Peace talks to carve a path out of Syria's civil conflict have gotten off to a rocky start, with the warring sides in Syria squaring off in a bitter clash over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's main opposition in-exile, the Syrian National Coalition, says the purpose of the peace conference is to set up a transitional government.

The group is demanding Bashar al-Assad step down.

However, the Syrian government delegation insists there will be no transfer of power and only Syrians can decide Assad's fate.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who attended the meeting, is calling on all sides for understanding and accommodation in solving the crisis.

International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will be meeting separately with both Syrian sides later on today in a bid to bring the two parties to face-to-face when talks resume on Friday.

 

U.S. condemns increasing violence in Ukraine

The United States is pointing the finger at the Ukrainian government for the latest escallation of violence connected to the mass demonstrations taking place in the capital, Kiev.

The US State Department has released a statement, saying the tensions in Ukraine are a "direct consequence" of the Ukranian government's failure to engage in real dialogue.

The US side now says its considering its options, including sanctions, in connection with the violence.

The comments come following the shooting death of two protesters on Wednesday morning amid clashes with police.

The Ukrainian government is denying responsibility, saying it is the demonstrators who should be held accountable.

 

UN asks for inquiry over death of migrants in Greece

The UN is calling for an inquiry after a boat carrying migrants capsized while being towed by a Greek coastguard vessel, leaving up to twelve dead.

The incident took place earlier this week.

So far only 2 bodies have been found.

10-others are still officially missing.

Sixteen people were rescued from the capsizing, which took place near the Turkish coast.

The Greek coastguard says it judged it safer to keep migrants on their own boat than to take them aboard in bad weather.

Greek officials say the panicking migrants caused the boat to capsize themselves.

Greece is one of the main destinations for clandestine migrants and refugees seeking to enter the EU.

 

Algeria ruling party announces Bouteflika's re-election bid for fourth term

Algeria's incumbent president is going to run again for a 4th term in office.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika's ruling National Liberation Front has decided to put him forward for re-election, despite his health problems.

Bouteflika was hospitalized for 3-months last year after suffering a mini-stroke.

The 76-year old has been invovled in Algeria's government since the country's emergence from French colonial rule in 1962.

Bouteflika has been Algeria's President since 1999.

 

Terrorist threat proves false alarm: Hungarian Olympic Committee

The Hungarian Olympic Committee says a letter threatening the country's athletes with a terrorist attack at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi is a false alarm.

The statement comes after the Hungarian Olympic Committee submitted the email for analysis to the International Olympic Committee. 

The IOC says the email contains no threat and appears to be a random message from a member of the public.

The German, Austrian, Swiss, Italian, and Slovenian Olympic committees also received similar notes.

 

China confident in meeting economic growth target/xinhua

China's top economic planning body is expressing confidence that the country will again reach its goal for economic growth.

The economy has expanded by 7.7 percent in each of the last two years.

Given current economic trends, Department of Development and Planning Director Xu Lin says "there will be no problem at all in China realizing 7-percent annual economic growth" to end the current five year planning period.

The growth rate exceeded 9-percent when the current planning cycle began, but the more modest growth of recent years is still considered "satisfactory."

 

China vows self-sufficiency in grain production

A senior agriculture official says China will become completely self-sufficient in the production of several important staples, including wheat and rice.

Chen Xiwen says 97 percent of the grain supply right now is produced domestically, thanks to increased output over the past decade.

Numbers for grain imports in 2013 have not been released, but the official is predicting about 15 million tonnes, a modest increase over the previous year.

Domestic grain output last year was nearly 602 million tonnes, an increase over 2 percent compared to 2012.

Rice, wheat, and corn accounted for roughly 90 percent of that total.

The import numbers are said to be the equivalent of about 2.7 percent of the domestic supply.

Soy beans accounted for the majority of the grain imports.

 

12 more FTZs in the pipeline

The central government has put 12 more bidders for a free-trade-zone on the list of potential candidates.

Among the 12 bidders, Tianjin and the province of Guangdong have already been given the green-light to set up FTZs.

The remaining 10 will have to go through a survey by a group of central government agencies before they receive the go-ahead.

So far, provincial regions including Zhejiang, Shandong, Liaoning, Henan, Fujian, Sichuan, Guangxi and Yunnan have all said that filing FTZ applications is high up on their priority list for this year.

The central government says it will not set limits on who can apply for an FTZ or the timetables on establishing them, as long as they meet the requirements.