Chinese President Xi Jinping has called to promote social justice and equality in the country's political and legal affairs. 

He made the comments during a just-concluded central meeting for political and legal workers here in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping called for the Communist Party of China to take a greater role in guiding the country's political and legal affairs, urging a balance between "vitality and order."

The President says ensuring social stability is the basic task of the country's political and legal work, and promoting social justice and equality its core values.

He affirms that people's interests must be safeguarded.

Xi Jinping has also asked officials in the legal and political system to promote transparency in their work and be open to public supervision, adding any violations will be severely punished.

 

Chinese spokeswoman refutes criticism of FM's African visit

The Chinese government has issued a statement, saying Foreign Minister Wang Yi's current African visit is not aimed at hurting any third country.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks in response to criticism that Wang Yi's African visit is targeted at Japan. 

Hua Chunying noted it's a tradition of Chinese diplomacy to visit Africa at the beginning of a new year to show China's emphasis on African countries.

Japanese leader Shinzo Abe will reportedly make a stop in Africa after the top Chinese diplomat's African tour.

Hua Chunying said it is a miscalculation for any country to make such accusations about Chinese interest in Africa.

 

Fighting continues in South Sudan as peace talks in stalemate

Fighting between South Sudan's government troops and rebel forces have continued as peace talks in neighboring Ethiopia make slow progress.

Fighting has been ongoing around the city of Bentiu and the rebel-held town of Bor.

Thousands of people are fleeing Bentiu amid fears of a governmental offensive to recapture the oil-rich area. 

The clashes come as talks to halt the violence faced further delay on Wednesday following the government's imprisonment of 11 alleged coup plotters.

The rebels initially demanded the detainees be released before the talks, but have since agreed to negotiate a ceasefire and the status of the detainees.

The lack of progress in the peace talks has unnerved international mediators, who worry South Sudan could spiral into full-blown civil war.

The fighting is the worst in the country since it won independence from Sudan in 2011.

 

Iraq PM urges al-Qaida fighters in west to give up

Iraqi authorities are urging a ceasefire from the al-Qaida linked militants in the western Anbar province, after the area was besieged by government troops.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says battle will continue, but also hints at a possible pardon if the militants give up the fight.

Clashes have been raging since late December in Anbar.

Iraqi forces and fighters from pro-government Sunni tribes have been battling al-Qaida-linked militants to try to recapture the city of Fallujah and Ramadi.

An air-strike launched by government forces hit several locations used by al-Qaida-linked militants in the city of Ramadi on Wednesday.

Iraqi forces describe the strike as effective.

It comes after gunmen attacked an Iraqi army barracks in a Sunni area north of Baghdad, killing 12 soldiers.

 

Ousted Egypt president Morsi's trial adjourned to Feb. 1

The criminal trial of Egypt's ousted former president has been delayed until February 1st.

State TV in the country is saying bad weather prevented Mohamed Morsi's transport to court.

He was due in court on Wednesday for the second session of his trial on charges of inciting the killing of protesters in December 2012.

The Muslim Brotherhood's leaders have called on members to rally to Morsi's defense.

Meanwhile, tensions between the interim government and the Muslim Brotherhood continue. 

The government declared the Brotherhood "a terrorist group" last month.

 

U.S deep freeze to ease

The United States weather forecasters say the arctic blast is slowly easing its grip on the country.

The U.S. National Weather Service forecasts weather will return to normal across much of the country in the coming days after 50 cities set new record low temperatures.

The forecaster has lifted the extended blizzard warning for the Buffalo area in western New York. 

Meanwhile, temperatures finally climbed above freezing across much of Georgia in the southeastern U.S.

So far, at least 21 people have died since Sunday and more than 11 thousand flights were grounded.

 

Bank of China issues 2.5 bln RMB-Denominated bonds in London

Bank of China's London Branch has issued 2.5 billion RMB-denominated bonds for the first time.

The bonds will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. 

The funds raised from the deal will all be retained in London.

The General Manager of the branch says it aims to support further development of the London offshore RMB market as well as Britain-China bilateral trade and investment. 

Bank of China is the global coordinator for this issue, and HSBC, UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have been appointed as the Joint Lead Managers.

 

CASS forecasts China's GDP growth at 7.5 pct in 2014/xinhua

A leading Chinese think-tank is predicting this year's GDP growth will stay at around 7.5 percent.

The report is from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Nearly half of the economists surveyed say local governments will have difficulities paying their debts.

The Chinese goverment will publicize its 2013 economic performance report on January 20th.

The prediction for last year was 7.5 percent.