Hourly News updated 08:00 2011/10/22

 Mahmoud Jibril: Gaddafi 'killed in crossfire 1' 1

Libya's National Transitional Council has revealed that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed in crossfire after being captured in his hometown of Sirte.
NTC chair Mahmoud Jibril says Gaddafi had been shot in the head after being captured and driven away.
Gaddafi's body is reportedly to be buried in Mistrata on Saturday.
Jibril has also confirmed one of Gadhafi's sons, former national security adviser 2 Muatassim, has also been killed in Sirte.
Gadhafi's second son, Saif al-Islam, has reportedly been captured in the Libyan city of Zeltin, 160 km east of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
 
China calls for early establishment of inclusive political transition process in Libya
China is calling for Libya to launch an inclusive political transition process as early as possible.
Foreign Ministry 3 spokeswoman Jiang Yu says Libya has turned a new page on its history.
She says China always respects the Libyan people's choice and China-Libya relations will continue to develop steadily 4 on a new basis.
 
NATO chief sets preliminary end of Libya mission on Oct. 31 
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the military alliance's Libya mission is very close to completion, and that it has taken a preliminary decision to end it on October 31.
He's told reporters that Nato will take a formal decision next week. 
Rasmussen said NATO would continue to monitor the situation in Libya and retain capability 5 to respond to threats against Libyan civilians 6 if needed, during the phasing out period of its mission.
 
Obama announces U.S. to pull out all troops from Iraq by end of year
U.S. President Barack Obama has announced all U.S. troops stationed in Iraq will pull out of that country by the end of this year, and the Iraq War will be over. 
Obama made the statement after speaking with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki via video conference, and he reaffirmed U. S. commitment of drawdown to the Iraqi leader. He said both leaders agreed to the decision.
 
UN demands all Yemeni sides "immediately reject use of violence"
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution to voice "grave concern at the situation in Yemen", demanding "all sides immediately reject the use of violence to achieve political goals." 
The resolution says the Security Council "expresses profound regret at the hundreds of deaths, mainly of civilians, including women and children," 
The Council calls upon all concerned parties to ensure the protection of women and children to improve women's participation 7 in conflict resolution and encourages all parties to facilitate the equal and full participation of women at decision-making levels.
 
The eighth China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit on in Nanning
Chinese Premier 8 Wen Jiabao says China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations can rise above their differences to deepen cooperation.
He made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the eighth China-ASEAN Summit being held in the southwestern city of Nanning.
He says China will continue to expand imports from ASEAN nations.
 
China urges EU to recognize full-market economy status 
China has urged the European Union (EU) to recognize its full-market economy status at an early date and properly settle trade disputes amid the tumbling world economy.
Vice 9 premer Wang Qishan told visiting Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium in Bejing that China hopes Belgium will exert its influence to push for an early recognizing of China's full-market economy status and remind the EU to be cautious on and restrain from using trade remedy measures.
He urged the 27-member bloc 10, also China's largest trade partner, to properly settle trade disputes with China during the talks in Beijing.
 
Chinese vice premier urges improved welfare for elderly 
Vice Premier Hui Liangyu has called on different levels of government to focus on increasing the material and cultural needs of the country's huge elderly population.
He's told a national conference on aging that government policies should be adjusted and improved to cope with various problems of the aging population such as regional imbalance and high proportion of elderly people in rural areas.
He said the country will expand the pension program to cover more senior citizens and improve welfare services for elderly people who cannot take care of themselves.
 
China's coal market to remain stable despite increasing demand 
The China National Coal Association says coal supply and demand will keep growing at moderate pace in China, and the market will remain generally balanced in the upcoming winter and spring.
It says some regions will, however, periodically see tight supply.
An official with the association says domestic coal demand will keep rising at a moderate pace amid steady economic growth, but uncertainty 11 in the macro economy will decelerate demand growth.
 
China to increase natural gas supply this winter 
China's top energy official says the country will increase natural gas supply by 20 percent this winter to meet rising demand.
Liu Tienan, head of the National Energy Administration, said that natural gas supply would meet demand this winter even though demand was expected to rise.