The UN-Arab League envoy to Syria is meeting with the Chinese foreign minister to solicit support from Beijing in international efforts to ending Syria’s civil war.

Talks between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese leaders have failed to narrow gaps on how to end the crisis in Syria and resolve Beijing's territorial disputes with its smaller neighbours over the South China Sea.

Syrian security forces are advancing on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Baba Amr in the city of Homs, an official says.

North Korean state television has showed Kim Jong Il laid out in an open coffin today.

THE International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor said yesterday it could be “game over” within months for Muammar Gaddafi, who is wanted on charges of crimes against humanity.

North Korea has today accused South Korea of using civilians as human shields around artillery positions on an island attacked by the North, seeking to justify a bombardment that killed four South Koreans and sent tensions soaring.

China demanded answers from the Philippines today after a 12-hour hostage drama in the heart of the capital Manila ended with eight Hong Kong tourists dead along with their Filipino hostage-taker after a day of botched negotiations.

Foreign Minister Micheal Martin will meet with Irish business leaders in China today as part of a five-day visit to the country.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama vowed yesterday the United States will increase pressure on Iran in a unified global stand, as Tehran said it had persuaded Beijing sanctions were no longer necessary.

China would not confirm US reports that it had dropped its opposition to possible new UN sanctions against Iran, as Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator met with senior officials in Beijing.

US arms sales to Taiwan hurt China’s national security, its foreign minister said, escalating the rhetoric in a dispute threatening to deepen rifts between the world’s biggest and third-biggest economies.

China’s foreign minister warned that US plans to sell $6.4bn (€4.6bn) worth of arms to Taiwan will harm Chinese efforts to unify peacefully with the island, the ministry said, after China suspended US military exchanges and threatened unprecedented sanctions against American defence companies.

A faster response by police to the attack at an immigrant services centre in the United States would not have saved any lives, a county prosecutor said..

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.

Troops patrolled winding mountain roads, internet services were cut and motorists ran a gauntlet of checkpoints as Beijing mounted a show of force in Tibetan areas to prevent a repeat of uprisings against Chinese rule.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese officials today pledged to expand high-level talks on economic issues to include troubling security matters.

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.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband backed China in its dispute with groups seeking to link this summer’s Beijing Olympics to progress on human rights, saying today that “engagement, not isolation” was the correct approach.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that George Bush sent a “message of confrontation” during his recent trip to the Middle East.

The US has “gravely undermined” relations with China by giving the Dalai Lama an award, the Beijing government said today.

President George Bush said today that US relations with China will not be damaged by honouring the Dalai Lama.

A British minister said he had pressured China to improve its human rights record, telling officials a failure to do so could affect their staging of next year’s Olympic Games.

European and Asian foreign ministers have agreed to set a 2009 deadline to complete negotiations on a new international climate change pact to limit greenhouse gases, diplomats said today.

China’s government abruptly replaced its foreign minister today, appointing former ambassador to the United States Yang Jiechi to the post in an early reshuffling of senior positions ahead of key political meetings.

The US stand-off with China over the captured spy plane shows signs of easing.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has expressed regret over the death of a Chinese pilot when his jet fighter collided with a US spy plane.

US President George W. Bush said he is disturbed that China is helping Iraq build a more sophisticated and effective defence against American and British air patrols.