Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi ahead of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics.

On top of exchanging diplomatic niceties, the two leaders also talked about bilateral cooperation in large projects and people-to-people exchanges.

This is the first time a Chinese leader has attended a major international sports event outside China.

China has sent a 139-member delegation, including 66 athletes, to the Sochi games. 

The event will start from today to Feb. 23 in the Black Sea city.

 

Baucus confirmed as new ambassador to China

US Senator Max Baucus has been confirmed by the US Senate as the next ambassador to China in a unanimous vote of 86-0.

The 72-year old Democrat from Montana breezed through his earlier confirmation hearings, saying he feels the China-US relationship is one of the most important in the 21st century.

Baucus is due to take over for Gary Locke, who is stepping down as the US ambassador to China after serving only 2.5-years in the office.

Baucus' appointment is widely viewed as an attempt to try to ease trade frictions between China and the US, as Baucus holds a lot of experience as a trade facilitator.

Ahead of accepting the appointment, Baucus had already announced his plans to retire from the US Senate in 2015 following the next mid-term elections.

 

UN welcomes a humanitarian pause in Homs

The United Nations is welcoming a humanitarian pause in the fighting in the beseiged Syrian city of Homs.

The Syrian government's announcement of a temporary ceasefire in Homs comes just hours after the rebels declared a new offensive in the northern province of Aleppo.

At the same time, head of the international chemical weapons mission in Syria says more cooperation is vital to meet an end-of-June deadline.

.Syria has failed to meet a deadline of February 5th to move all of its declared chemical substances and precursors out of the country. 

The final deadline is for all of Syria's declared chemical materials to be destroyed is by the end of June.

 

First official meeting between Pakistan Taliban and Govt started

Peace talks between the Pakistani government and representatives of the Taliban are underway after a short delay.

This is being seen as the first test for the government's plan to find a peaceful resolution to the country's bloody insurgency.

The two sides have also issued a joint statement, saying both sides want to avoid any steps that could disrupt the peace process.

The Pakistani Taliban, an offshoot of the former ruling Taliban forces in Afghanistan, has been fighting to try to upstage the government and enforce stronger Sharia law across Pakistan.

 

China reports five new H7N9 human cases

5 more people have been confirmed infected with the H7N9 bird flu through Thursday, including another in Beijing.

A 73-year-old chicken farmer in the Beijing suburb of Huairou is in critical condition.

He is now the second H7N9 bird flu victim diagnosed in the capital this year. 

The first victim has already died.

The other cases reported on Thursday are in Jiangsu, Hunan and Guangdong.

 

Police evacuates 1,000 after largest WWII bomb found in HK Island

Over a thousand people had to be evacuated after a World War II bomb was found in a construction site in Hong Kong.

The bomb, weighing some 9-hundred kilograms, is said to be the largest one ever unearthed in Hong Kong.

Local police say it appears the bomb was dropped by US forces while they were bombing Japanese military facilities during the height of the war.

The bomb disposal squad is planning to move the bomb, rather than detonate it, noting it would cause extensive damage if it were to go off. 

Japan occupied Hong Kong from 1941 to 1945.

Numerous World War II-era bombs have been discovered in Hong Kong since the end of the war.

 

China sees surging retail sales during Spring Festival

Official stats from the Ministry of Commerce here in China has confirmed previous speculation about a significant rise in spending through the now-concluded Spring Festival.

The MOC is reporting retail sales gained 13.3-percent this Spring Festival compared with last year.

This, despite a decline in the sale of luxury goods.

Consumer sales amounted to 610.7-billion yuan through the holiday.

This, despite a massive drop in the sale of luxury items such as high-end liquor and expensive dinners across the country.

 

ECB keeps interest rates unchanged

The European Central Bank has decided to keep its interest rates unchanged.

The ECB's Governing Council says the key lending rate will remain unchanged at 0.25-percent.

This, despite growing concerns about deflationary trends in europe.

Annualized inflation in the eurozone through January is expected to fall to 0.7-percent, down from 0.8-percent in December.

This had prompted a growing number of calls for more easing.

However, the ECB executive has decided to maintain the status-quo, and has offered little signs of changing its policies anytime soon.

ECB President Mario Draghi says the ECB decided to maintain the status-quo because of the complexity of the situation, saying they need more time to gather more information before any policy changes will be brought into effect.

Low interest rates have helped bolster flagging economies.

However, they also create deflationary trends, which can also undermine economic growth.