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As China looks ahead to 2012, Chinese economists are cautioning that the country is likely to have lower rates of economic growth than the nine percent expected for this year. They say the government also should be preparing the public for the possibility of more inflation. China Lays Out Ambitious 5-Year Plan to Explore Space China has announced an ambitious five-year plan to explore outer space. The plan includes Beijing's previously-stated goals of putting a man on the moon and building a space station. In a policy paper released Thursday, the China National Space Administration said Beijing will deploy space laboratories, launch manned spaceships and space freighters, and make technological preparations for the construction of a space station by the end of 2016. US Warns Iran Not to Close Key Oil Route The United States has sharply warned Iran against any move to close the vital Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran threatened to block oil shipments coming through the waterway if the West imposes sanctions targeting the country's crude oil exports. Pentagon press secretary George Little said Wednesday that "interference with the passage of vessels through the Strait will not be tolerated." Is Putin Showing Weakness in Face of Opposition Movement? Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin switches campaign managers in the middle of an election campaign. Is his position as solid as he would like the world to think? The prime minister was talking tough, telling a nationwide TV audience that the parliamentary elections are over, and it’s time to move on. The National Defense Authorization Act Repeals More Rights Ron Paul Little by little, in the name of fighting terrorism, our Bill of Rights is being repealed. The 4th amendment has been rendered toothless by the PATRIOT Act. No more can we truly feel secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects when now there is an exception that fits nearly any excuse for our government to search and seize our property. Will The Euro Survive 2012? The coming year could be the make-or-break moment for the embattled eurozone. It will be the year when the rescue plan for the euro presented by Germany and France this month in Brussels either takes flight upon a new spirit of European unity or falls flat amid nationalist squabbles. China Defends Human Rights Record Chinese dissident Chen Xi is seen in this undated handout photo released by his family on December 26, 2011. China is defending its human rights record after handing down harsh jail sentences for pro-democracy activists. Critics say that human rights suffered a setback in China this year, following a series of high-profile prosecutions. Death of a Tyrant Jon Kyl The recent death of the brutal North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is welcome news. Kim was a murderer and cruel oppressor who inhabited a bizarre alternate universe -- sipping on expensive cognac, taking in deleted scenes from Caddyshack while simultaneously banning even the simplest of pleasures for his own people, imposing unimaginable misery upon them. China, South Korea Hold Talks on North China and South Korea held strategy talks in what they promise will be increased communication aimed at ensuring the peninsula's stability. And two South Korean delegations have returned home after delivering personal condolences in Pyongyang to new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the death of his father Kim Jong Il. UN Concerned About China’s Clampdown on Human Rights Defenders The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, condemns the harsh prison sentences given to Chinese pro-democracy activists Chen Xi on Monday and Chen Wei on Friday. She says these convictions, which follow that of Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng in mid-December, represent another serious setback for the protection and promotion of human rights in China. Christmas Day Bombings Sweep Nigeria, At Least 39 Dead It was a bloody Christmas in Nigeria where at least four bomb blasts killed 39 people, including dozens at a Catholic church near Abuja. The radical Islamic group Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful," claimed responsibility for what appeared to have been coordinated attacks. Year In Review: War On Terror Shifts To Pakistan "We know that there are those who believe that in America's fight against Al-Qaeda we have imposed a war upon Pakistan. But violent extremists are a threat not just to the United States but to Pakistan as well, and indeed to the entire civilized world." These comments by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, made during a visit to Islamabad in January, were intended to assuage concerns in Pakistan and to set the tone for further cooperation in stamping out extremism.
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