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PresidentHuattendsChina-Africameeting
ChinesePresidentHuJintaohasattendedtheopeningceremonyoftheFifthMinisterialMeetingoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation.
TheopeningsessionwasalsoattendedbyseveralAfricanleadersanddozensofseniorofficialsfromAfricancountries.
Themainagendaofthetwo-dayconferenceistodefinenewcooperativeprogramstobeundertakenoverthenextthreeyears.
PresidentHuJintao."ItisimportantthatChinaandAfricamakepersistentandjointeffortstomapoutablueprintforourcooperationinthenextfewyears, soastolayasolidfoundationforthefurtheradvancementofChina-Aricarelations."
TheForumonChina-AfricaCooperationwaslaunchedinOctober 2000 asaplatformforboostingbilateralcooperation.
UNchiefcondemnsDamascusbombing
UNSecretary-generalBanKi- moonisstronglycondemningabombattackintheSyriancapitalDamascus, inwhichseveraltopsecurityofficialswerekilled.
TheUNchiefsaysthedeterioratingsituationinthecountryshowsitis "extremelyurgent" forallsidesinSyriatostopviolence.
SyrianstateTVhasconfirmedthedeathsoftheDefenseMinisterGeneralDaoudRajihaandhisdeputyGeneralAssefShawkat. Thelatterwasthebrother-in-lawofPresidentAssad.
FormerdefenseministerGeneralHassanTurkmaniisalsoreportedtohavebeenkilledintheattack.
SourcessaythatthesuicidebomberworkedasabodyguardformembersofPresidentBasheral-Assad'sinnercircle.
BusblastinBulgariakills 6 andinjures 30
Abombexplosionhaskilledatleast 6 peopleandinjured 30 onabuscarryingIsraelitouristsintheeasternBulgariancityofBurgas.
TheIsraeliPrimeMinisterBenjaminNetanyahuhasaccusedIranofbeingbehindtheattackandhasstatedthathiscountrywillreactforcibly.
Witnessesarereportedtohavesaidthatsomeoneboardedthebusbeforetheexplosionoccurred.
Wednesday'sblastoccurredonthe 18thanniversaryofadeadlyattackonaJewishcommunitycentreinArgentina.
Tanzaniaferrysinkingkilldozens
ATanzanianferrywithover 280 onboardhascapsizedneartheislandofZanzibarintheIndianOcean, killingatleast 27 people.
Nearly 150 passengershavebeensaved, butdozensarestillmissing.
Rescuerssaystrongwindsarehinderingtherescueefforts.
Nearly 200 peoplediedwhenanovercrowdedboatsankinthesamewaterslastSeptember.
SuspectspleadnotguiltytokillingsofChinesestudents
TwoUSmenallegedofkillingtwoChinesestudentsattheUniversityofSouthernCaliforniahavepleadednotguiltytomurdercharges.
20-year-oldBryanBarnesand 19-year-oldJavierBolden, bothfromLosAngeles, arefacingchargesofcapitalmurderrelatedtothedeathsof 23-year-oldQuMingandWuYing, neartheuniversitycampusinApril.
Thetwocouldfacedeathpenaltyifconvicted.
ThetwosuspectshavebeendeniedbailandwillreturntocourtinSeptemberforanotherhearing.
RainstormsdisplacethousandsinCChina
HeavyrainsbatteringcentralChina'sHunanhaveforcedover 40-thousandpeoplefromtheirhomesoverthecourseofthepastweek.
Over 2 millionpeopleintheprovincehavebeenaffectedbywhatthelocalauthoritiesdescribeasthemostsevererainstormoftherainyseason.
Authoritiessaythatfloodwatershavekillednearly 240 peoplesofarthisyearinChinaandleftatleastanother 100 missing.
Chinacallsfortightenedinformationsecuritymeasures
ThecentralgovernmentiscallingonChineseagenciesandcompaniestoimprovetheirabilitytowardoffcomputerhackersanddatathieves.
Thenewguidelinesadvisegovernmentagenciestoreducethenumberofchannelsthroughwhichhackersmightbeabletoattack.
Areportfromthecountry'scomputersecuritymonitoringnetworksaysChinaisfacingincreasingcyberattacksandthreatsfromoverseas.
Itstatesthataround 47-thousandoverseas-basedIPaddresseshavebeeninvolvedinattacksagainstnearly 9-millionChinesecomputerslastyear.
That'supfromtheestimated 5-millionChinesecomputerstargetedin 2010.
HIVinfections, mortalitiesdropsteadilyinpastdecade: UN
TheUnitedNationssaysthenumberofpeopleinfectedwithHIVandHIV/AIDSrelateddeathshasbeendecliningsteadilyoverthepastdecade.
ThenumberofnewHIVinfectionsworldwidedroppedfrom 3.2 millionin 2001 to 2.5 millionlastyear, a 20 percentfall.
AIDS-relateddeathsalsosawamoderatedecreasefrom 1.9 millionto 1.7 millionduringthesameperiod.
Chinalaunchesfilm-narrationprojectfortheblind
ABeijinglibraryhasintroducedaprojecttoproduceoraldescriptionsofmoviesthevisually-impaired.
Fourfilmorganizationssponsoringtheprojecthavedonated 100 filmstotheChinaBrailleLibrary.
Nearly 100 volunteers, mostofwhomarefilmmakersorfilmstudiesresearchers, willcarryoutthework.