Xi urges end to waste to save environment

SHANGHAI • China's President Xi Jinping said the country must fight against waste and irrational consumption as it bids to reverse the damage to its environment after decades of breakneck growth, the official Xinhua news agency said yesterday.

"We must... ensure that the ecology and environment is fundamentally improved by the year 2035, and that our goal of building a beautiful China is basically achieved," Mr Xi was quoted as saying.

REUTERS

S. Korea recognises surrogate as mother

SEOUL • A South Korean court ruled that a surrogate mother is legally the parent of the child she has given birth to, instead of the genetic parents.

The Seoul Family Court made the decision on Friday against a couple who filed the suit against a local district office for refusing to accept their application to register the child's birth, Yonhap news agency reported.

The couple hired a surrogate to bear their child. She gave birth to the baby in a hospital in the United States, where staff issued the birth certificate naming the surrogate as the mother.

Saudis detain women's advocates

DUBAI • Saudi authorities have arrested seven prominent women's rights advocates, just weeks before the kingdom's longstanding driving ban on women is set to be lifted.

Without identifying those detained, Saudi Arabia's state security apparatus said in a statement published yesterday by state news agency SPA that the seven had been arrested for "attempting to undermine the security and stability of the kingdom".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE