The Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping has told US business leaders the time is right for a new starting point in relations between the two countries. Speaking in Washington, Mr Xi said China welcomed a constructive US role in promoting peace in the Asia-Pacific region, but he said Washington had to respect China's interests and concerns in the area. Correspondents say this is Beijing's response to America's new policy of strengthening its military and political presence in Asia.
The president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, has announced that he will step down at the end of his five-year term in June. It opens the possibility that for the first time a non-American could be chosen to head the bank. Last year, new guidelines were adopted calling for an open
merit
-based selection process.
The Sri Lankan army has agreed to investigate allegations aired on British television that government forces committed war crimes in the final stage of the conflict against the Tamil Tigers in 2009. It's something the army has always denied. Charles Haviland is in Colombo.
This is a big change. The army has come out with a statement saying it is looking into the allegations contained there, as it says,
irrespective
of the authenticity or otherwise of the video footage. So they are leaving open the notion that that footage might actually be authentic. The army has made clear that this is very much an internal army commission. They say it's a commission of inquiry at the moment and that if there is