BOAO: China's Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday that the country's stimulus package is working and the economy is``better than expected.''He also vowed to expand the country's domestic demand and pull China out of the global economic slump. Wen spoke at the Boao Forum, an annual gathering of government and business leaders on the southern island province of Hainan.Wen said he is confident China can overcome the crisis but cautioned that global economic recovery will be a ``long and torturous process.'' ``We should not lose sight of the fact that the international financial crisis is still spreading, the basic trend of world economic recession is not reversed,'' he said.China has sufficient capital and rich labor resources, as well as institutional advantages to overcome the crisis, he said. Wen's comments came just days after China announced its economy expanded at its slowest pace _ 6.1 percent _ in at least a decade in the first quarter.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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