Chinese President Hu Jintao has called on Asia-Pacific economies to make all efforts to achieve a balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and safe economic growth.

Addressing the ongoing APEC CEO summit in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Chinese leader analyzed the current global and regional economic situation and made proposals for economic growth and stability. 

He called for improving global economic governance, promoting green growth, and deepening the regional economic integration to stimulate the global economic recovery. 

The two-day summit, which opened Friday, focuses on advancing trade and economic policy and partnerships for the future of the APEC region.

 

Chinese, Peruvian leaders discuss bilateral cooperation

Earlier, President Hu Jintao Friday met with his Peruvian counterpart Ollanta Humala Tasso in Honolulu, Hawaii, to exchange views on how to further bilateral ties.

Hu congratulated Humala on his election as president, saying he expected to build good working relations and personal friendship with the Peruvian president to jointly push forward the China-Peru relations. 

Peru is one of China's main trading partners in Latin America. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 48 percent from a year earlier to 9.7 billion U.S. dollars. 

The two countries also have maintained excellent coordination and communications in international affairs.

 

Italian Parliament passed austerity measures

The Italian Parliament has passed a package of austerity measures demanded by the European Union, paving the way for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign and allow President Giorgio Napolitano to form a new government.

Berlusconi has announced earlier that he would resign after these measures were approved in both houses of parliament, following a vote on Tuesday in which he lost the majority in the House. 

After Berlusconi's resignation, President Giorgio Napolitano will start consultations with parties, trying to form a new emergency technocrat government. 

If such efforts fail, Napolitano would dissolve the parliament and call a snap election. 

Economist and former European commissioner, Mario Monti, has been nominated by the president as a senator for life, which is seen that he would be the best choice to replace Berlusconi.

 

Syrian media urges AL to undertake independent decision to resolve crisis

Syrian media has urged the Arab League to undertake a swift action and an independent decision as a gesture of goodwill to show its determination to resolve the Syrian crisis. 

The Arab League, which brokered a peace plan to end the political crisis in Syria last week, is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting in Cairo to assess Syria's response. 

In a front-page editorial, the state-run al-Thawra newspaper said the United States is pressing the Arab League to impose a political and economic boycott of Syria, but has failed to achieve its anti-Syria plan.

 

Palestinians to keep bidding for UN membership: FM

The Palestinian leadership will keep bidding for a full membership in the United Nations until the Security Council votes on the Palestinian request, said Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riad Al-Maliki. 

Al-Maliki's remarks came a day after the Security Council's admission committee failed to agree unanimously on passing the Palestinian application for voting. 

The Palestinians accuse Washington of putting pressure on the Security Council members to prevent them from supporting the Palestinian request, which was submitted in September. 

The Palestinians are unlikely to press for a voting session in the Security Council because the United States will use its veto to block their bid.

Washington wants the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations with Israel instead of seeking a state through the UN.

 

Atambayev officially declared winner in Kyrgyzstan's presidential poll

Incumbent Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev has won a landslide victory in Kyrgyzstan's presidential elections.

The Central Election Committee says Atambayev was elected president of the country after obtaining nearly 63 percent of the vote.

Atambayev's main rival Adahan Madumarov, leader of the "Butun Kyrgyzstan" party, gained 15 percent of the vote, followed by Kamchybek Tashiev, leader of the parliamentary faction Ata-Zhurt with 14 percent. 

Outgoing interim president Roza Otunbayeva said international observers have reported that the election was democratic, open and transparent.

 

Death toll rises to 28 in SW China coal mine gas leak

28 miners have been confirmed dead and many others still trapped underground after a gas leak occurred in a coal mine in southwest China's Yunnan province. 

Luo Lin, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, along with a group of gas experts from the Chinese Academy of Engineering rushed to the accident site on Saturday afternoon. 

He ordered local authorities to do anything possible to save the trapped miners. 

Authorities say the mine was operating illegally, having had its license revoked a year ago.

 

World Diabetes day approaches as almost 9 percent of Beijingers suffer from the illness

Some 8.6 percent of Beijing's permanent residents between 18 and 79 years old are diabetes sufferers, the Health Bureau of Beijing Municipality has revealed as Monday's World Diabetes Day approaches.

Deputy chief of the bureau, Mao Yu, says diabetes has become one of the most serious threats to health in Beijing, and the aging population is expected to develop more diabetic cases in the coming years.

As well as genetics, diabetes can also be triggered by inadequate exercise, a poor diet, drinking, smoking and other unhealthy life styles, with obesity the major cause of diabetes among children and adolescents, Mao Yu said.

To promote awareness around World Diabetes Day on Monday, the bureau has launched a campaign of free diabetes tests.