Chinese President Hu Jintao says the Group of 20 should give top priority to maintaining economic growth.

He made the remarks in a written interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro prior to attending the G20 summit in Cannes.

The Chinese president said G20 members should strengthen cooperation to promote the notable, sustainable, and balanced growth of the world economy.

To achieve the goals, Hu Jintao urged G20 member states to make joint efforts to strengthen macro-economic policy coordination.

He said the summit should properly cope with sovereign debt and the high impact of large-volume commodities prices. 

He also asked for boosting the reform of the international monetary and financial system, opposing trade and investment protectionism, and motivating multilateral free-trade talks.

 

 

Greek cabinet backs PM's referendum plan

The Greece's cabinet has given unanimous approval to a plan by Prime Minister George Papandreou to hold a referendum on a EU debt rescue package.

At an emergency cabinet meeting, Papandreou said a referendum would offer "a clear mandate" for austerity measures demanded by other eurozone members.

Stock markets worldwide plummeted after the referendum announcement was made. 

Germany's DAX index plummeted by five percent. The Stock Exchange in Athens saw its index shedding by more than eight percent.

A possible rejection of the requirements of austerity on Greece is now putting the positive effect of the recent EU summit decisions into question. 

Papandreou is due to meet European leaders in France on Wednesday.

 

 

Classes for 6,000 students suspended after massive blast damages schools in SW China

More than 6,000 students in a southwest China province have had their classes suspended since their schools were damaged by a nearby explosion.

The massive blast was from two cargo trucks loaded with about 70 metric tons of explosives, which blew up in front of a vehicle testing station in Fuquan city, Guizhou Province.

The blast killed 8 people and injured more than 200 others.

Four primary schools and two middle schools in the area were closed.

The education bureau is sending technicians to check the safety of the school buildings whose windows were shattered.

 

 

Moderate earthquakes hit western China

More earthquakes continue to rattle China's northwest.

The latest is a 4.5-magnitude quake which hit early this morning in Gansu Province, following a 5.1 tremor yesterday afternoon.

The quakes struck less than a day after a 5.5 shaker hit along the border area among Gansu, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces.

That was followed by a larger, and more devastating 6.0-magnitude quake which hit Xinjiang's northwest border area with Kazahkstan and Kyrgyzstan. 

No fatalities have been reported.

 

 

Wikileaks' founder to learn extradition fate

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is due to learn whether he will be extradited from Britain to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Two judges at the High Court in London will decide whether to uphold a court ruling in favour of extradition.

Assange is accused of raping one woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm in August last year.

He denies the allegations and says they are politically motivated.

 

 

Thai flood death toll reaches 427

In Thailand, a total of 427 people have been confirmed dead in floods that have inundated the upper part of the country for almost three months.

Floods still prevail in 26 of 77 provinces and are affecting about 2.1 million people.

Nationwide, the floods have affected about 3.3 million households and about 9.9 million people since late July.

 

 

Police nab 184 in raid on fake liquor copycats

Chinese police have broken up 97 criminal dens in a cross-provincial raid on high-end bogus liquor producers.

More than 180 suspects were arrested.

Police confiscated about 14,000 bottles of phoney branded wine and 30 million units of counterfeit logo trademarks and boxes copying those of expensive liquors.

It's estimated that if sold on the market, the faked goods would rake in more than 3 billion yuan or 474 million U.S. dollars.

 

 

Shanghai to lure more financial pros

Shanghai plans to increase the number of financial professionals by about 40 percent in the next five years, the city's latest attempt to turn into an international financial hub. 

According to the plan, Shanghai aims to recruit 90,000 more financial workers to take the number of the total financial work force to 320,000 in 2015.

Many banks and securities companies in the city have been struggling with the lack of skilled financial professionals.