New York - China on Wednesday assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council at a time when UN members are renewing demands to reform the body to make it more effective and representative.

Newly appointed Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui replaced the country's former envoy Wang Guangya, who was appointed a vice foreign minister in Beijing. But Zhang gave the council a holiday on Wednesday because October 1 is China's national day.

The council's monthly presidency rotates among the 15 members.

London, Oct 1 : Britain will stop giving China nearly 39 million pound a year in aid, the Tories will promise today.

They will say it is unacceptable to hand cash to a country which spent more than 20 billion pound on the Beijing Olympics - and put a man in space this week, The Sun reported.

Despite its massive wealth, the UK gave China 38.6 million pound in aid last year.

Shadow International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell will tell the conference: “Many British taxpayers would be astonished to learn that we are still giving aid to China.”

Shillong, Sep 30 : Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju today said India is building infrastructure along the Indo-China border to match the developments on the other side with the Centre approving a 1,850-km Trans Himalayan Highway in Arunachal Pradesh.

“Centre has approved the Trans-Himalayan highway which aims at providing inter basin double lane connectivity,” Raju told reporters in Shillong.

Wellington - China's free trade agreement with New Zealand, in effect as of October 1, has Tuesday raised food safety worries following the recent tainted milk scandal.

"Serious concerns have been raised about the safety of food products from China, in light of the infant baby formula debacle and concerns over melamine contamination of White Rabbit sweets and other milk products," said Green Party lawmaker Sue Kedgley in a statement.

Bangkok  - Myanmar has attracted 69 Chinese companies to its energy and mining sectors, raising environmental and security concerns for local populations, EarthRights International (ERI) revealed Tuesday.

According to a survey conducted by ERI, a non-profit activist group, there are now 69 Chinese companies involved in Myanmar's hydropower, oil, natural gas and mining sectors compared with only 26 known companies in 2007.

Hong Kong - The popularity of Hong Kong's leader has plunged to a new low in the wake of the contaminated milk scandal in China, according to a survey Tuesday.

Beijing-appointed chief executive Donald Tsang was given a score of 53.4 out of 100 in the monthly poll of more than 750 people, his lowest score since taking office in 2005.

The ratio of people satisfied with Tsang's administration fell 3.7 percentage points month-on-month to 21.3 per cent, also the lowest level since Tsang took office.