Sudan continued with its aerial bombardment of South Sudan yesterday, dropping eight bombs overnight as South Sudan's President said the attacks amounted to a declaration of war by the North.

A Tibetan exile, whose self-immolation in Delhi on Monday was caught in harrowing photographs, died yesterday.

A Tibetan man set himself on fire and ran shouting through a demonstration in New Delhi yesterday – the latest in a series of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule in Tibet.

China's annual legislative session opens today amid a challenging leadership transition and a day after the country unveiled the latest in string of boosts to defence spending.

Xi Jinping seeks to boost relations with 'important high-level interaction' as he flies to Washington

China's Communist Party celebrated its 90th birthday yesterday with propagandist songs, Chairman Mao-themed events and a stern warning from President Hu Jintao that the economy must keep growing for it to retain its grip on power.

A plane carrying Sudan's President to China was forced to turn back yesterday over Turkmenistan, delaying the scheduled visit of Omar al-Bashir, who has an outstanding international arrest warrant against him on war crimes charges.

When David Cameron signed a £1.4bn trade deal with China yesterday, he might have been forgiven for wondering which China he was dealing with. Until recently, a new revolution appeared to be taking place in the country. Meteoric economic growth seemed to be bringing a greater openness to the world, greater freedoms for China's emerging middle-classes, a fairer legal system and a new awareness of individual rights. But since Mr Cameron went to Beijing last November and gave a tentative thumbs-up, things have been moving in the opposite direction. There is a new nervousness and uncertainty inside China. Its peculiar brand of authoritarian capitalism seems to be reverting to a greater authoritarianism all round. In the struggle between conservative and liberal factions within the leadership, hardliners are firmly in the ascendancy.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's secrecy-shrouded tour of China came to the capital yesterday for a likely summit with President Hu Jintao, as the North appeals for food aid and Beijing presses its communist ally to reform its ailing economy.

North Korea's ruler Kim Jong-il made a surprise visit to China yesterday, South Korean media reported, amid confusing reports about the purpose of the trip and the presence of his son.

A spokesman for the Alexander McQueen fashion label has denied claims that its creative director Sarah Burton is to design Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

China's minister of Railways is under investigation for "severe violations of discipline", a state news agency reports, in a high-profile probe underscoring the wide-ranging corruption that threatens the ruling Communist Party's grip on power.