rescuers pulled three people alive from the rubble today, five days after an earthquake killed nearly 2,000 people in a Tibetan region of western China.

A four-year-old girl and a Tibetan woman have been pulled alive from the rubble of an earthquake in western China more than five days after they were trapped.

China poured rescue workers and equipment into a mountainous Tibetan region today in a bid to find survivors after earthquakes killed more than 600 people and injured thousands.

Rescuers were scrambling today to save 153 workers trapped after a flood swept through a coal mine in northern China, the country’s work safety agency said.

China appointed a former soldier as the new governor of restive Tibet.

UNDER explosive bursts of fireworks more than a million New Year revellers in Sydney got one of the world’s biggest parties started yesterday – bidding farewell to the tough year that was 2009.

Under explosive bursts of fireworks more than a million New Year revellers in Sydney got one of the world’s biggest parties started today – bidding farewell to the tough year that was 2009.

President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao emerged from hours of intense talks today determined to marshal their combined clout on crucial issues, but still showing divisions over economic, security and human rights issues that have long bedevilled the two powers.

CHINA’S top communist leaders vowed to maintain stability in the west of the country in their first public comments yesterday on the ethnic riots that killed more than 150 people.

Traffic and shopping resumed in Urumqi today after days of ethnic violence in the western city killed at least 156 people.

LEADERS of the world’s industrialised powers warned yesterday that the global economy remains in danger and backed away from pledges on global warming as they started their annual summit.

China has no plans to raise its proposal for a new global currency to replace the dollar at the G8 meeting this week but is willing to discuss it, a top Chinese diplomat said, as President Hu Jintao left for Italy.

Rescuers blasted through mud and debris today to try and reach 27 miners trapped after a massive landslide buried an iron ore plant and several homes in south-western China, leaving 26 people dead and dozens missing.

China's Defence Ministry demanded that the US Navy end surveillance missions off the country's southern coast following a weekend confrontation between an American vessel and Chinese ships.

HOMEMADE bombs damaged police vehicles in a Tibetan part of western China yesterday, and authorities expanded a security cordon across the region ahead of the 50th anniversary of a failed revolt that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.

FIREWORKS exploded over Sydney’s shimmering harbour yesterday as the world’s first major city to ring in 2009 celebrated the end of a rocky year with cheers, beers and a sense of relief.

Fireworks exploded over Sydney’s shimmering harbour today as the world’s first major city to ring in 2009 celebrated the end of a rocky year with cheers, beers and a sense of relief.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen will today address the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Beijing.

China and other members of an Asian security group were today being asked to sign a declaration of support today for Russia’s role in the Georgia conflict.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the G8 nations must reach agreement among themselves on climate change measures and avoid taking the approach that “I will do nothing unless you do it first,” which he called a “vicious circle".

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised China’s post-earthquake recovery efforts during a visit to the disaster zone today, saying it contrasted with Burma’s reluctance to allow in aid after a devastating cyclone.

Chinese authorities prepared to begin draining a swelling earthquake-formed lake today after evacuating nearly 200,000 people and warning more than a million others to be ready to leave quickly.

Chinese authorities began evacuating earthquake relief workers from a flood-risk zone today, in a drill that put 1.3 million people on alert to quickly leave if an earthquake-spawned lake breached a dam.

Chinese quake rescuers struggled with flooded rivers and dams in danger of collapse threatening to add to the devastation today.

RUSSIA and China yesterday denounced US plans for a global missile defence shield and signed a multi-million nuclear contract.

The Dalai Lama’s envoys and Chinese officials are planning a second round of talks, China’s state-run news agency said today.

The Dalai Lama’s envoys met Chinese officials today – the first talks between the two sides have since violent anti-government protests erupted in Tibet.

Beijing tightened security today ahead of the Olympic torch’s arrival after demonstrations by protesters during its passage through Greece.

Dozens of Tibetan exiles burned an effigy of Chinese President Hu Jintao as they reached the Indian capital New Dehli today carrying a symbolic flame which they said would burn along with the official torch for the Beijing Olympic games.

THE Irish Government will not boycott the Olympic Games in China in protest against events in Tibet but may, like many other EU countries, stay away from the opening ceremony, Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said yesterday.

China’s National People’s Congress has re-elected President Hu Jintao to a second five-year term, as widely expected.

CHINA expressed regret yesterday over US film-maker Steven Spielberg’s decision to cut ties with the Beijing Olympics, saying it was unacceptable to link politics to the sporting extravaganza.

INDIAN prime minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Beijing yesterday for a three-day visit aimed at boosting sometimes strained relations between the Asian giants whose massive populations and sizzling economies are increasingly driving world trade.

US defence secretary Robert Gates, making his first official visit to China, is expected to press the country to do more to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities.

President Hu Jintao won a second five-year term as China’s Communist Party chief today, heading a new leadership line-up that features potential successors, yet could invite a divisive battle to succeed him.