Despite mounting pressures, including the repeated U.S. veto threats, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has formally presented the application letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a bid to seek the UN recognition of Palestine as a full member state. 

The meeting between Ban and Abbas took place on the sidelines of the general debate of the 66th General Assembly session. 

The United Nations Security Council will have consultations Monday afternoon on the application of Palestine for UN membership.

 

China, Russia pledge to further military cooperation

High-ranking military officials from China and Russia have held talks in Moscow, pledging to further step up bilateral military cooperation between the two countries. 

During an official visit to Moscow, Guo Boxiong, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, met with Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov on bilateral military relations. 

Guo Boxiong said Under the current complicated and changeable international situation, the strengthening of pragmatic military exchanges and cooperation between the two sides is of great significance.

He added that China has been always seeing military relations with Russia a priority in its foreign military contacts and is willing to endeavor with the Russian side to push the relations between the two armies to a new high.

 

China's top legislator starts Kazakhstan visit 

China's top legislator Wu Bangguo is in Almaty to start a five-day official goodwill visit to Kazakhstan, the first visit to the Central Asian country by a top Chinese lawmaker.

Wu Bangguo arrived in Almaty, the country's biggest city, after concluding his visit to Russia, Belarus and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan is the last leg of his four-nation Eurasian tour.

 

Yemeni president calls for ceasefire, talks

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called for a ceasefire between loyalist troops battling forces backing a mass protest movement after his return from Saudi Arabia, where he was recovering for three months from a June assassination attempt.

The president has faced protests against his three-decade rule since January and so far nearly 450 people have been killed in the revolt.

 

Syrian troops shoot at protesters urging unity

Activists say Syrian security forces have opened fire on thousands of protesters calling for the opposition to unite against President Bashar Assad's regime.

The latest protests came as the European Union agreed on an investment ban in the Syrian oil sector to put more pressure on Assad to end his deadly crackdown on the 6-month-old uprising.

The U.N. estimates 2,600 people have been killed since the revolt began in March.

 

Euro-Asia Economic Forum opens, senior Chinese leader calls for new era of Europe-Asia cooperation 

A senior Chinese leader has called for a "new era of cooperation" between Europe and Asia amid uncertainty surrounding global economic recovery. 

While addressing the opening ceremony of the 2011 Euro-Asia Economic Forum in northwest China's city of Xi'an, Li Changchun said cooperation between Euro-Asia nations must "keep pace with the times" and be comprehensive in nature. 

He said In order to confront the challenges created by an increasingly complex global economic situation, nations in the region should bolster their cooperation and tackle difficulties together. 

Li Changchun said the stable economic growth of China will bring new opportunities for expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between Euro-Asia countries.

 

Chinese vice president calls for coordinated urban, rural development 

Vice President Xi Jinping has asked government authorities at multiple levels to push for coordinated development in rural and urban areas during a tour of north China's coastal city of Tianjin.

He urged local authorities to make improvements in their urbanization plans and to optimize rural areas to allow for industrial development and increasing numbers of residents.

 

China finds over 170,000 violations in campaign to regulate use of government cars 

Over 170,000 cars purchased and used by government officials have been deemed to be unnecessary or "too luxurious" for official use under a campaign to regulate the use of government cars.

He Guoqiang, the top anti-graft official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has told an anti-corruption conference in Beijing that the next stage of the campaign will consist of correcting the violations and intensifying daily supervision.

China launched a campaign in May to regulate the use of public funds for government vehicles in order to reduce unnecessary public spending. 

Another campaign targeted at corruption in the construction industry resulted in 38,000 reports of violations and over 19,000 investigations.

 

Pension insurance to cover all Chinese senior citizens by 2015

China's State Council, the country's Cabinet, says all of China's senior citizens living in rural and urban areas will be covered by pension insurance by 2015, according to a plan for senior citizens' development in the 12th Five-Year Plan period.

The plan says China's population aged sixty and over will increase to 221 million by 2015, which will raise their proportion of the entire population to 16 percent.

Besides pension insurance, the government will also improve elderly care services across the country.

Community medical centers will create health records for those aged 65 and older in the next five years.