Athens - China and Greece signed a 1-billion dollar port deal Tuesday in a bid to intensify cooperation in maritime shipping which and help gain access for Chinese products in the European Union.

The port deal signed between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis came as thousands of port workers protested through Athens in opposition of the agreement which they say will result in hundreds of layoffs.

The deal will see China's Cosco Pacific Ltd manage two container wharfs at the Greek capital's main port of Pireaus for 35 years.

New Delhi, Nov. 25 : United States foreign policy would continue to be guided by its national interest as it had been since the World War II, feels Brajesh Mishra, National Security Advisor in the Vajpayee Government.

Chairing a discussion on the "Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Impact on Asian Security Framework" at Observer Research Foundation, Mishra said the Bush Administration had been working on two key US strategies of expanding eastward in the Europe and balancing of China.

Beijing, Nov. 25: China has launched a propaganda broadside against American rock band Guns N'' Roses, citing their comeback album as an attack on the nation.

The album, entitled Chinese Democracy, went on sale in Europe yesterday amid a huge promotional drive.

But the Communist Party''s mouthpiece Global Times newspaper, in an article headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking China", reported that unidentified Chinese internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn".

The article said the album "turns its spear point on China".

Hong Kong - The mother of a Hong Kong brother and sister who climbed down drainpipes from their 34th-floor apartment was Tuesday put on probation for child neglect.

The girl, 7, and her brother, 5, were nicknamed "spider-kids" by the Hong Kong media after clambering down drainpipes on a Saturday morning in June while their mother was sleeping.

The girl was eventually pulled to safety by residents in a 28th-floor flat while the boy managed to get three floors further down before being rescued. Both children have since been put in care.

The children's 27-year-old mother pleaded guilty to two counts of neglect at an earlier court hearing. At a sentencing Tuesday, she was given a one-year probation term.

Hong Kong - Actor Brad Pitt and Fantastic Four star Jessica Alba are the celebrities Asians would most like to kiss under the mistletoe this Christmas, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Jessica Alba was voted the number one mistletoe choice by men in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia while men in Hong Kong opted for Nicole Kidman in the survey by LG Electronics.

Beijing- The World Bank lowered its 2009 economic growth forecast for China from 9.2 per cent to 7.5 per cent Tuesday while welcoming the government's stimulus package but urging more rebalancing of the economy.

China's efforts to expand its domestic demand and stimulate the economy through infrastructure spending would be crucial to how it fares against the growing impact of the global financial crisis, the World Bank said in a quarterly report.