Chinese president calls for new momentum in ties with Australia
Chinese President Xi Jinping is calling for new momentum to be injected in his country's bilateral ties with Australia.
Xi Jinping's comments have been made while meeting with Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce.
He's told Bryce Australia and China need to work in the spirit of mutual understanding and accommodation.
Xi Jinping also says both sides need to show flexibility to facilitate the current bilateral free trade talks towards an eventual breakthrough.
For her part, Bryce also says the Australian side wants to expand its cooperation with China, particularly in the developing western regions of the country.
Bryce has also met with the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.
She is set to attend the Western China International Fair in Sichuan's capital, Chengdu.
11 bodies recovered from Lao plane crash
So far only 11 bodies have been recovered from Wednesday's plane crash in southern Laos.
Two of the bodies recovered have been found downstream of the crash site along the Mekong River.
Laotian and Thai authorities are starting to suggest it might be difficult to recover all 49-victims.
Crews are using a barge to try to recover the fuselage of the plane at the site of the crash.
The Lao Airlines plane crashed on Wednesday afternoon after an aborted landing in the city of Pakse.
The flight from the capital, Vientiene, had 5 crew and 44 passangers, including on person from the mainland and one from Taiwan.
It's believed the plane was overtaken by a sudden gust of wind while trying to land.
UN elects 5 new Security Council members
The UN General Assembly has elected Nigeria, Chad, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania and Chile to the Security Council.
There were no contested races this year, so their respective elections had been assured.
It is the first time Chad, Saudi Arabia and Lithuania will serve on the UN's most powerful body.
The 15-member Council includes five permanent members with veto power - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France - and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
The new Security Council members will assume their posts on January 1st.
The five are replacing Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo.
UN chief to convene Geneva II conference for Syria
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the so-called Geneva II conference for Syria will be held in mid-November.
The planned conference is a follow-up to a previous international meeting in Geneva which has called for an immediate end to the fighting and the establishment of a transitional government for Syria.
The UN's special representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, is heading to the region for consultations ahead of the conference.
One of the topics to be discussed is whether to invite Iran to the meeting.
Obama says repeated political brinkmanship brings unnecessary damage
U.S. President Barack Obama has issued a new statement, saying the political brinkmanship over the last few weeks leading upto the debt ceiling deadline has inflicted unnecessary damage to the economy.
Obama admits the authorities have yet to assess the full damage of the partial government shutdown and the political battle leading upto the debt ceiling.
However, he says most analysts believe it has slowed the country's growth.
The Pentagon already estimates the government shutdown cost it some 600-million US dollars in productivity.
U.S. warns Uganda of imminent terror attack
The US government is warning authorities in Uganda the country is facing an imminent threat of a terrorist attack by members of Somali militant group al-Shabaab.
The US side has told Ugandan authorities al-Shabaab is planning an attack similar to the Westgate Mall assault in neighboring Kenya.
However, the US side's intelligence doesn't include a specific time or location.
The US embassy in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, is warning its citizens there to be on-alert.
Somali-based al-Shabaab has continually warned Uganda it will face retribution for adding its forces to the African Union forces fighting the terrorist group in southern Somalia.
Kenya's investigators recover body parts from Westgate mall
Forensic investigators in Kenya have recovered a number of body parts and three AK47 machine guns from the site of the Westgate Mall attack.
Authorities believe a human skull and other body parts recovered from the rumble belong to the four terrorists who were killed during the four-day siege in September.
Investigators have already identified one of the vehicles used by terrorists who stormed the shopping mall and went on the killing spree.
Kenyan authorities are currently holding over 40 suspects for interrogation in connection with the attack.
It's believed 5 men armed with guns and explosives stormed the upscale mall in Kenya's capital on September 21st.
The 4-day seige finally ended after the attackers were killed in a firey assault by security forces.
Over 70 people were killed in the attack, including 61 civilians.
Beijing to take half of cars off roads during severe polluted days
The Beijing municipal government is considering taking half of all cars according to odd-even plate numbers off the road during severely polluted days.
It is another move by the city government to tackle its air pollution problem.
The government says it will initiate the emergency response once a "red alert" for air pollution is issued.
Apart from the odd-even policy, another 30-percent of cars used by government departments will be taken off the roads.
The new policy will be unveiled in the near future.
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