The U.S. president is speaking to a select group of "future leaders" and students on the value of China, cooperation with the U.S., human rights. Meanwhile in Shanghai, Beijing and other parts of the country's dissidents and activists under house arrest or forced "vacation."

Kurt Campbell, deputy Secretary of State and Scott Marciel, will meet the military leadership and dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. However, facetime with the chief Than Shwe appears unlikely. The Obama administration seeks dialogue with the dictatorship, the Burmese opposition does not expect "major changes".

A former Reuters diplomatic correspondent releases his second novel, a coming of age piece set in Ceausescu's Romania.

The court in Shaoguan also ruled life imprisonment and penalties of five to eight years for those responsible for the clashes in a factory city in southern China. The episode sparked Muslim Uyghurs protests in Xinjiang in July that culminated in clashes between demonstrators and police, 200 dead, 800 injured and hundreds of arrests.

Benedict XVI recalls the martyrs under communism, who "drew strength" from the Gospel and calls everyone to a witness of love. Full text.

In Prague, Benedict XVI recalls the persecution of Christians during the 40 years of communism, which wanted to eliminate the Church, but "without God man does not know where to go and does not even understand who he is."

Ye Xiaowen is now Party secretary of the Central Institute for socialism with the rank of minister. Under his direction, the Religious Affairs Bureau has persecuted underground Christian communities, Tibetans, Falun Gong.