China ready to further marketization reform of interest rates: central bank
China's central bank says it's planning more reforms of interest rates in the country.
The People's Bank of China says interest rates are going to be decided by market competition.
On top of re-tooling the deposit and lending rates, the central bank is also considering the gradual marketization of financial derivatives.
The central bank is warning both bank clients and commercial banks to be ready for interest rate changes.
China's one-year deposit rate is 3.5 percent, which currently sits well under the rate of inflation in the country, meaning that bank deposits sit in the red at the moment.

Former Cuban leader meets Iranian president

前古巴领导会见伊朗总统
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has held a meeting with Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro.
In a statement given to reporters, Ahmadinejad says he and the elder Castro discussed numerous issues.
Cuba was Ahmadinejad's 3rd stop on his current Latin America swing, who is now in his last stop, Ecuador.
Ahmadinejad's tour is being widely viewed as an attempt to shore up customers should the European Union bring in sanctions on Iranian oil exports at the end of this month.

Armed groups gun down eight government troops in northern Syria

叙利亚北部武装团体开枪打死8名政府执法者
The official news agency in Syria says at least 8 law-enforcement officers have been killed in a single attack in the northern part of the country.
The SANA news agency says the 8 were on a bus to the restive province of Idlib when it was ambushed.
The violence is the latest in a string of fighting that has been taking place in Syria the past few weeks, despite the presence of international observers from the Arab League.

Japanese PM reshuffles Cabinet to promote tax reform

日本首相重组内阁改革税务
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has reshuffled his Cabinet in order to win opposition support for his plan to raise the nation's sales tax rate.
Noda retained 12 of 17 positions. He replaced the ministers of defense and consumer affairs as demanded by major opposition parties. The two were both censured in the upper house last year.
Noda plans to double the sales tax rate to 10 percent by 2015.

Former Myanmar PM Khin Nyunt released under amnesty order

前缅甸首相在大赦令出台后被释放
Former Prime Minister of Myanmar U Khin Nyunt has been freed from house arrest under an amensty ordered by President U Thein Sein.
He is among as many as 650 prisoners being freed by the government under the amnesty.
Along with Khin Nyunt, 200 of his followers and ex-officials were also released.
The 73-year-old former prime minister was sentenced to a 44-year suspended sentence in July 2005 on charges including bribery and corruption.
He served the sentence by remaining under house arrest.

China doubles reward for wanted robber, serial killer
Chinese authorities have doubled the reward for clues leading to the arrest of a man suspected in a series of high-profile armed robberies and murders.
A total of 2.25 million yuan or 357,000 US dollars has been offered for information that leads to the arrest of the person who gunned down a man in front of a bank in a busy street in the eastern city of Nanjing last Friday.
The man was murdered after withdrawing 200-thousand yuan from the bank.
The suspect was allegedly involved in 6 other murders and robberies in 2 other cities over the past 7-years.

Religious groups appoint spokespersons
Spokespersons for China's major religious organizations have been appointed for the first time..
Experts say the move will help promote religion in the world's most populous country.
Nine spokespersons, including one woman, were appointed by six national organizations, according to a statement released by the State Administration of Religious Affairs.
China has 243 million religious followers, according to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in October.

Apple suspends sales of iPhone 4S at Beijing flagship store
Mobs of customers and organized scalpers have forced Apple to suspend initial sales of its iPhone 4S at one of its two stores in downtown Beijing.
At least 1,000 people were reportedly hired by scalpers to stand in line and wait for the phone to go on sale at the Sanlitun store.
A bag of broken eggs was found on the ground in front of the store and egg residue was seen on the store's glass walls.
A second Apple store located in the Xidan shopping district opened its doors shortly before 7:00 a.m. and sold out its iPhone 4S stock within one hour.
The phone went on sale in the Chinese mainland and 21 other countries from today.

China launches meteorological satellite Fengyun-II 07
China has launched another meteorological satellite, the Fengyun-II 07, from its southwestern Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
The satellite is capable of providing continuous meteorological monitoring and sending maritime and water resource data.
It's expected to play an important role in weather forecasting and disaster reduction.