China, India vow cooperation, common development

New Delhi - The world was big enough for both China and India to grow, the two countries' leaders said after meeting Friday in Hanoi on the sidelines of a regional Asian summit.The reportedly cordial meeting with between Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh eased strained ties over Beijing's tacit refusal to acknowledge Indian sovereignty in Delhi-administrated Kashmir.Wen echoed earlier comments by Singh, saying "There is enough space in the world for India and China to achieve common development. To that I add that there is enough space ... to have cooperation."We must strive to ensure the sound and steady growth of our relationship," Wen said in his opening remarks at the meeting, which was attended by top officials from both sides.He added that he would visit India by the end of the year, and Singh said he was sure they would find common ground for a successful visit, a news report said.The two sides, who met at the sidelines of a summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations agreed to discuss contentious issues such as boundary disputes ahead of the visit, India's state-run Doordarshan television reportedThe prime minister (Singh) spoke of the need to show sensitivity to each other's core issues," India's National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said.India and China disagree over their largely unmarked 3,500-kilometre-long border, the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama who lives in Indian exile and China's close relations with India's historical enemy Pakistan.Trade and investment between the two Asian nations, however, have been growing rapidly. China is India's second-largest trading partner and their total bilateral trade stood at 42.44 billion dollars in 2009-2010.

Rights groups condemn Cambodia's threat to shut UN office

Phnom Penh - Prominent international human rights groups on Friday condemned the Cambodian government's demand that the United Nations close its local human rights office and fire the country head.In a joint statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International said the government's assertion that the UN human rights office in Cambodia was a mouthpiece for the political opposition were "baseless."The groups said the government's stance was "a direct assault on the UN's human rights mandate," and said the UN's leadership should continue to speak out on behalf of the local office and its country head, Christophe Peschoux."Donor governments to Cambodia should likewise voice their strong objections to the Cambodian government's statements," they added.On Wednesday, the first full day of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's official visit to Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen told him to close the human rights office and sack Peschoux.n response Ban's spokesman, Yves Sorokobi, said the secretary general stood by the organization's human rights work and its "representatives around the world including here."He said that pulling staff out of a particular country was an internal matter for the UN.HRW and Amnesty called on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was due in Cambodia this weekend, to express her support for the UN human rights office and its mandate. Ban arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday and left Thursday for Vietnam where he is attending a summit between the United Nations and the regional Association of South-East Asian Nations bloc. He will conclude his current Asian tour in China.
 

Australians search for French chopper missing in Antarctica

Sydney - Australia

is coordinating the search for a French helicopter missing in Antarctica with four people aboard, news reports said Friday. The chopper, which took off from a ship that supplies the Antarctic research station from Australia, disappeared in bad weather after sending a distress signal. Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins told national broadcaster ABC that bad weather was hampering the rescue effort. The last tracking we had of the helicopter was that it was flying low and slow, so we are hopeful the bad weather conditions have just meant the helicopter could no longer fly in those conditions and has put down itself," she said. But, as I said, until we get confirmation through communications with the vessel we won't actually know what condition those people might be in."