Chinese President Xi Jinping says China is confident of a sustainable and healthy economic growth and it will further the reform and opening up drive.

He made the remarks as he met with a group of foreign members of the 21st Century Council in Beijing, where the global think-tank is holding a conference from Friday to Sunday focusing on the world's second largest economy. 

Xi Jinping said China will firmly continue pushing ahead with the drive of reform and opening up. 

He said China will stick to the path of peaceful development and will never seek hegemony.

 

Japan, Russia hold "two-plus-two" meeting, but at variance

Japan and Russia have held their first joint defense and foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo and agreed to boost security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.

The foreign ministers of both countries said the meeting helped build trust.

But the Russian side also expressed concern over Japan's participation in the United States' global missile defense system.

Japan and Russia are at odds on a series of islands north off Japan's Hokkaido.

Because of the dispute the two countries have never signed a treaty to mark the end of World War Two.

 

Brazil and Germany draft anti-spy resolution at UN

Germany and Brazil have asked the UN General Assembly to adopt a draft resolution calling for the right to privacy in the digital age.

The draft calls for an end to excessive electronic surveillance, noting that the illegal collection of personal data "constitutes a highly intrusive act".

Brazil and Germany have both been angered by allegations of large-scale US surveillance.

The draft resolution, which does not name individual countries, will be debated by a General Assembly committee focusing on human rights and voted on later this month.

France confirms two French journalists killed in Mali

The French Foreign Ministry has confirmed two French journalists were kidnapped and killed on Saturday in Kidal in northern Mali. 

It says the bodies of the two journalists, both working for the radio station RFI, have been found.

They were taken by armed gunmen in Kidal earlier on Saturday.

 

1,550 flights, over 167,000 passengers affected by LAX shooting

A total of 1,550 flights with an estimated over 167 thousand passengers were affected by the shooting at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Friday.

An airport spokeswoman told media that of those flights, 724 were scheduled arrivals with an estimated over 67 thousand passengers while 826 were departures with an estimated over 99 thousand passengers on board. What's more, 86 flights scheduled to arrive at LAX were diverted to other airports. 

Paul Anthony Ciancia, a 23-year-old white male, walked into Terminal 3 of LAX at Friday morning, pulled out an assault rifle and started shooting. He killed a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer and injured six others before being shot by police and taken into custody. 

There's still one victim in critical condition.

Car bomb explosion kills 10 near Damascus

Ten people were killed and many others wounded on Saturday in a car explosion in the countryside of the Syrian capital of Damascus.

SANA says the car was detonated while some "terrorists" were booby- trapping it in the town of Yabrud near Damascus. All of the "terrorists" were killed as the blast also left property losses in residential buildings and shops.

Pakistan summons U.S. ambassador over drone strikes

Pakistan Saturday summoned U.S. ambassador to the Foreign Ministry and lodged a formal protest over the drone strike which killed the Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

A Foreign Ministry statement says the latest drone strike will have a negative impact on the government's initiative to undertake a dialogue with the Pakistan Taliban. 

The statement says Pakistan has made its position clear to the U.S. ambassador that drone strikes constituted a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and violative of international humanitarian laws.

Meanwhile, Pakstani media say Khan Syed alias Khalid Sajna has been appointed the new chief of Pakistan Taliban.

7 dead in coal mine gas outburst

Seven miners have died after a coal and gas outburst at a colliery in southwest China's Guizhou Province early Saturday morning.

The accident happened when 50 miners were working underground at Huangshuiba Coal Mine in Yumo Township of Jinsha County, according to the county government. 

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

 

Three detained over flight bomb hoax

Three suspects have been detained for fabricating terror information that caused flight delays in China in the past week.

Police say the suspects are allegedly responsible for three bomb hoax cases, two in Changsha city and one in Fuzhou.

The suspects confessed that they did it either because of life disputes or playing a practical joke.