China, U.S. hold defense consultations on controlling risks

A senior Chinese military official has now suggested the United States needs to remove obstacles to help advance China-U.S. military ties.
Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the PLA, has made the suggestion during the latest round of defense consultations between China and the US.
On top of the lingering issue of arms sales to Taiwan, Ma also says in-close reconnaissance activities by U.S aircraft and ships are also major obstacles.
This round of consultations marks the first direct engagement between the two militaries since the US announced its 5.85-billion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan in September.
Michele Flournoy, the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense who is leading the U.S. delegation, says -- among other things -- that it is totally wrong to say "conflict between the U.S and China is inevitable".
The bilateral defense consultations began in 1997 following an agreement between former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and then-US President Bill Clinton.
Gov't think tank predicts China's GDP growth rate to reach 9.2 pct in 2011

A government think tank is predicting China's economic growth will come in at 9.2 percent this year.
A Blue Paper from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is also predicting China's GDP will grow 8.9 percent in the coming year.
Inflation is expected to average around 4.6 percent.
The analysis from CASS also suggests that taming inflation and stabilizing commodity prices should remain the priorities for the time being.
Bashar al-Assad denies being responsible for the bloodshed

Syria's president has given an exclusive interview to ABC news in the United States.
Bashar al-Assad has told ABC news that he is not responsible for the bloodshed in his country.
Assad has told Barbara Walters that he's given no orders for a crackdown on the protesters in his country.
Walters: "The crackdown was without your permission?"
Assad: "No there's a difference between having a policy to crackdown and between having some mistakes committed by some officials. There's a big difference."
The UN estimates that more than 4-thousand people have been killed in Syria since the unrest began in March.
However, Assad says the UN figures aren't credible. He says the violence in Syria can be blamed on criminals, religious extremists and terrorists.
U.S.gives up covert plan to retrieve drone downed in Iran: report

US officials are being quoted as saying the Pentagon is now abandoning plans to launch a covert mission to try to retrieve its drone aircraft which is now in the hands of the Iranians.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that military intelligence officials in Washington had been considering numerous options, including sending in commandos, activating their spies in Iran or launching an air-strike to destroy the drone aircraft.
However, the report says the Pentagon finally decided against it, given that any incursion into Iran would likely be deemed an act of war by Iran.
The US drone aircraft went down in Iran last week while patrolling eastern Afghanistan, and has raised concerns of a security breach, given the level of technology involved in the drones.
U.S.virtual embassy to Iran blocked: Iranian media

Reports in the Iranian media are now suggesting the Iranian government has blocked the US State Department's so-called "virtual embassy," one day after the US government launched the site.
Washington launched the site on Tuesday to try to reach out to the Iranian people and circumvent Iranian media sources.
Lawmakers in Iran have since denounced the move, saying the "virtual embassy" is a plot against Iran, with at least one parlimentarian suggesting the site is a recruitment tool for spies.
The US and Iran haven't had diplomatic ties in over 30-years following the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
DR Congo opposition rejects partial results of elections

In a move likely to keep tensions heightened, the main opposition party in the Democratic Republic of Congo is rejecting the latest partial results of the Presidental election.
The Union for Democracy and Social Progress is describing the partial results as "opaque," and suggests if the final figures come out as they stand now, the move would be -- quote -- "suicidal."
The latest stats from the DR Congo's elections indicate that incumbent Joseph Kabila has taken the election with 8.35-million votes.
That's almost 3-million more votes than his closest rival.
Drunk driving accidents in China decrease sharply due to harsh penalties: ministry

The Ministry of Public Security now says the number of drunk drivers has plummeted since May 1.
That when the harsher drunk-driving laws took effect.
Under the changes, drunk driving became a criminal offense, which carries jail time.
The number of drunk driving cases across China has dropped by some 44-percent since May.
Here in Beijing, the number of drunk drivers has dropped by around 70-percent over the last 7-months.
24-year-old man suspected in deadly blast in central China

Police in Wuhan have now identified the young man wanted in connection with the explosion outside a China Construction Bank branch last week.
24-year-old Wang Haijian is accused of setting off the explosion which killed 2 and left 15 others wounded.
The Hubei native remains at large.
Police in Wuhan are now circulating his photo, and have offered a reward for information leading to his capture.
So far, police have yet to offer up a suspected motive for the attack.