Two boxers exchange punches on a floating piece of ice during a boxing performance in Haerbin, Heilongjiang province, December 28, 2009. [Photo/CFP]

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Israel announced Monday it is building nearly 700 new apartments for Jews in east Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to set up the capital of a future state. The US, Palestinians and the European Union condemned the plan, a fresh setback to American efforts to restart Mideast peace talks.
The Palestinians have said they [...]

BEIJING – China’s government will step up efforts to stimulate rural consumption and raise rural living standards to promote economic growth and ensure social stability, said a statement released Monday at the conclusion of the Central Conference on Rural Work.
“The remarkable achievement of the nation’s rural development had consolidated the basis for the economic recovery, [...]

French enginemaker CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and France’s Safran, will provide its LEAP-X turbofan engines for China’s first proprietary jumbo jet the C919, as it plans to set up an assembly line in China according to agreements signed by Chinese and French corporate representatives in Beijing Monday.
China and France inked 12 [...]

Beijing and Paris yesterday inked deals on nuclear energy and aviation, an indication of improved relations a year after the French president soured ties by publicly embracing the Dalai Lama.
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy also confirmed through visiting French Prime Minister Francois Fillon that he will attend the inauguration of the Shanghai World Expo in May [...]

The Internet is fast becoming the eyes, ears and voice of the Chinese public.
According to a report analyzing social trends, the Internet has become an important tool for covering the news and a way for the public to keep tabs on the government.
The report, released yesterday, states that approximately 30 percent of examinations into social [...]

Beijing and Paris yesterday inked deals on nuclear energy and aviation, an indication of improved relations a year after the French president soured ties by publicly embracing the Dalai Lama.
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy also confirmed through visiting French Prime Minister Francois Fillon that he will attend the inauguration of the Shanghai World Expo in May [...]

Chinese fans who stayed up throughout the night to watch Ding Junhui win his second UK Championship snooker title yesterday morning are in for a treat.
Having probably forsaken breakfast to watch the Chinese star’s marathon 10-8 final victory over world champion John Higgins, Ding has promised family and friends 276 meat pies.
“I will bring the [...]

Children enjoy themselves at the recently opened Children’s Mental Health Activity Center in Deyang, in southwest China’s Sichuan Province December 12, 2009. This center was established to help the children who lost relatives in the Sichuan earthquake last year.[CFP]

TURKMENABAD: Chinese President Hu Jintao and his counterparts from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Monday jointly put into operation a natural gas pipeline linking the four nations.
At the ceremony in a gas plant near the Turkmen-Uzbek border, President Hu said the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline is a model of sincere solidarity and mutually beneficial cooperation [...]