China

After weeks of speculation, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki announced Thursday that the Palestinian Authority will submit its bid for full UN membership with the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Friday 23 September but Palestinian leaders are still questioning why the U.S. refuses to support what they call the "Palestinian Arab Spring".

With the National Transitional Council establishing itself in Tripoli, senior NATO leaders including French President Nicolas Sarkozy are visiting Libya for the first time since Col. Muammar Gaddafi was ousted.

The new edition of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World shows how a large area of Greenland has become "green", proving how much the ice has retreated in the space of ten years.

The World Health Organisation has revealed that there has been a significant rise in Europe of the rate of infections of TB. The WHO reports that there is a worldwide pandemic, killing 1.7 million people each year with 440,000 new patients being diagnosed with the disease around the world.

Miss Universe 2011 is Miss Angola:Highlights of the Glitzy Night (PHOTOS)

With the Miss Universe crowning ceremony all set for the grand finale today, the whole world waits with bated breath for the winner. According to betting agency Centrebet's odds, Miss Australia is now the $5 favourite.

Undeterred by the lack of official news, or the British weather, Apple fanatic Robert Shoesmith has caught the world's attention, planning to camp outside the Covent Garden Apple store to ensure he's the first Brit to get his hands on the company's fabled iPhone 5 smartphone.Earlier this week the IBTimes caught up with Shoesmith to find out how and more importantly why, the Marketing and PR guru plans to achieve the feat in an exclusive interview.

A person tries to kill themselves in China every two minutes as latest figures show that 287,000 people commit suicide each year in China, accounting for 3.6 per cent of the country's annual deaths, according to official statistics.

Climate Change: UN and Rick Perry Opposed on the Science, Can a Deal Ever be Struck?

China has said it will strengthen controls over its arms exports, following revelations that representatives of the Gaddafi regime met with state-owned weapons companies despite a UN embargo, without the knowledge of the government.

Apple has revealed new plans to expand its presence in China, opening up two new stores.

Fourth September this year marked the first anniversary of the 7.1 Richter scale earthquake that struck the city of Christchurch at 04.35 local time. New Zealand's second largest city, and the largest in the South Island, the miracle was surely that despite extensive damage, no-one was killed in the quake. No doubt that the quake hit the area early on a Saturday morning helped make this possible.

Reports suggest that Apple is set to launch the 3G version of its popular iPad 2 tablet in China.

UFO's have been trending for quite a while and have been increasingly spotted throughout the world in the last few years, with some saying a 65 per cent rise in UFO spotting in the last two years.

Tensions between the UK, China and the Libyan Transitional Council (NTC) are increasing after allegations of close ties to the Gaddafi regime threaten to derail the relationship the NTC has with its allies.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicholas Sarkozy will jointly host an international conference Thursday to build support for the new administration in Libya.

The United Nations reported Monday that a deadlier strain of the bird flu virus had been discovered in the Far East.

Solar power technology could provide most of the world's power by 2060 leading to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, according to comments made to Bloomberg by the International Energy Agency [IEA].

A small, 160-million-year-old Chinese fossil has provided scientists with more information on the emergence of mammals on Earth.

The U.S. Department of Defence unveiled its annual report on China's military on Wednesday, revealing the Asian giant will have a modern military capable of force-projection while sustaining high-intensity combat in less than ten years.

As the quest for Gaddafi intensifies, world powers are already planning their next strategic move to optimise their relationship with Libya, strategizing their next moves for relations with Libya, proving that the race for the best deals has now truly started.

While Joe Biden's visit to China started off with praise from both camps, the attention has deviated from the political focus towards U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's friendly and chatty attitude, which is apparently not to the taste of some Chinese officials.

Researchers from the University of St. Andrews have found that about 1.5 million tiny diamond nanoparticles are created in a candle flame every second it burns.

The international charity Oxfam has launched an initiative to get Africans and their governments to donate more towards the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa as it complained the donations given by African countries so far are too small.

Chinese media issue another withering assessment.

Following China's transformation of a former Soviet heavy aircraft-carrying warship called the Varyag for $20m, The U.S. have expressed concern of the Asian giant's new found interest in aircraft caries and have called for more transparency.

China said the Muifa tropical storm will also have important consequences on the country's economy as new figures estimate the losses to be up to about 3.1 billion yuan ($480 million).

The Dalai Lama presided over a ceremony which saw a new prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile sworn in.

Barcelona and Real Madrid have ended their pre-season tours with comfortable wins. Barcelona reacted well to their surprise 4-1 defeat last week against Chivas to record a 2-0 win against Mexico's Club America in Dallas. Real Madrid continued the 100 per cent record in pre-season with a 6-0 win against Chinese league side Tianjin Teda. Cristiano Ronaldo lit up the game for the final 20 minutes after being brought on in the 70th minute by Jose Mourinho.

Eastern China is trying cope with the high winds and torrential rain that preludes the arrival of Muifa, which observers say will be the region's most powerful storm in decades.