Putin to talk about cooperation in border areas

Russian President Vladimir Putin will begin his state visit to China on this Tuesday.
Putin's visit is expected to include talks on increasing the level of cooperation among Russia's eastern Siberian region and the three provinces that make up China's northeast.
Russia and China say they want to see bilateral trade to reach 2-hundred billion US dollars in 2020.
Energy cooperation is considered on of the lynch-pins of the relationship between the two economies.
Putin's time in China is scheduled to include attending this week's summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization here in Beijing.
Canadian murder suspect Magnotta arrested in Berlin

A Canadian porn actor wanted on suspicion of murdering a Chinese student has been arrested in the German capital,Berlin.
29-year old Luke Rocco Magnotta was picked up by German police at an Internet café after a 10-day international manhunt. Magnotta is wanted in connection with the killing and dismemberment of 32 year old Jun Lin at his apartment in the city of Montreal.
He also faces charges of threatening Canadian politicians, as body parts believed to belong to the victim were posted to the offices of the country's leading political parties.
Political solution in Syria comes at critical moment: UN Security Council president

Chinese UN Ambassador Li Baodong, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month, says the

political solution to the crisis in Syria is now at a critical stage.
Li Baodong says the international community now has to choose between a bright prospect and a dark future for Syria.
He says the bright future should include full ceasefire, political dialogue and a future decided by the Syrian people.
Free Syrian Army abandons ceasefire

The Free Syrian Army-the most prominent rebel group opposing the leadership of Basher al-Assad - have announced that they are no longer committed to the nominal ceasefire in the country.
A spokesperson for the FSA declared that they had already started attacking soldiers loyal to the Assad regime,and claimed that 80 government troops were killed in fighting over the weekend.
The announcement comes in the wake of Assad's defiant speech to the Syrian parliament in which he blamed "foreign meddling" for the troubles in the country.
Meanwhile - a new opposition group called the Syrian Rebels Front - was announced at a new conference in Turkey on Monday. With a fighting force of 12,000, an SRF spokesman said that the group has been born of frustration at the international communities inability to "rein in" President Assad.
Search for bodies of Nigeria plane crash continues

Nearly 140 bodies have been recovered from the plane crash in Nigeria which killed all 153 passengers on board including 6 Chinese nationals and at least 40 others on the ground.
Rescue officials said they fear many more people may have perished on the ground.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft was bound for Lagos, Nigeria's commercial centre, from Abuja, the capital.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has visited the crash site, pledging to make flying safer in Nigeria.
Libyan government retakes capital airport

Libyan state forces have regained control of the main airport in the capital, Tripoli, after an armed militia group stormed the runway on Monday.
The al-Awfia brigade had driven armed vehicles onto the runway, forcing a number of flight diversions. The armed group – from the town Tahrouna in western Libya - were protesting the detention of one of their senior leaders at the weekend.
The stand-off is believed to have ended without bloodshed, although an airport hanger is reported to have been destroyed when government forces retook control.
It is unclear whether the government made any concessions to the al-Awfia militia.
Pakistan condemns US drone attacks

Pakistan is strongly condemning recent drone attacks by the United States in the country's tribal regions.
The US insists the attacks are targeting suspected militants, although Pakistan counters that they violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Some 30 people, including several civilians, were killed in three separate drone attacks in the past three days.
Dozens of others were injured.
The US military has staged 20 such attacks so far this year, killing at least 150 people in Pakistan.
Queen Elizabeth lights national beacon marking diamond jubilee

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has lit a symbolic torch in London marking her 60 years on the throne.
It was the final beacon in a series of over four thousand across the world to be lit in celebration across Britain and the Commonwealth.
The ceremony followed her Diamond Jubilee concert that took place outside her official residence, Buckingham Palace.
Among the entertainers who performed at the concert was Chinese star pianist Lang Lang.
China adds 60 mln hectares of forest area

The central authorities in China are reporting the forested area in this country has increased by 60 million hectares over the past 20 years.
There is currently just under 200-million hectares of forest here in China.
The State Forestry Administration says nearly 62 million hectares of man-made forest exsists here in China, the most in the world.
Forestry authorities are planning on expanding this country's total forest area by 40 million hectares by 2020.