This year's China-EU Summit is set to get underway later on today here in Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso ahead of the talks.

Xi Jinping has told the two European leaders both sides need to align their priorites to fit a changing global environment.

For their part, both Barroso and Van Rompuy say the EU appreciates China's continued support for European integration.

 

New round of P5+1 talks resumed in Geneva

Iran and world powers are going to head into their 2nd day of talks later today in Geneva, after completing their first day of revived nuclear discussions yesterday.

No new statements have emerged yet from the first round of discussions.

However, heading into the talks, officials from Iran and the P5+1, namely China, the US, Russia, Britian, France and Germany, had been expressing guarded optimism.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong, who heads the Chinese delegation, has said it's the Chinese side's hope an agreement can be made during this current round of negotiations. 

A spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says the EU side has come to the talks in good faith.

 

China confirms visit by U.S. envoy for North Korea

The United States' envoy for North Korean affairs, Glyn Davies, is now in Beijing for a three-day visit.

Details surrounding the meetings between Davies and his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei remain unclear.

The Chinese foreign ministry has issued a statement, saying the Chinese government will maintain close contact with all members of the six-party talks.

This is the second meeting between the two in less than a month.

Davies is also set to travel on to Seoul and Tokyo later this week.

 

China "appreciates" Locke's positive efforts after step-down decision

The Chinese government has issued its response to word US ambassador Gary Locke is resigning.

Locke has announced his intention to leave his position here in Beijing early next year.

Chinese foreign Ministry spokeperson Hong Lei says Locke made active efforts in fostering China-US communications and cooperation.

Locke hasn't issued any specific reasons for his planned departure, other than to say he wants to rejoin his family in Seattle after he steps-down.

Locke, a former US Commerce minister and two-time governor of Washington State, became the first US ambassador of Chinese decent to China in the summer of 2011.

So far there's no word on who may be tapped to replace him.

 

China's Peace Ark ready to depart for Philippines

The Chinese navy's hospital ship, the Peace Ark, is set to depart for the Philippines later on this Thursday.

The ship is current in port in Zhoushan in Zhejiang.

It's been loaded with medical supplies and equiptment.

The Peace Ark's 93 member medical team is being joined by another 12 medical experts from different military hospitals for the trip to the Philippines.

The departure of the Peace Ark today follows the first team of Chinese medical and rescue personnel who arrived in the Philippines earlier this week.

This comes as the fallout from Super Typhoon Haiyan continues to grow.

The official death toll has now surpassed 4-thousand.

Over 16-hundred others remain listed as missing.

Authorities in the central Philippines are also trying to cope with the close to 19-thousand people who were injured in the unprecidented storm.

 

Collapsed mall construction in South Africa illegal: official

South African authorities have confirmed the mall near the city of Durban which collapsed this week was under construction illegally.

The mayor of Durban says no application for construction was ever submitted by the mall's current owners.

The collapse of the roof of the mall came just days after a court ordered the owners of the mall to hault the construction.

Durban's mayor is promising charges will be laid if anyone is found legally responsible.

Around 100-meters of concrete slabs came crashing down while the mall was under construction Tuesday afternoon, killing one woman and injuring 29 others, many of them seriously.

 

Blast wounds Shiite leader in Yemeni capital

A leading Houthi Shiite leader in Yemen has been injured in an explosion in the capital, Sana'a.

Mohammed al-Emad, a leading Houthi activist and editor of the pro-rebel newspaper, is said to have only been slightly injured after a bomb went off as he opened the trunk of his car.

Tensions and security have been tight in Sana'a ever since a truce was brokered among Shiite and Sunni factions in a town in northern Yemen.

Extended fighting in a community there last month saw over 100 killed on both sides.

Central authorities in Yemen have been slowly working toward developing a national reconciliation process in a country divided by political, social and geographic differences.

The slow pace of the reconcilliation process may delay February's Presidental elections.

 

Georgian legislature confirms 31-year-old Gharibashvili as new PM

The Georgian parliament has confirmed Irakli Gharibashvili as the country's new prime minister.

Gharibashvilli is taking over from retiring billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is fulfilling a campaign promise to walk away from politics after a short time in office. 

Ivanishvilli helped lead his Georgian Dream coalition to a sweeping victory in last year's legislative elections.

Since then, though, the coalition has seen 14 of its 85 elected MP's switch to the opposition ranks.

The 31-year old Gharibashvilli takes over as Prime Minister after serving as the country's interior minister.