No real reform of surveillance

On Friday, US President Barack Obama made his first substantive speech on the surveillance programs of the US National Security Agency. Although he seems to have accepted a few recommendations of the NSA Review Panel, his proposed reforms of the United States' global surveillance fall far short of being satisfactory, as the White House has failed to address a number of issues.

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Reshaping the world needs unity and decisiveness

Seattle, Prague, Genoa, Melbourne. Over a decade ago, these cities were hosts to violent protests against a nebulous enemy: globalization.

Tackle income disparity

Six years after the onset of the global financial crisis, business and political leaders around the world can no longer shrug off the rising unemployment and widening income disparity as the price that needs paying for a global recovery.

Reminder of Japan's past

The unveiling of a memorial to the Korean freedom fighter Ahn Jung-geun, at the railway station in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, on Sunday, commemorates his bravery against Japanese aggression and reminds people not to forget the past, says a Xinhua News Agency commentary.

China's trade:Win some lose some

The rapid expansion of China's trade signals its deeper integration into the world economy and greater impact on other economies. The continued growth of its economy and the shift in its growth model, which the country's leadership has pledged to accomplish, would benefit many other economies. Having said that, major commodity producing economies are among the most likely to suffer.

UN, China natural partners in peace

The United Nations welcomes the increasingly important role China has been playing across many areas of our (the UN's) work, including international peace and security. We share China's view that peace and development go hand in hand. We welcome China's determination to promote the reform of global governance with the UN at its core. We see China - with its long-term strategy of peaceful development, reform and opening-up - as our natural partner in this endeavor.

Letters

Learning the tricks of business

From the Chinese Press

Galas canceled in reform move

Five principles for Syria peace

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday put forward five principles for a political settlement of the Syrian issue during a press briefing with Chinese media.

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Poverty reduction remains a challenge for US

The United States is known as the richest and most powerful country in the world. It could afford to spend more than a trillion US dollars on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and builds B-2 stealth bombers that cost $2 billion a piece. Yet daily life in its cities often defies such an image.