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China, Russia vow further interregional cooperation, sign deals
China and Russia have pledged to further interregional cooperation with each other and signed a series of cooperation deals.
Visiting Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping and Governor of Russia's Primorsky Territory Sergey Mikhaylovich Darkin met in Vladivostok Saturday and exchanged views on the development of bilateral ties and cooperation between neighboring regions of the two countries.
Xi Jinping hoped China and Russia could seize the opportunity to obtain early achievements through interregional cooperation.
The two countries have signed 15 cooperation documents totalling 1.6 billion U.S. dollars covering economic, technological, energy and infrastructure cooperation.
Xi Jinping arrived in Vladivostok on Saturday for a five-day official visit to Russia. He will later travel to Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

US economists say Protectionism not a way out of Sino-US trade disputes
US Economists attending the on-going China Development Forum in Beijing have agreed that protectionism is not the way out of the Sino-US trade disputes.
At the 2010 China Development Forum on Saturday, Stephen Roach, Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia said that decreasing the trade deficit with China wouldn't really change the gloomy US job markets.
In the same forum, Robert Kimmitt, Former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury also called for more talks and negotiations between China and the United States instead of politicizing, in order to solve trade disputes of the two sides.

China to keep inflation under control despite difficulties
A senior economist says China will be able to keep its consumer price index (CPI) at round 3 percent this year, despite relatively high inflation expectations.
Yao Jingyuan, chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics says China's grain output totaled over 1 trillion kg last year, representing the sixth straight year of good harvest, which serves as an important stabilizer for prices.
He says Overcapacity would also prevent prices from rising sharply and quickly.

Rescue continues for workers trapped in north China railway tunnel collapse
Rescuers have drilled through the debris of a collapsed railway tunnel in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in an effort to increase the survival chances for the 10 workers who have been trapped for more than 33 hours.
A spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters says after successfully drilling through the 27-meter-long rubble midday Saturday, workers piped in fresh air, water and milk.
Rescue workers also kept calling through the tiny pipe, but heard no response from inside.
An estimated 2,000 cubic meters of rocks and dirt caved into when the tunnel collapsed Friday in Zhuozi County of Ulanqab City, about 150 km from the regional capital Hohhot and 40 km from Beijing.

Senior official emphasizes effectiveness in safeguarding women's rights
The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) Chairwoman Chen Zhili has stressed greater efforts to be made to improve effectiveness in safeguarding women's rights.
She made the remarks while attending a ceremony held in Beijing Saturday to mark the national week for safeguarding women's rights and opening of a special welfare phone hotline --12338 -- in this regard.
The hotline service is hosted by local women's federations in 1,000 counties of 10 selected Chinese provinces and currently available in those counties only. Such phone service will be extended to other parts of the country gradually.

UN chief says proximity talks not to substitute direct negotiations
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says proximity talks between Israel and Palestinians shouldn't be an alternative to direct negotiations.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah on Saturday, the UN chief said the indirect negotiations, proposed by the United States, is a step for the final, direct negotiations, .
He insisted that negotiations are the only way to resolve the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, adding that the discussions should lead to establishing a Palestinian statehood on the lands Israel occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem.

Obama reoffers dialogue with Iran over nuclear issue
U.S. President Barack Obama says his administration still seeks dialogue with Iran over its nuclear issue but the Iran government has chosen isolation.
Obama made the remarks Saturday in a special video message in celebration of Nowruz, or "New Day," which marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of the New Year for millions in Iran and other communities around the world.

NASA launches mission to survey polar ice
NASA has kicked off the second year of a mission designed to conduct a airborne survey of the Earth's polar ice.
A NASA statement says the first priority is to survey Arctic sea ice, which reaches its maximum extent each year in March or early April. High- and low-altitude flights also will survey Greenland's ice sheets and outer glaciers.
NASA calls the mission the largest airborne survey ever of the Earth's polar ice.

China's largest freshwater lake starts annual fishing ban
About 100,000 fishermen living around the Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake, docked their vessels at midday Saturday for a three-month annual fishing ban.
The seasonal ban, in place since 2002, is considered crucial to sustain the lake's ecology and fishing resources.