BEIJING - PRESIDENT Hu Jintao has vowed that China will work with the international community in promoting human rights, state media said on Friday, but the promise follows recent arrests of leading activists.

Mr Hu said China would 'base its human rights development on the basic situation of the country,' Xinhua news agency said, a caveat used by China to apply its own human rights standards.

BEIJING - CHINA'S state-run press launched a stinging attack on Friday on French President Nicolas Sarkozy nearly one week after he met the Dalai Lama, showing Beijing's anger over the encounter had not subsided.

TOKYO - JAPAN'S parliament on Friday extended a naval mission backing US-led operations in Afghanistan by another year, relieving one headache for beleaguered conservative Prime Minister Taro Aso.

The lower house, where the ruling coalition holds a commanding majority, used its power to approve the bill by overriding the opposition-led upper house which voted down the bill earlier in the day.