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The World Bank boosted its growth forecast for China and said rising inflation should level off but warned Beijing needs to make the economy less reliant on trade to sustain its expansion. In a quarterly update released Wednesday, the bank said China's politically contentious trade surplus is likely to swell further in 2011, though it cautioned that weak global demand means Beijing shouldn't rely so heavily on exports. The bank raised its 2010 growth outlook from 9.5 percent to 10 percent and its growth outlook for next year from 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent. Growth eased in the third quarter to 9.6 percent from 10.3 percent the previous quarter as Beijing tried to steer it to a more manageable level. "Growth is likely to moderate somewhat more in 2011 and the medium term to a still robust pace," the bank said. Despite a largely upbeat outlook, the bank said Beijing needs to do more to boost domestic demand and cut reliance on exports and investment. Comm

    Walk the talk? Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, left, walks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono prior to their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. AP/Dita Alangkara President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to fly to Yogyakarta later today to meet people displaced by Mt. Merapi multiple eruptions in the past few days. The President is slated to fly to Yogyakarta at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, after meeting with visiting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Tempointeraktif.com reported Tuesday. Yudhoyono earlier said that he had contacted governors of Yogyakarta and West Java, to make sure that people displaced by the eruption are taken care of. "I ordered (the two governors) to try their best to save the lives of our brothers and sisters around Mt. Merapi," he said. He also called on the people to improve their preparedness in the face of multiple disasters, considering that Indonesia is prone to natural di

    Anticipated: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ( left ) meets refugees of the erupted Mt. Merapi at a shelter in Purwobinangun, Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Wednesday. Yudhoyono asked the refugees to be patient and sensitive with Merapi activities. Antara/Regina Safri President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was welcomed by another eruption at Mount Merapi on Wednesday morning when he was about to visit a shelter site for refugees in Pakem, Sleman, Yogyakarta. An officer at the Mt. Merapi observation post, Agus, said that the eruption occurred at around 8:20 a.m. “It was a single eruption but quite big. The mountain spewed hot clouds which moved about five kilometers to west,” he added as quoted by Kompas.com. Mt. Merapi, where an eruption on last Tuesday has killed 39 people so far, is still on top alert status as it still continues to erupt and spew hot clouds of ashes.

    On fire: Mount Merapi spews volcanic smoke as seen from Deles early Monday. AP/Irwin Fedriansyah Indonesia's most dangerous volcano showed no sign of tiring Tuesday, belching clouds of black smoke as fiery lava lit up its cauldron. Scientists warned that the slow but deadly eruption could continue for weeks, like a "marathon, not a sprint." The activity was accompanied by rumbling at 21 other active volcanos in Indonesia, twice the number usually on the government's "watch" list, which raised questions about what's causing the uptick along some of the world's most volatile fault lines. No casualties were reported in Mount Merapi's latest blast, which came as Indonesia struggled to respond to an earthquake-generated tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands. The two disasters unfolding in separate parts of the country have killed nearly 470 people and strained the government's emergency response network. In bo

Mount Merapi forced international airlines to cancel flights to nearby airports for the first time Tuesday, as fiery lava lit the rumbling mountain's cauldron and plumes of smoke blackened the sky. Scientists warned, meanwhile, that the slow but deadly eruption could continue for weeks, like a "marathon, not a sprint." No casualties were reported in Mount Merapi's latest blasts, which came as Indonesia struggled to respond to an earthquake-generated tsunami that devastated a remote chain of islands. The two disasters unfolding in separate parts of the country have killed nearly 470 people and strained the government's emergency response network. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanos because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the western and eastern Pacific. Merapi - one of 22 active earthquakes now on alert - has killed 38 people since springing