The Chinese government is offering up a new response to this week's terrorist attack in the heart of Beijing.

Chinese authorities are now describing the attack in front of Tian'anmen on Monday as a -quote- "a rigorously planned, organised, premeditated, violent terrorist attack."

Three people, believed to be members of the ethnic Uyghur population from Xinjiang, plowed their vehicle into the crowds of tourists infront of the Tian'anmen Gate in central Beijing on Monday, then lit their vehicle on fire.

The attack left 5-dead, including the attackers and two bystanders.

So far 5 people have been arrested in connection with allegedly helping plan the deadly assault.

 

Chinese foreign minister visits former French president Chirac

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has made a stop-off in Paris to visit "an old friend" of China.

Wang Yi has met with former French President Jacques Chriac.

The Chinese foreign minister has described the 81-year old Chriac as a "long-time good friend" of China.

During his time in office, Chriac forged tight ties with former Chinese leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.

He made several trips to China, often taking time to take special tours to see this country's historical relics.

 

12 injured after quakes in NE China; strong quake strikes Taiwan

Authorities in Jilin say at least a dozen people have reported injuries after a pair of earthquakes hit the northeastern province late yesterday morning.

A moderate, 5.5-magnitude quake hit shortly after 11am near the city of Songyuan, which is about 100-kilometers north of the provincial capital, Changchun.

An aftershock measuring 5.0 on the Richter Scale hit shortly after.

While moderate, the quakes struck at a shallow depths of under 10-kilometers, which amplified the shaking.

None of the 12 injuries being reported are believed to be life-threatening.

Around 14-thousand people have been moved out of the quake zone for their own safety.

Provincial authorities are organizing tents and other provisions to help deal with the situation.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has also been rattled by a strong earthquake.

The 6.3-magnitude quake hit last night around 8pm near the city of Hualian on the east coast of the island.

While strong, the quake on Taiwan reportedly hasn't caused any serious damage or injuries.

 

China on blue alert for Typhoon Krosa

Chinese authorities have started an official alert ahead of Typhoon Krosa, which is now churning in the South China Sea.

The Typhoon has just crossed over the northern tip of the Philippines, and is tracking westward into the South China Sea.

As such, meteorlogical authorities have issued a blue-alert for the storm.

This is the lowest of the 4-tiered color warning system.

Forecasters in Hong Kong are predicting Krosa is going to maintain its Typhoon status as it rolls through the South China Sea this weekend.

However, the latest tracking models are predicting the Typhoon is likely to spin southward away from the mainland and Hainan by Sunday.

The storm, which is currently packing winds of 120-kilometers per hour at the center, is likely to force significant disruptions to shipping through the South China Sea before it eventually burns out.

 

No date set for Geneva conference on Syria: UN spokesman

The United Nations conceeds there is still no date set yet for a planned conference on Syria, which has been tentatively set for sometime this month.

UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky does say the UN is working hard to try to drum up support for the proposed session.

He has confirmed UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will be meeting with both US and Russian officials this coming Tuesday in Geneva to "take stock of the preparations."

Doubt has been cast recently about whether the proposed Geneva II conference will take place, given the stated positions of both the Syrian government and Syrian opposition.

 

24 killed, 87 wounded in violent attacks in Iraq

Another wave of violence across Iraq has left another two-dozen people dead.

The series of bombings on Thursday has left close to 90 others hurt.

A number of the bombings have taken place in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala, which has been the scene of an increasing amount of violence in recent weeks.

Diyala runs from eastern Baghdad to the Iranian border, and has been a hotspot for militant activity ever since the US-led invasion.

Iraq has been gripped in some of its worst violence since the height of the insurgency against US-led coalition forces in 2007.

Over 6-thousand Iraqis have been killed in violent attacks so far this year.

 

U.S. brings in tech giants to help fix Obamacare website

Three US tech companies are putting their reputations on the line to try to help out the Obama administration.

Administration officials have confirmed techs from Oracle, Google and Red Hat are now working with the US government to try to fix the government's Obamacare website.

The rush on the system, on top of just 2-weeks of testing before its rollout on October 1st, has left healthcare.gov virtually cripped.

 

China Cuts Oil Product Prices

Fuel prices are coming down slightly today here in China.

The average retail prices for gasoline and diesel is coming down by 0.06 yuan per liter.

As part of the current pricing system, Chinese authorities have to adjust domestic prices if the average price of crude oil changes by at least 50 yuan per metric ton over ten working days.