Poll: Pakistanis view Taliban as threat

ISLAMABAD -- More than 80 percent of Pakistanis view the Taliban and al-Qaida as a critical threat to the country, an opinion poll released Wednesday said, marking a turn in public opinion that stands to bolster the army's ongoing offensive against militants close to the Afghan border.

The findings will likely be welcomed by Washington, which is pressing Islamabad to take the fight to insurgents blamed for scores of bloody bombings in nuclear-armed Pakistan in recent years as well as attacks on NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The army has been battling militants in the Swat Valley in the country's northwest since April, a campaign that has driven some 2 million civilians from their homes. In recent weeks, it has made initial forays into the mountainous tribal region of South Waziristan, where top Taliban and al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding.

The survey showed that 81 percent of Pakistanis believe the activities of the Taliban and other Muslim extremists were a "critical threat" to the country, up from the 34 percent polled on the same question in September 2007. Eighty-two percent said Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida was also a critical threat, exactly twice as many who thought so two years ago.

China agency plans English TV service

BEIJING -- The main media arm of the Chinese government said Wednesday it had launched a trial run for an international English-language television news service as part of a drive to boost the country's image and global media influence.

The Xinhua News Agency said its reporters across China and in more than 110 countries will produce domestic and international news that will be delivered to customers around the world at TV stations, Web sites, outdoor screens and to mobile users.

The move comes as the People's Daily, the staid daily that chronicles the activities of the Communist Party leadership and publishes editorials praising official policies, also expands its international coverage.

Xinhua would "interpret global events objectively and impartially from a Chinese angle and bring novel perspectives to foreign audiences," the agency quoted its president, Li Congjun, as telling an inauguration ceremony.

He said Xinhua would strive to become "an important TV news supplier for the world's users." That would potentially make it a competitor to news agencies such as The Associated Press and ThomsonReuters which already provide television footage along with text stories and photographs to worldwide customers.

The service will be formally launched on Dec. 31. It will be transmitted through satellite to Chinese users, and over the Internet to users in other countries.