Chinese premier met with Qatari PM and Emir discuss bilateral, int'l affairs

Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has now met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad al-Thani.

As part of their talks, Wen Jiabao has Qatar's mounting international and regional influence, and says China is ready to increase its ties with the country.

Wen Jiabao also met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Qataris the last stop of Premier Wen Jiabao's current Gulf tour.

World powers speak out ahead of possible new Iranian nuclear talks

Key stakeholders in the Persian Gulf region are now speaking out about their stance on Iran, as the international community prepares for another round of nuclear talks.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has told reporters while on his current trip in Doha that China's trade relations with Iran are normal and justified, and should be protected.

But at the same time, Wen Jiabao also says the Strait of Hormuz should be kept open under all circumstances, suggesting any extreme measures on this issue are against the will of the entire world.

NATO calls for ensuring security of oil supply through Strait of Hormuz

北約不會介入霍爾木茲海峽局勢呼吁伊朗確保海峽通暢

NATO is now weighing into the growing tensions over the potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

The alliance's Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has issued a statement, saying the Strait "must" remain open.

His statement also calls on Iran to "behave responsibly."

At the same time, following a meeting with Turkey's foreign minister in Brussels, Rasmussen also says NATO has no plans of intervention.

Iranian officials have been threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, if an embargo is brought in on its oil.

That could potentially cut off at least 20-percent of the world's ship-bound oil.

Iran FM likely to announce date for new G5+1 talks

伊朗即將宣布新G5+1會談日期

Iran's foreign minister is due to hold a news conference later on this Thursday in Turkey, which is widely expected to outline a date for the next round of the so-called G5-plus-1 nuclear talks.

Ali Akbar Salehi has been meeting with leading Turkish officials, including Turkey's Prime Minister on Wednesday.

Upon his arrival, Salehi told reporters a date for the next round of meetings would be 'determined soon.'

The G5+1 talks, which include China and the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, are designed to try to ease the tensions over Iran's nuclear issues.

A new round of talks is likely to be scheduled before a January 30th meeting of the EU's foreign ministers, which is widely expected to vote on whether or not to impose an EU-wide embargo on Iranian oil.

One dead, 21 injured after bus overturns on east China expressway

One person is dead, and 21 others hurt, after a bus overturned on an expressway in Zhejiang.

The accident happened on an interprovincial expressway linking the provincial capital of Hangzhou and Shanghai.

The passengers, all from a Shanghai company, had charted the bus to return to their hometown in Zhejiang for the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The driver says the bus overturned after he veered to overtake traffic ahead of him.

Chinese vice premier presses for full coverage of pension insurance by the end of 2012

The central authorities here in China are now promising to close the gap to get all this country's senior citizens covered under the national pension program by the end of this year.

Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang has made the promise, despite the rapidly aging population in this country.

Pilot programs that have been running for the last two years have so far managed to get around 60-percent of this country's seniors covered under the pension scheme.

More Chinese people moved within the country in 2011

China's stats bureau is reporting that more people migrated within the country last year.

The National Bureau of Statistics says over 270 million people made their homes outside their registered communities for at least 6-months of the year this past year.

That's up around 10-million people from 2010.

At the same time, the NBS is reporting the labor force here in China dropped in 2011, the first time in 10 years, due in part to low fertility rates and a rapidly aging population.

Workers between 15 to 64-years old accounted for less than three-quarters of the country's total population, down 0.1 percent from 2010.

Zhang Yimou's epic "The Flowers of War" failed make Oscars

張藝謀“十三釵”奧斯卡也失利

Chinese director Zhang Yimou's "The Flowers of War" is not going to be up for an Oscar.

The war epic has failed to make the cut in the first round of voting by the Academy for the Best Foreign Language Film.

"Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale" by Taiwan director Wei Te-sheng has made the short-list of 9 films up for consideration.

The failure of "Flowers" to make the Academy Awards later this year comes as a second blow for Zhang Yimou's high-profile epic.

The film, starring Christian Bale, also failed to garner any awards at the Golden Globes this past Sunday.

"The Flowers of War" tells the tale of 1937-Japanese occupied Nanjing, and the plight of a group of girls trying to escape the horrors of the "Rape of Nanking."

The film has been a huge box office success here in China.