Chinese president meets Iran's parliamentary speaker
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with Iran's Parliamentary Speaker here in Beijing.
Xi Jingping says China's ties with Iran have created a positive impact on the entire Middle East region.
For his part, Ali Larijani says the leadership transition in Iran has opened a new chapter in Chinese-Iranian ties.
The two have also discussed Iran's nuclear issue.
Larijani is paying a 4-day visit in China, which will wrap on on Friday.
Five detained over Tian'anmen terrorist attack
Chinese authorities have made a number of arrests in connection with this week's deadly terrorist attack in front of Tian'anmen.
Five people said to be involved in planning the deadly assault have been detained.
The names of those detained suggest they are members of the ethnic Uyghur population.
On Monday, a Jeep carrying Xinjiang plates with three people onboard, crashed through the barriers in front of the iconic Tian'anmen gate, slamming into the crowds.
A total of 5 people, including the three attackers, were killed.
Authorities in Beijing have been working with police in Xinjiang in connection with Monday's attack.
3 killed in fresh communal violence N. India
There's been a new round of communal violence in northern India.
Three people have been killed in the fighting in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The fighting has taken place in the same area where sectarian violence broke out last month, leaving over 60-people dead.
The victims in the latest round of violence are all said to be local Muslims.
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh say the attackers descended on a refugee camp set up to help those left homeless following last month's deadly rioting.
Last month's rioting in the district, which is around 100-kilometers north of New Delhi, is said to have been set off by a group of low-level politicians in the region.
UN-Arab League envoy meets with Syrian President
UN-Arab League Syrian envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus as hopes for an international summit to try to end the lingering war appear to be waining.
The meeting however appears to have cast some doubt on the anticipated summit in Geneva, which has been tenatively scheduled to take place sometime in November.
Bashar al-Assad has gone on record saying that foreign support for the armed opposition must end if any political solution to the country's conflict is to succeed.
The United States, Russia and the United Nations have been trying for months to bring the Syrian government and the opposition together in Geneva in an attempt to negotiate a political resolution to the lingering conflict.
However, the Syrian opposition remains deeply divided over whether to attend.
U.S. top health official apologizes for health care website woes
US President Barack Obama's Health and Human Services Secretary has had her turn under the congressional microscope in connection with the rollout of Obamacare.
Kathleen Sebelius has issued a formal apology to a congressional committee for the poor launch of the Affordable Care Act.
Sebelius has told the lawmakers Americans deserve better.
She's also described the initial rollout of the program as a "miserably frustrating experience."
The website designed to help millions of uninsured Americans become part of the program has been experiencing massive problems since the launch on October 1st.
US Fed maintains stimulus measures
The US Federal Reserve has voted to keep interest rates at record lows and to continue with its 85 billion US dollars a month bond-buying program.
The decision has been widely expected.
Last month, the Fed took analysts by surprise by delaying its decision to wind down the programme, which had been expected to take place around this time.
Fed officials say the US economy continues to grow, but only moderately.
The Fed is on-record saying it wants to keep interest rates at their current near-zero levels until the unemployment level falls below 6.5 percent.
The latest figures show the US jobless rate fell to 7.2 percent in September.
The central bank has a dual mandate to promote job growth and to maintain price stability.
Big-5 banks' net profit rises to US$36.4b
China's big-five banks have posted a 9.9 percent annual rise in combined net profits over the third quarter.
That growth is weaker than 14.6 percent rise in profits through the same period last year.
It is expected the big-five banks will see their net profit coming in at 847 billion yuan for the full year this year.
Net income at ICBC, the nation's largest bank, rose 7.6 percent to 67.2 billion yuan on an annualized basis in the 3rd quarter.
Agricultural Bank of China is reporting a 15 percent jump in net profit in the third quarter, the highest among the big five, to 45.6 billion yuan.
Net profit at the Bank of China has climbed 13.6 percent to 39.5 billion yuan.
Bank of Communication saw a much weaker rise of 3.4 percent to 13.9 billion yuan in the 3rd quarter.
That's down from 11.7 percent year on year.
The five biggest lenders account for more than 70 percent of the total assets of the 16 listed Chinese banks.
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