President xi jinping and other leaders joined more than 2800 representatives in the great hall of the people to vote on nine measures. The delegates passed a budget which will raise the fiscal deficit to a record high of 3 gdp. But nearly 300 voted against it. Observers say the results reflect a clash between those who want more stimulus and those concerned about the widened deficit. They adopted other measures with bigger majority. China lower its annual growth target to 6. 5 for the next five years. It pledges to lift more than 50 Million People out of poverty. Premier li keqiang addressed concerns that chinas economy is headed for a crash. Translator as long as china maintains its policy of reform and opening up, the economy will not experience a hard landing. Li says the government will push ahead with reforms targeting overproduction in heavy industries and stateowned firms. For more insight our colleague spoke with nhk senior commentator who is in beijing. She asked him about the
The Pope visited Lebanon at a precarious time. The destabilisation of Syria may have given Christians more room to manoeuvre, but they are also being dragged into the conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Mona Naggar reports from Beirut
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