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Yanukovich presses Ukraine PM to concede
Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich is pressing rival Yulia Tymoshenko to concede defeat after a narrow victory in the presidential election.
With 98.4 percent of votes counted, official figures gave ex-mechanic Yanukovich, a margin of 2.8 percentage points over Prime Minister Tymoshenko.
It's not likely for her to catch up with Yanukovich as ballot counting draws to an end.

Nuclear envoy formally announces Iran will enrich uranium to higher levels
Iran has formally notified the international nuclear watchdog that it would start enriching uranium to higher levels, a move which would take it closer to being able to produce nuclear warheads.
However, it insisted that the move was meant only to provide fuel for its Tehran research reactor.
The Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency says the UN agency's inspectors now overseeing enrichment to low levels would be able to stay on site to fully monitor the process.

S. Korea, DPRK fail to reach agreement on resuming cross-border tours: media
Seoul's Yonhap news agency is reporting North and South Korea have failed to narrow differences on major issues including ensuring security for South Korean tourists during talks on opening cross-border tourism
Following the meeting, the North issued a statement, saying that they would take all-out strong measures against South Korea's anti-reunification and anti-peace moves.

Hundreds of families flee Afghan district, as major military operation approaches
Hundreds of families have been fleeing Marja district in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, ahead of a major NATO-Afghan joint operation on the Taliban.
A local Afghan newspaper is reporting the Helmand provincial government has formed an emergency commission to help the displaced people.
It's believed the operation will be the largest since the American-led invasion began.

Seven killed, 50 injured after bus rolls down ravine in S. China
At least seven people were killed and 50 others injured after a passenger bus collided with a sports utility vehicle and rolled down a valley in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The bus, carrying 53 people, rolled down a 100-meter deep ravine after veering off the road.
The driver of the SUV, which had four people onboard, was seriously injured.

Official get suspended death sentence for bribery, framing informant
A former local official in east China's Anhui Province has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes and framing an informant who reported him.
Zhang Zhi'an, a former official of Fuyang City, was found guilty of taking nearly 3.6 million yuan or over half a million dollars in bribes.
He also worked with a local prosecutor to frame an informant, who later commited suicide in a detention center.

BJH-biz: Largest Domestic Airlines Merger Complete
China Eastern Airlines has completed an A-share swap for a merger with smaller rival Shanghai Airlines.
This is the biggest airline merger in China.
According to the plan, China Eastern swapped 1.3 of its Shanghai-listed A-shares for every Shanghai Airlines share.
The enlarged China Eastern is expected to take up more than half of the total market share in Shanghai, with over 330 large and medium sized aircrafts.

China sees 609 mln journeys by bus, railway in10 days
China says more than 600 million journeys have been made by bus or railway in the past ten days after the annual Lunar Chinese new year travel season began.
Chinese lunar new year is the most important Chinese festival for family reunion.
A total of 2.5 billion journeys are expected in the 40 days before and after the festival, which falls on February 14 this year.

China Pavilion at World Expo completed
Construction of the China Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo has been completed
It takes the shape of an emperor's crown and is painted in seven shades of red.
The China Pavilion is built as a permanent structure and will continue to be open to visitors after the expo is over.

Chinese medical team leaves Haiti for home
A Chinese medical team has left Haiti for home after winding up a two-week emergency aid and epidemic control mission in the quake-stricken country.

China to intensify fight against online porn during Spring Festival
China is to launch a fresh crackdown on online pornography during the upcoming Spring Festival.
The National Anti-pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications office says they plan to focus on mobile WAP sites which spread lewd content.
The crackdown will run from early February to late April.
More than 15,000 pornographic websites in the country, including some 11,000 mobile WAP sites, were shut down or blocked last year.

Chinchilla becomes Costa Rica's first female president
Ruling party candidate Laura Chinchilla declared victory on Sunday night in Costa Rica's presidential election with most of the vote counted.
The 50-year old, who will become the first female President in Costa Rican history, has promised to create more job opportunities, better living conditions for children and senior citizens, as well as to combat crimes and drug trafficking.