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A Pakistani court Saturday adjourned the Mumbai attack case hearing till Aug. 29, and accepted prosecution prayer for in-camera trial of the five accused, local media reported.

The official Associated Press Pakistan news agency quoted sources as saying that the trial was held inside Central Adiala Jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi due to the security reason. Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has alleged that the accused Muhammad Riaz alias Shahid Jamil Riaz facilitated transition of money to the Mumbai blast accused Ajmal Kasab.

The other accused in the case include Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah, Abu Alqa and Hamad Ameen Sadiq.

As many as ten alleged terrorists were involved in Nov. 26, 2008 carnage. Police killed nine alleged terrorists and arrested Ajmal who was being tried in India.

Nearly 170 people were killed in Mumbai, India’s commercial hub, and India had accused Pakistan-based militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba of masterminding the attacks.

Indian officials accused Pakistan of not being serious in apprehending the culprits. But Islamabad insists no one should doubt its sincerity.

Pakistan has admitted the attack was partly planned on its soil and the two countries have suffered seriously strained relations.

The trial began a few days after prime ministers of both countries met in the Egyptian city of Sharm el Sheikh on the sidelines of the summit of Non-Aligned Movement.

India had put a pause on the “composite dialogue” with Pakistan after the attack and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the parliament on Friday that talks will not be resumed unless Pakistan takes action against the suspects.

Silence is no gold, and prompt response may help head off a crisis, a major Chinese news portal told local officials after evaluating governments’ actions when confronted by online outcries after emergencies or troubles hit.

The public opinion monitoring office of people.com.cn, the website of the Communist Party of China’s flagship People’s Daily newspaper, released a ranking list on Friday marking local governments’ responses to online opinions concerning 10 incidents which occurred over the past few months.

Officials in Shishou City, central China’s Hubei Province, got a red warning with the lowest score of 2.65 minus for their failure to act instantly when online rumors about the death of a cook spread rampantly in the cyber world in June.

The 24-year-old cook, Tu Yuangao, was found lying dead at the gate of a hotel in Shishou on the evening of June 17. Police found no suspicious injuries and concluded the man had killed himself by falling from a high building. Tu’s family and the public, however, were not convinced, and online rumors emerged.

Shishou officials did not act until after about 80 hours of silence, fueling rampant rumors which resulted in an unrest when angry locals obstructed two streets, burnt the hotel and smashed several vehicles.

Experts from the Ministry of Public Security and Tongji Medical Institute carried out an autopsy and X-rays and tested for poisons, showing Tu committed suicide.

The highest score went to officials in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan Province, where a bus blaze last month killed 28 and injured dozens of others.

Many netizens guessed the cause of the fire after the accident, while some critics said in their online posts the lack of emergency-response equipment on the windtight airconditioned bus was to blame. Some rumors went that the bus was too old and caught fire itself, while there were also complaint which called for the government to care more for people’s life and urged bus companies to upgrade bus equipment for security reasons.

The municipal government held five news conferences within three days after the accident, answering netizens’ questions in details, and thus avoiding any possible public panic.

Police investigation has found that the fire was deliberately set by a 62-year-old man identified as Zhang Yunliang, who brought with him gasoline on board.

Timeliness and transparency were the two foremost factors when evaluating government actions in the cases, said Zhu Huaxin, head of the public opinion monitoring office.

Zhu said officials must release information as soon as possible after an incident occurs, especially in an era when netizens have become “a big pressure group.”

By July, China had 338 million Internet users, or 23.8 percent of the population, overtaking the U.S. as the world’s most netizen-populated country, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

Zhu said quick disclosure of facts is of vital importance in establishing government credibility.

“A late response or intentional silence will worsen the situation.”

Zhu said some local government’s public relation and governance capability does not suit the current situation as the Internet has provided a new platform for the public to voice opinions.

“We hope our evaluation could help officials become fully aware of the importance of online opinions,” he said.

A special gem show opened here Monday, putting on sale the country’s quality gems, jade, pearl and jewelry on the basis of tender and competitive bidding.

The special Myanmar gems emporium, which lasts for 13 days until July 4, is taking place at Myanmar Convention Center (MCC).

In the last 46th annual gems emporium held in March this year, more than 5,000 jade lots were displayed and 191 million U.S. dollars worth gems and jewelry were sold out.

The event was attended by over 2,300 foreign traders, mostly from China and China’s Hong Kong.

In June-July and October last year, a special gem sale and a mid-year sale were respectively added, attracting even more merchants than the annual regular event.

Myanmar started to hold gem shows annually in 1964, introducing the mid-year one in 1992 and the special one in 2004.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, boasts ruby, diamond, cat’s eye, emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a variety of garnet tinged with yellow.

The authorities designated the proceeds from the sale of gems at these emporiums as legal export earning to encourage the private sector in the development of the gem industry.

According to the Central Statistical Organization, in 2008, Myanmar produced 30,896.44 tons of jade and 20.5 million carats of gems which include ruby, sapphire, spinel and peridot, as well as 204,533 mommis (767 kilograms) of pearl.

Belarussian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov Wednesday urged the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at its 15th summit here to work out a more pragmatic new strategy in line with today’s changing world situation and make concerted efforts to overcome global crises, especially the ongoing financial crunch.

Martynov said during a speech at the summit on behalf of Belarussian president that he is sure the NAM leaders will proceed precisely from the principles of impartiality, objectivity and openness while formulating a NAM strategy for the years to come.

Noting that the upcoming three years may be crucial for determining the future place and role of NAM in the international community, he urged the summit to give a clear answer on how to utilize most effectively the NAM potential and mobilize all resources and actors, including those outside the movement, to stabilize international situation and overcome the multifaceted global crisis.

He stressed that although the world has changed these years but the values laid down by the NAM founders in the basis of the movement in 1950s and 1960s have not lost their topicality.

The promotion of the NAM positions and approaches to solution of modern problems, including in the European continent, will remain a central element of Belarus’ foreign policy and not be subject to situational changes.

The Belorussian delegation, chaired by Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov, is participating in the 15th NAM summit, which has attracted more than 100 NAM member-state leaders or their representatives to the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Belarus delegation proposed to improve the NAM efficiency and enhance its role by means of optimizing its structure and presenting the movement’s position at major international forums and urged NAM to give more attention to the new problems of international relations.

The Belorussian side has taken an active part in reaching a consensus on disputable matters.

Belarus received the observer status of NAM in September 1997 and became a fully-fledged member at the 12th NAM summit in Durban, South Africa in September 1998. It remains the sole European member of the movement.

Wall Street rallied on Wednesday, as Chipmaker Intel Corp.’s strong report after the market closed on Tuesday lifted investor confidence and New York manufacturing shrank at the slowest pace since April 2008.

Intel, the world’s biggest chipmaker, jumped after its third-quarter sales prediction also topped analysts’ estimates. Intel’s better-than-expected results suggest consumers are purchasing computers at a faster rate than anticipated and rekindled hopes that the economy is recovering.

Meanwhile, U.S. credit card companies said Wednesday defaults and delinquencies were lower in June than expected. American Express forecast better business in the second half of the year.

Commodity stocks helped the market rally, as a weak dollar boosted prices of crude oil and industrial metals on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On economic news, the Fed Bank of New York’s July general economic index climbed to minus 0.6, the highest level since April2008, from minus 9.4 in June. The reading was much better than a minus 5 economists had expected and added investors’ appetite for industrial shares.

Minutes from last month’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed central bank policy-makers thought economic growth would resume in the second half of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 256.72 points, or 3.07 percent, to 8,616.21. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 26.84points, or 2.96 percent, to 932.68. The Nasdaq composite index jumped 63.17 points, or 3.51 percent, to 1,862.90.

Health professionals and educators Wednesday welcomed a Ministry of Health (MOH) decision to ban the use of electroshock therapy in the treatment of Internet addiction.

Linyi Psychiatric Hospital in Shandong province, where staff had administered electric shocks to more than 3,000 youths in a bid to halt Internet dependency, ended the controversial treatment this week.

In a statement released on its website on Monday, the MOH said it told the Shandong health bureau to stop electroshock therapy for Internet addicts in the province’s hospitals after MOH research revealed issues surrounding the safety and efficacy of the treatment.

“It (the electroshock therapy) is understandable given the desperation of parents, but it may damage children’s brains,” said Tao Ran, who runs one of the country’s longest-established clinics specializing in Internet addiction.

Co-founded by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and Beijing Military Region General Hospital in 2004, Tao’s clinic in the suburbs of Beijing has treated nearly 5,000 Internet-addicted youths and says 75 percent have been cured.

At the clinic, young addicts receive “comprehensive therapy” including medication, psychological counseling and low-intensity military training. They also take interactive courses with their parents to learn communication skills.

Tao also uses psychotropic drugs to treat patients suffering from mental illnesses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression.

Another clinic in Beijing adopts a slightly different approach.

“We think Internet addiction is not a mental illness, but an appearance of lacking ability and confidence,” said Jiang Pu, Beijing bureau director of New Taste Family Education Institute - an organization trying to break Internet dependency in teenagers.

“The lack of a nationwide diagnostic standard on Internet addiction causes the differences in the treatment methods,” said Tao, who is a colonel with the People’s Liberation Army.

Even the World Health Organization and countries including the United States have not developed a clear understanding of Internet addiction, he said.

The Linyi Psychiatric Hospital ended its electroshock therapy program on Monday, but still offers other types of treatment, Beijing News quoted the hospital’s publicity division head, Yang Shuyun, as saying.

The electroshock and psychotropic drug treatment had cost patients 5,500 yuan ($805) a month.

As of the first quarter of the year, China had around 320 million Internet users, according to vice-minister of Industry and Information Technology Xi Guohua.

Many Internet addiction treatment centers have opened in recent years, offering a wide range of treatment options. The many types of treatment reflects the fact that the addiction is not classified as a mental illness, said experts.

Specialists, including Tao, came up with a diagnostic definition of Internet addiction last year after four years of study and analysis of more than 1,300 cases. The standard has not yet been endorsed by the MOH.

Costa Rican Oil Refinery (RECOPE) and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) on Wednesday signed a supplement contract for the establishment of a joint venture to build an oil refinery.

The RECOPE and the CNPC signed an agreement in late 2008 to form a joint venture, but the deal was not ratified by the Costa Rican Comptroller’s Office, which said the joint venture would violate the RECOPE’s legal monopoly on oil refining and distribution.

RECOPE Executive President Jose Leon Desanti told Xinhua that with the supplement contract, it is clear there is no rupture on the monopoly of the state-owned giant and it also set the shares of both companies at the joint venture.

The supplement contract will be subject to the Comptroller’s Office for further review.

With an investment of 1 billion U.S. dollars, the new refinery will allow Costa Rica to increase its oil refining capacity from 18,000 to 60,000 barrels per day.

The project is the CNPC’s first in Central America after the two countries forged diplomatic relations in 2007.

A Japanese real estate giant signed on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding on a 3-billion-yuaninvestment in the Sino-Singapore Eco-City in north China’s Tianjin with the project’s developer.

Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. will spend the money, equal to about 440 million U.S. dollars, on a land of 40 hectares to build a high-end waterfront residential community in the eco-city in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, according to the MOU between the Japanese company and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co. Ltd.(TEID).

The community, designed to be auto-free, is expected to be completed by 2013.

TEID President Wu Caiwen said the cooperation with Mitsui Fudosan marks significant progress in the eco-city’s development.

The eco-city, a cooperation program between Chinese and Singaporean governments, is 45 km away from downtown Tianjin.

The Binhai New Area was authorized by the central government in2005 as an experimental development zone as a “new engine of growth” for north China.

One couple died after a blast in a residential building Wednesday morning in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province, police said.

An initial investigation showed that the blast happened at 7:50a.m. in a rented flat on the fourth floor of the building in Yuhua District, the district police said. The flat was rented by the couple, Long Wenxian and Liu Yinwu, who had been struggling to divorce, they added.

The blast caused no other casualties. The police excluded the possibility of a gas leak triggered explosion.

The first floor of the building is a wholesale vegetable market. Business resumed Wednesday afternoon.

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter this year is forecast to accelerate close to 7.8 percent, Goldman Sachs Asia and the Beijing-based Gaohua Securities Company said in a report Wednesday.

“The figure is above our previous forecast of 7.0 percent year on year,” said Song Yu, one author of the report and Goldman Sachs Asia’s economist on China’s macro-economy.

According to the report, economic performance of China in June will show robust improvements, with the industrial output expected to rise about 10 percent in June from 8.9 percent in May.

Fixed asset investment in June is forecast to grow 42 percent year on year, up from 38.7 percent in May.

Exports is expected to decline 22 percent in June from a year earlier, smaller from a 26.4 percent dip in May, while imports may post a eased drop at 18.0 percent from a 25.2 percent fall in May.

The consumer price index is expected to fall 1.5 percent in June from a year ago, compared with a 1.4 percent drop in May. Producer price index would decline 7.6 percent year on year, compared with a slide of 7.2 percent in May.

Zhou Xiaochun, governor of the country’s central bank, said in late June that the second quarter is expected to be better than the first, when the gross domestic product grew 6.1 percent. The National Bureau of Statistics said in June that China’s GDP will grow close to eight percent in the second quarter.

China is due to release its second-quarter GDP data in mid-July.