London  - US President Barack Obama and Chinese Prime Minister Hu Jintao moved Wednesday to lay aside a recent round of tensions between Washington and Beijing by committing themselves to working together to combat the global recession.

The relationship between China and the United States said Obama following his meeting with Hu "is not only important for the citizens of both our countries, but will help to set the stage for how the world deals with a whole host of challenges in the years to come."

Munich, Germany  - US authorities are to extradite Ukrainian- born John Demjanjuk to Germany next week to answer charges that he helped put at least 29,000 Jews to death at a Nazi death camp, a German newspaper said Wednesday.

Demjanjuk would arrive on Monday in Munich, where a warrant was issued three weeks ago for his arrest, the newspaper Abendzeitung said, quoting the accused's German lawyer, Guenther Maull.

A German Justice Ministry spokeswoman in Berlin said, "We can neither confirm nor deny this."

Washington  - The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating and the country's Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency are gaining strength, the top US commander for the region warned Wednesday as the US prepares to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan.

General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, said in congressional testimony that insurgents had expanded their control over the southern and eastern parts of the country but vowed they would be fought "aggressively and relentlessly" by US forces.

Geneva  - The US administration' announcement that it will seek a seat on the Human Rights Council has been greeted warmly by United Nations officials, who see it much in the light the US has been hoping: A step in the direction towards global engagement.

"I warmly welcome the engagement of UN member States to contribute to the important work which lies ahead of us," said Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, the president of the council in Geneva.

London  - US President Barack Obama and Chinese Prime Minister Hu Jintao moved Wednesday to lay aside a recent round of tensions between Washington and Beijing by committing themselves to working together to combat the global recession.

"The two sides agreed to work together to build a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive US-China relationship for the 21st century and to maintain and strengthen exchanges at all levels," Obama and Hu said in a joint statement following talks in London.

New York, Apr. 1 : The current global economic crisis, which began with the severe strains on the financial and banking system in parts of the developed world, now risks triggering a human development catastrophe in the world's poorest countries. As the leaders of the richest nations set off to London for the G-20 summit this Thursday, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warns that those most vulnerable to the crisis are living outside the spotlight and their predicament should be addressed at the table.