VOA News on 17th, Nov, 2009

President Barack Obama has met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing, after emphasizing the importance of freedom of information in a question and answer session with college students in Shanghai. Stephanie Ho reports from the Chinese capital.

President Obama's first order of business in Beijing was to meet with China's President, Hu Jintao, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse for talks and dinner. Earlier in the day, President Obama spoke with Chinese college students at a candid question and answer session in China's commercial capital, Shanghai. He stressed the importance of U.S.-China cooperation in tackling global challenges.

"We know that more is to be gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide."

President Obama meets again with President Hu and other Chinese leaders on Tuesday. Issues expected to be on the agenda include climate change, trade, North Korea and Iran. White House aides have said Mr. Obama will raise several human rights issues privately with Chinese leaders. President Obama is on his first-ever visit to China. Besides the high-level meetings, he is also due to visit two of the country's most famous tourist sites - the Forbidden City, where Chinese emperors used to live, and the Great Wall of China. Stephanie Ho, VOA News, Beijing.

The Afghan government says it will form a major anti-corruption unit to investigate graft among senior officials. The Afghan interior minister told reporters in Kabul Monday that security officials from the U.S., Britain and the European Union will train prosecutors in the unit.

Pakistani police say a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle filled with explosives near a police station in the country's northwest, killing at least six people and wounding more than 25. Investigators say Monday's blast near Peshawar severely damaged the police station, a mosque and other nearby buildings.

The United Nations has opened a three-day summit on food security, vowing to take urgent action to eliminate global hunger affecting more than one billion people worldwide. However, delegates meeting in Rome failed to pledge the 44 billion dollars in aid sought by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and a final summit declaration approved Monday promises no new financial commitments. Analysts say the final declaration also omits any mention of a U.N. target date of 2025 for eradicating world hunger.

Environment ministers from about 40 countries are meeting for two days in Copenhagen to revive climate change talks. From Paris, Lisa Bryant has this report for VOA.

The ministers’ meeting comes amid deep discord over whether and when a binding climate change treaty can be reached to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Sunday, Asian and Pacific nation leaders agreed it is unrealistic to agree to a deal at a world summit in Copenhagen next month. They have called instead for a non-binding political agreement as an interim measure. But several poorer nations, along with some European countries, want Copenhagen to produce a binding treaty. There are other roadblocks. Fast-growing nations like China and India are also reluctant to adopt binding greenhouse-gas reduction measures. Richer nations are also at odds over aid to help poorer ones adapt to climate change. And the 192 nations expected at the December Copenhagen summit have yet to agree on fixed targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Lisa Bryant for VOA News, Paris.

Vote counting is underway in Kosovo which on Sunday held its first-ever election since declaring independence from Serbia last year. Officials say only 45 percent of the country's 1.5 million eligible voters turned out to cast ballots for mayors and local city and town councils. Final results are expected Monday.

The U.S. space agency, NASA, is preparing space shuttle Atlantis for launch. A liftoff is scheduled for Monday afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle's mission is to carry nearly 30, 000 pounds of spare parts to the International Space Station.

U.S. stock market indexes made strong gains in Monday's early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose one percent. The S&P 500 meanwhile advanced 1.2 percent, and the NASDAQ also gained 1.1 percent.