accused Islamabad of continuing to support the group,http://www.pb-f.com/index.php?file=Forum&page=viewtopic&forum_id=1&thread_id=198862. Pakistan has denied the allegations, but many analysts believe the country continues to see the Taliban as an important ally in Afghanistan to counter archenemy India. The U.S. and its allies fighting in Afghanistan are pushing to strike a peace deal with the Taliban as international combat troops wind down their campaign by the end of 2014. But obstacles remain, and it is unclear whether the Taliban even intend to take part in the process, rather than just wait until foreign forces withdraw. With the 2014 deadline looming and security in the country still elusive,tomsoutletsalecheap.com, the U.S. and Afghanistan are negotiating a bilateral security agreement will set up a legal framework needed to continue to operate American forces in Afghanistan after that date. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download.[标签:标题]
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press BEIJING (AP) New communist leader Xi Jinping is on a mission to soften the image of Chinese officialdom, winning kudos for his breezy personal style and ordering leaders to take a knife to the pomp, formality and waste that have alienated many among the public. With his silky baritone, glamorous wife and daughter at Harvard, Xi cuts a very different figure from the staid, hyper-private leaders of the past. Even his posture,http://bbs.cooo7.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=166314, more like that of a slouchy college professor than a stiff party cadre, has won him plaudits. Xi took the new informality a step further at a Tuesday meeting of the 25-member Politburo, ordering that arrangements for leaders' visits and the trappings of power be drastically pared back. Elaborate welcoming ceremonies will be eliminated, traffic disruptions avoided, and staid, often worthless reporting on the doings of the leadership dispensed with. Even red carpets are to go. And according to Hong Kong media that is what happened on Xi's first trip outside Beijing since he took over as party leader,cheaptomsshoessalei.com. When Xi arrived in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Friday there were no welcome banners, and the red carpet was gone when he laid a wreath to the statute of the former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping on Saturday, according to footage by Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television,http://zaixuexiao.com/plus/view.php?aid=357426. It's still unclear whether the tonal change will boost transparency and bring meaningful administrative reforms that many say are needed to sustain China's economic and social development. The son of a communist elder, Xi has also gained a reputation as a nationalist hardliner with earlier comments blasting foreigners for criticizing China's human rights record. Yet his direct approach seems to be winning Xi fans among a public with whom he remains largely unfamiliar, despite his long career in public service and five years serving as the country's vice president. "Xi has made a positive first impression,toms shoes, which is going to be a big help given the tough job he faces," said Edward Huang, a Beijing financier who recently returned to China after almost a decade in Britain. As evidence, Huang cites Xi's