Headlines:

1 killed, 300+ injured in Yunnan quake

A magnitude-6.0 earthquake rocked southwest China Thursday evening, killing one and injuring more than 300 people and destroying more than 18,000 homes.

The quake was followed by eight aftershocks and the provincial civil affairs department was sending 4,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and other relief materials to Yao’an county of Yunnan province, the epicenter of the quake.

World leaders agree to reform IFIs

Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries and five major developing countries agreed on Thursday to reform financial institutions, boost development and conclude the Doha Round trade talks in 2010.

The summit is now being held in L’aquila in Italy and will end on July 11.

Obama, Putin meet

US President Barack Obama said his first meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday was "an excellent opportunity to put US-Russian relations on a strong footing”.

Although Obama said "the pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game", he made it clear the two countries have the right to make their own choices in security and diplomacy.

Floods cause havoc in south China

Days of rainstorms in southern China killed as many as 144 people and left 26 missing affecting up to 10 million during the weekend.

The heavy three-day rain damaged almost 5,000 houses, flooded roads and damaged crops from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to the nearby province of Fujian. Water levels in some rivers in Guangxi registered the highest numbers since 1998.

Fans welcome Ronaldo to Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo received an ecstatic welcome from 80,000 Real Madrid fans Monday at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Earlier on Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo said he will show he is worth the world-record transfer fee of 80 million pounds that Real Madrid paid Manchester United.

News in depth:

Govt pledges to keep stability in Xinjiang

Top leaders have pledged to maintain stability in Xinjiang as a relative state of normalcy returned to the city of 2.3 million five days after its bloodiest riot in six decades.

Xinjiang authorities declared a traffic curfew in the regional capital from 9 pm Tuesday to 8 am Wednesday as part of heightened measures to quell escalating violence. The move came after chaos hit the city again Tuesday afternoon, less than two days after a riot in which 156 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured.

Police in Urumqi have arrested 1,434 suspects in connection with Sunday evening's riot.

President Hu Jintao cut his trip to Italy short and skipped the G8 meeting due to the situation in Xinjiang. A press center has been set up at the Hoi Tak Hotel in downtown Urumqi. According to an official with the Information Office of the Xinjiang regional government, some 150 reporters from more than 80 media organizations had arrived in Urumqi by Tuesday to cover the riots.

Michael Jackson public memorial held in LA

An emotional two-hour public memorial was held for Michael Jackson in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Jackson's brothers carried the singer's casket into the Staples Center sports arena for the memorial, the same place where Jackson rehearsed the day before his death for a comeback tour.

Some 18,000 fans and friends got tickets in the arena or at a nearby, overflow theater for the ceremony. Jackson's family and close friends held a brief private ceremony earlier on Tuesday at a Los Angeles cemetery.

Meanwhile, fans all over the world paid their tributes to show their respect and commemoration to the King of the Pop.

Jackson died suddenly from cardiac arrest in Los Angeles on June 25 at the age of 50. Questions persist over the cause of his death, which is being investigated by coroners, and police amid reports of possible prescription medication abuse.

Other news:

Pottermania returns

The new Harry Potter film had its world premiere in London on Tuesday, ending a two-year wait for fans who have been counting down the days before its theatrical release on July 15.

Hundreds of people braved heavy rain in central London to watch the stars of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, the sixth of eight films based on the novels by British author J.K. Rowling, walk down a red carpet.

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Siberian-born Kristina Koveshnikova is a freelance journalist from New Zealand who has worked in print, television and film. After completing a BCS degree majoring in journalism, she won an Asia NZ Foundation/Pacific Media Centre award to work for China Daily website. Kristina previously did internships at ABC 7 News in Washington DC and TVNZ in New Zealand and has written for a number of publications, including The New Zealand Herald and East & Bays Courier.