In This Edition

 

Top Chinese leadership and visiting US vice President Joe Biden vow to work together for bilateral ties and a global recovery.

 

North Korea's top leader Kim Jong Il visit Russia and is scheduled to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

 

Egypt recalls its ambassador to Israel after the killings of three Egyptian security men along the Egypt-Israel border in the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli violence.

 

India's most prominent anticorruption crusader, Anna Hazare, begins a public hunger strike and mass protest to push for government reform.

 

 

Hot Issue Reports

 

Biden's Trip Received by China's Confidence and Commitment to US Economy

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is in China, trying to reassure Chinese leaders to maintain their confidence in the U.S. economy.

 

As Su Yi reports, China's top leadership has made clear that it is confident the U.S. economy will recover and reassured its willingness to work together with the Americans for a global recovery.

 

"To get straight to the point, Mr. President, President Obama asked me to come to Beijing to meet with you and others to reaffirm absolute total commitment to a strong and enduring, positive relationship with China."

 

Biden has reaffirmed Chinese president Hu Jintao that the Obama administration is fully committed to the two countries' bilateral ties.

 

Earlier he told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that Sino-American relations are crucial to global economic stability.

 

Xi has promised that China will avoid an economic hard landing.

 

"We will work for three elements-stable and relatively fast economic growth, economic restructuring, and management of inflation expectations. We have confidence and the capability to maintain stable and relatively fast growth of the national economy. China's economy will never see a so-called 'hard landing.'"

 

China's Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said in a briefing after the meetings that the two sides had found common ground on how to implement a global economic recovery.

 

"Both (countries) said they would work to strengthen cooperation, work with other relevant countries in coordinating macroeconomic policy, and promote, strengthen, stabilize, recover and develop the world economy through bilateral and multilateral talks, including the G20. China and the U.S. are willing to take the responsibilities required to fulfill this."

 

Biden's trip comes amid mounting tension between the two nations over the staggering U.S. debt.

 

China is the U.S. government's biggest foreign creditor, holding 1 trillion dollars of U.S. debt.

 

Earlier this month, the United States suffered a historic credit downgrade by rating agency Standard & Poor's.

 

To reassure confidence, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gave Biden a ringing endorsement of the resilience of the U.S. economy.

 

"Although the United States is undergoing some economic hardship, I believe that it is able to overcome its difficulties and return to a robust track of development. The prosperity and stability of the United States is favorable for the whole world."

 

Biden's meetings with Chinese leaders have also underlined the issues around U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and the denuclearization talks on the Korean Peninsula.

 

This is Biden's first trip to East Asia as vice president. He will also visit Mongolia and Japan.

 

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.

 

North Korea Top Leader Visits Russia

North Korea's top leader Kim Jong Il is now on a visit to Russia during which he is scheduled to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

 

North Korea's state-run broadcaster KRT has confirmed the visit through a newsreader.

 

"Our leader Kim Jong-Il will pay a visit to Siberia and the Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation at the invitation of Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation. During the visit the top leaders of the two countries will have a meeting."

 

The country's official news agency KCNA says Kim's special train passed through Khasan, the border railway station of Russia in the morning of Aug. 20. It says the visit marks a historic occasion in boosting the friendship between the two countries.

 

Russian media earlier reported that the North Korean leader will travel to Ulan Ude, where he is expected to meet with Medvedev around mid-week.

 

Kim's visit comes one day after Russia sent its first batch of humanitarian aid to North Korea.

 

Russian Foreign Ministry said the deliveries of up to 50,000 tons of food will end in September, and Russia regards the humanitarian operation as "a contribution to the traditionally neighborly relations between people of the two countries".

 

Kim visited Russia twice in 2001 and 2002.

 

Taliban Attack on British Council Compound in Kabul Kills 12

Taliban militants have stormed the British Council office in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least 12 people and taking over the compound for hours.

 

A suicide car bomb destroyed the compound wall and a number of armed men forced their way inside.

 

The Afghan Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack that marked the anniversary of Afghanistan's independence.

 

The country gained independence from Britain on August 19, 1919 after three bloody wars.

 

British Prime Minister David Cameron condemns the attacks.

 

"This is a particularly vicious and cowardly attack, but it is an attack that hasn't succeeded. I spoke to our ambassador in Kabul this morning and he assured me that all of the British Council staff is safe and are now back at the British Embassy and the Embassy is safe, but obviously there has been a tragic loss of life of Afghan police and others."

 

Syria: 20 Killed in Fresh Protests; Syrians Reject Foreign Interventions

In Syria, at least 20 people are reported killed and dozens injured in fresh protests following the international call for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

 

Syrian state television says a limited number of protests erupted after Friday prayers in several areas, including southern Deraa province and central Homos city.

 

The official SANA news agency reports at least five people have been killed by armed groups.

 

The reports cannot be independently verified as foreign journalists are banned from heading to restive areas in the country.

 

Meanwhile, the European Union is expanding its sanctions against Syria by imposing an asset freeze and travel ban on 20 Syrian nationals.

 

The EU is also preparing new restrictive measures, including an embargo on the import of Syrian crude oil.

 

The new EU sanctions come following U.S.-led calls for Assad to step down.

 

But some Syrians say the president is capable of leading "reforms" in his country.

 

Political analyst Sharif Shehadeh is one of them.

 

"The Syrian president is legitimate, and he obtained his legitimacy from the Syrian people; the Syrian people who believe that the Syrian president, Mr. Assad, is the person who is capable of leading the reforming operation."

 

Some people in Damascus are backing his view, saying the United States should keep out of Syrian affairs.

 

"Syrian people of all backgrounds and spectrums-pro-(Assad), opposition or even the independents-completely refuse any type of external intervention in Syrian internal affairs, especially the American intervention, which means the concept of intervention is refused in our internal affairs."

 

Human rights groups say about two-thousand people have been killed and thousands of others arrested in Syria since mid-March.

 

Egypt Recalls Envoy to Israel Following Killing of Security Men

Egypt has decided to recall the country's diplomatic envoy to Israel after the killings of three Egyptian security men along the Egypt-Israel border in the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli violence.

 

The Egyptian government has also summoned the Israeli ambassador in Cairo to protest the killings.

 

Palestinian militants launched a series attacks in South Israel on Thursday, killing eight people. Israeli forces then chased down the attackers and killed at least six of them.

 

The gunmen who targeted Israeli vehicles on Thursday are believed to have crossed into southern Israel through the Egyptian desert.

 

The Egyptian security men were caught in the crossfire and might have been mistakenly killed by Israeli forces as Palestinian militants who were reportedly in Egyptian security uniforms when they launched the attacks.

 

Egyptians have held a protest outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo.

 

"This is an extreme humiliation to Egypt, and we reject this humiliation (from Israel). We have and always had called for our demand to end the peace treaty with Israel."

 

Following Thursday's conflict, Israel repeatedly bombed targets in the Gaza Strip, apparently in retaliation of the Palestinian attacks, killing 15 Palestinians so far, including militants and innocent civilians.

 

Analysts say Thursday's attack signals a new danger for Israel from its border with the Sinai Peninsula, which was quiet under the rule of the former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

 

Indian Anti-corruption Campaigner Stages Hunger Strike

India's most prominent anticorruption crusader, Anna Hazare, has begun a public hunger strike and mass protest to push for government reform.

 

Hazare has been released from a New Delhi jail and was greeted by thousands of cheering supporters.

 

The white-clad, 73-year-old activist cloaked his demands for a tough anticorruption law in the halo of India's liberation hero Mohandas K. Gandhi.

 

"These traitors have looted the country. We will not tolerate it anymore."

 

Earlier in the week, Indian police briefly arrested Hazare after he declared his intention to hold a public hunger strike in defiance of their restrictions on the demonstration.

 

He began his fast in jail and refused to leave when police tried to free him, demanding the right to hold a long public demonstration.

 

Hazare's standoff with authorities has galvanized the nation's anger at official corruption. Sympathy protests have been organized across the country in a show of support.

 

Hazare's protest is aimed at pushing the government to pass his version of a proposed bill to create a powerful ombudsman to police top officials.

 

Activists have criticized the current bill tabled in Parliament as too weak to be effective.

 

Government officials have criticized Hazare in turn, saying he was twisting time-honored protest tactics to subvert the legislative process and force elected officials to bow to his own agenda.

 

Norway Decides Killer Behring to Remain in Isolation for Another Four Weeks

Norway has ordered mass killer Anders Behring Breivik to remain in solitary confinement for the next four weeks despite his complaints.

 

Judge Hugo Abelseth made the announcement after a court hearing in Oslo.

 

"The Oslo court has decided to extend Breivik's isolation period by four weeks. The court has decided to extend it because police are worried he (Breivik) will tamper with police evidence, and the court agrees."

 

Breivik has admitted killing 77 people last month in a bomb attack in Oslo and a subsequent shooting spree on a nearby island.

 

Police have still not ruled out the possibility of accomplices to the crime and are keen to prevent Breivik from communicating with the outside world.

 

The 32-year old Breivik described his isolation as boring and monotonous, and as a sadistic method of torture.

 

Under Norwegian rules, Breivik will likely remain in prison until he goes to trial in a year, but the conditions under which he is held may at some point be relaxed.

 

Spain Announces Further Austerity Measures

Spain has announced further austerity measures while unveiling a halving of sales tax on home purchases.

 

Spanish Economy Minister Elena Salgado says Spain seeks to strike a balance between cutting its national deficit and stimulating economic growth.

 

"We continue to work in both aspects-fiscal consolidation and structural reforms and in general everything that contributes to the creation of jobs in our country."

 

Under the new measure, sales tax for the purchase of newly constructed homes will be cut from 8 percent down to 4 percent in order to stimulate Spain's badly-hit construction sector.

 

The temporary tax cut would last through till the end of the year.

 

The government will also increase corporate tax, which is aimed at bringing 2.5 billion euros in additional revenue in 2011.

 

Moves to cut drug costs for regional governments with a new bill on generic medicines will save 2.4 billion euros. A further 2.5 billion euros will be saved by front-loading tax payments from large businesses to 2013.

 

The government says the measures will make it easier for it to hit its deficit targets this year as it battles to avoid being dragged into a euro zone debt crisis.

 

Spain aims to cut its deficit to six percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.

 

The Spanish parliament has been recalled to vote next week on the measures, which are expected to win lawmakers' approval.

 

Severe Drought Hits Yunnan Province

A severe drought has hit more than 20 counties and cities in the central and eastern parts of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

 

The drought has affected nearly 6 million people in the province, about one-eighth of the total population.

 

More than 800,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed, among which 60,300 hectares have borne no harvest at all.

 

It's estimated that the province's direct economic losses in agriculture amount to 5 billion yuan.

 

Kong Chuizhu, Deputy Governor of Yunnan Province, says drought relief emergency plans have been carried out.

 

"We have raised more than 200 million yuan to combat the drought."

 

Since the flood season began in May, the province's accumulated rainfall has been 477 millimeters, 103 millimeters lower than the same period in the previous years.

 

During the main flood season of July and August, the accumulated rainfall has dropped to its lowest level since 1959.

 

Water reserves in some large reservoirs have dwindled to only a third of their total capacity.

 

Meanwhile, a continuous heat wave in Yuhuan County in east China's Zhejiang Province has withered 670 hectares of local rice paddies and caused a total harvest failure in half the area.

 

Farmers say water in the fields have evaporated because of high temperatures, leaving a high density of salinity that has damaged crops.

 

New Unmanned Air Vehicles Unveiled in Moscow International Air Show

Several Russian aircraft production companies have unveiled new unmanned air vehicles during this year's Moscow International Air Show.

 

The JSC Vega Radio Engineering Corporation presented Lutch, Russia's first unmanned air vehicle or UAV.

 

Designed to carry out air strikes, Lutch can carry up to 170 kilograms of ammunition and weapons control systems.

 

With an 800-kilogram maximum take-off weight, the aircraft is able to fly at speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour with an endurance of no less than 18 hours.

 

Seroezhko Aleksander Aleksanderovich, chief of Vega's UAV project, further elaborates on the plane's advantages.

 

"The advantage of this UAV is that it can perform a variety of assignments in a wide range, including scouting and attacking. Moreover, it can take off on a short runway."

 

Another Russian aircraft producer, the Zala Aero Group, also unveiled a new UAV, called the ZALA 421-16E during the air show.

 

Under development for the past 14 months, the ZALA 421-16E tactical UAV is a 2.8m flying-wing type aircraft with a pusher propeller configuration.

 

It's also equipped with a color PAL camera utilizing HD quality resolution. The ZALA 421-16E will be used during the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

 

This year's Moscow International Air Show features Russia's state-of-the art planes.

 

Boeing, Airbus, and other international aircraft producers have also sent their latest products to be displayed at the event.

 

China Daily: Where Are Our Tax Cuts?

 

Workers who earn high year-end bonuses in China sometimes take home much less after paying taxes than those who earn slightly lower ones.

 

The current taxation system divides the total bonus amount by 12 to determine the tax rate according to the progressive tax scheme as well as a quick-calculation tax deduction number. That means some taxpayers whose monthly bonus is slightly higher than the thresholds pay much more tax than those who earn a few yuan less. As a result, many citizens have called for a larger quick-calculation tax deduction to solve the problem.

 

The public reacted positively when state media reported earlier this week that the Central Government was considering revising the tax calculation in the next few months. But their joy quickly turned into disappointment when the State Administration of Taxation said the news was just a rumor.

 

A commentary in "China Daily" notes that Chinese taxpayers were angry when they found out the tax regulator did not intend to make even the slightest change, because they believe they deserve tax cuts in the face of rising living costs.

 

Analysts predict the country's inflation rate may hit more than 6 percent in the third quarter. Amid high inflationary pressure, the nation's lawmakers have raised the income tax threshold by 1,500 to 3,500 yuan.

 

The commentary also says the rapid growth of the Chinese government's revenues has given people a further reason for requesting tax cuts. In 2010, the country's fiscal revenues climbed more than 20 percent year-on-year. In the first seven months of this year, the government collected more than 30 percent more revenue than during the same period last year.

 

The commentary argues that it is time for the State Administration of Taxation to conduct an investigation to find out who started the rumor and explain why a seemingly reasonable change in the taxation calculation has been postponed time and again.