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Wall Street faces an interesting few weeks as commentators debate whether the recovery in the Dow Jones average this year is the start of a new bull market or heading for a fall.

Since the beginning of March, when the Dow Jones average hit a multi-year-low at 6,547, the index has increased more than 50 percent.

“To a certain degree, the market is perhaps sitting on the head of a pin. The market could easily be moved one way or the other,” Theodore Weisberg, a stock trading veteran with Seaport Securities, told Xinhua earlier this week.

The Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke claimed the economy was “on the verge of recovery” last Friday. However, Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the financial crisis, said the chance of a double-dip recession was increasing because of risks related to the ending of global monetary and fiscal stimulus programs.

According to Weisberg, “The obvious answer is perhaps Bernanke is correct, which is being evidenced by the continuous strength in the stock market. We know that the stock market is a leading indicator, not a trailing indicator. It tends to look ahead three, six or 12 months. The tape simply says, I think, that it is looking ahead at an improving U.S. economy.

“But on the other hand, the financial press have had many stories about perhaps the market has in fact got away ahead of itself. The economy really is not as robust as we like to believe,” he added. “It’s a bit of dilemma.”

Despite the signs of recovery, some analysts hold that the economy is still fragile, noting that a number of companies have been able to report better-than-expected earnings in the first half-year in large part because of aggressive cost-cutting measures and outsourcing, not stronger sales. Revenue is still sagging as consumers forgo spending to shore up their savings.

The stock market surge was not only based on positive economic fundamentals and corporate earnings, but also driven by excess liquidity, said Li Shanquan, vice president of OppenheimerFunds Inc.

The Bush and Obama administrations launched enormous economic stimulus plans to free up the frozen liquidity, which was caused by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Partly because of these aggressive efforts, there are some signs that the economy has stabilized. Meanwhile, the massive money flow poses inflation threats and other side-effects.

The Federal Reserve faced a tricky balancing act ahead: how to make sure an economic recovery gains needed momentum, while guarding against inflation or another bubble-induced crisis, Li pointed out.

Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors in the world, expressed worries in a recent article in the New York Times: “The threat of inflation may be as ominous as that posed by the financial crisis itself.”

The Federal Reserve’s recent policy statements implied that its short-term interest rate for banks will remain near zero percent, probably into next year and Obama’s decision to renominate Bernanke Tuesday shows the president has opted for continuity in U.S. economic policy.

“But the policy may change sooner or later. As many countries will seek to reverse their economic policies, the financial marketwill probably take on fluctuations in a large scope,” said Li.

Weisberg says: “The market wants to do better and perhaps the economy is improving. But we are certainly technically overbought. We are due for a correction and it’s not going to take much to get that correction, the real test for all of us will be when we get that sell off and we will get it.”

“I would agree with those traders that say that September is problematical. Something about the fall (September and October) basically tends to make the market very nervous. Also bear in mind, October is the end of the fiscal year for a lot of mutual funds. So there tends to be a lot of window-dressing in October,” he added.

Taliban insurgents raided a police check in the restive Balamirghab district of northwest Badghis province killing three policemen, deputy to provincial governor Abdul Ghani Sabir said Wednesday.

“A group of militants raided police checkpoint in Murichap village near Turkmenistan border Tuesday night killing three police constables,” Sabir told Xinhua.

Five more policemen have gone missing and apparently the insurgents kidnapped them, he added.

Taliban militants have intensified their activities since early this year as on Tuesday the insurgents carried a series of car bombs in southern Kandahar province leaving some 40 people mostly civilians dead and injured over 60 others.

The latest stage in the development of cross-Strait relations got off to a good start as the first weekend charter flights with Chinese mainland tourists arrived in Taiwan, an official with the mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) said on Monday.

“The prospects are bright for the development of cross-Strait relations,” said Wang Zaixi, vice chairman of the ARATS.

Communication based on mutual trust is the key to the latest development, said Wang. With more communication and contacts, the two sides will achieve more common understanding, which will lead to a stable and peaceful cross-Strait relationship, he said.

A win-win goal can be achieved as the two sides develop together in a peaceful environment, he said.

Wang arrived in Taipei on Sunday, and on Monday attended the opening ceremony of the 13th seminar on Chinese modernization, which was co-hosted by the ARATS and a Taiwan-based foundation of Chinese modernization.

Chiang Pin-kun, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), also attended the ceremony.

Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Wednesday toured Yingxiu Town and Dujiangyan City, in Sichuan Province, two of the areas worst hit areas by last year’s May 12 earthquake, which left more than 80,000 dead and millions homeless.

Chiang, accompanied by Chen Yunlin, president of the mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, and Huang Xiaoxiang, deputy governor of Sichuan, offered condolences to the families of those killed.

They inspected a residential project financed by the Taiwan-funded Enterprises Association and an elementary school built with donations from Taiwan companies.

Chen thanked the Taiwan people for their donations. The mainland association had invited the SEF to visit the earthquake areas to show how their contributions were being spent.

Chiang has ended his tour in Sichuan and is scheduled to visit Chongqing and Shenzhen cities.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday Israel has to endorse the two-state solution and stops Jewish settlements in the West Bank before resuming the peace talks.

Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, Abbas said the Fatah movement, would keep pursuing peace talks to establish a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel but reserves the right to resist Israeli occupation.

“The Fatah movement will continue sticking to the program of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to end the occupation and establish the independent Palestinian statehood through negotiations but without dropping the right of resistance,” he said.

The Fatah movement, which was created in the 1950s, rejects some offers — mostly Israelis — that call for building a Palestinian statehood with temporary borders and settling the Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Abbas said.

Fatah, which became a dominant force in the PLO when it was founded in 1964 as an umbrella group, has engaged in negotiations with Israel off and on since 1993.

The Palestinian president also announced that the Fatah general convention has ended “with superior success.”

His remarks were made following the first meeting of the new Fatah central committee that was elected during the movement’s sixth general conference that kicked off in the holy city of Bethlehem since Aug. 4.

Abbas, in his capacity as the Fatah leader, maintained his seat in the central committee, the movement’s executive body.

Fourteen new members were elected to the central committee and five others retained their positions. The newly elected committee members have the right to nominate three more to fill its 23 seats.

Ye Liying will be looking for a successful debut in her maiden China LPGA Tour appearance when the top Chinese tees it up on Tuesday at the 50,000 U.S. dollars Orient Ningbo Championship in Zhejiang province.

The 30-year-old Fujian native comes into the fourth leg of the inaugural China LPGA Tour season on the back of a strong first half on the Japan LPGA Tour where she posted five top-10 finishes to sit 18th on the Order of Merit with 20,059,000 yen (211,035 U.S. dollars) in earnings.

“Every player should support her home tour if she has time. It’s her responsibility, even if she plays overseas. The CLPGA Tour needs our support,” said Ye after her practice round in heavy rain at Orient (Ningbo) Sports and Country Club on Tuesday.

“I’m free this week and happy to join the field in Ningbo. I want to enjoy my home event. I haven’t seen my best friends for half a year, and missed them more than I can say. I am here to share my joy with them.”

Ye, a four-time winner in China last year, demonstrated last month that she is a player to watch when she posted her best result in Japan with a runner-up finish at the Suntory Ladies Open in Kobe. Despite the strong performance, she was reluctant to predict when she would break through and win overseas.

“It’s not under my control. I can’t say when or where. I have to keep going and hopefully it’s going to come my way. There’s always intense competition in Japan. If you stop working hard you might lose your card next year. Every year many fresh faces get through at Q-School. They are hungry. It’s good for the players and Tour because of the deep field.

“I believe in our (Chinese) players’ capabilities. If anything, I think what they are missing is experience. The China LPGA Tour will give them the good platform they need. The China LPGA Tour is a new force in Asia. I believe it will evolve into a developed Tour like the JLPGA Tour in five to 10 years.”

The Shanghai-based Ye will undoubtedly face her strongest competition this week in compatriots Yang Taoli, Yang Hongmei and Huang Pin, the respective winners of the first three China LPGA Tour events this year, a six-strong group of Thais led by Porani Chutichai, and four Australians.

Perth native Danielle Bowers will be looking to repeat a career-best performance she demonstrated last year in Shanghai when she finished equal second at the Binhai Ladies Open in the Ladies European Tour event. She will also have extra support this week from younger sister Nicole Montgomery who is also in the Ningbo field.

“Yeah, I have a lot of fond memories of China. My game is much better now so I hope that I can do well and maybe do one better,” said the 24-year-old. “But definitely feeling good and hopefully it will happen again. With the course being very soft this week I’m expecting some low numbers will be posted.”

Undergoing surgery on his left, Corinthians’ star striker Ronaldo received 12 pins and two titanium plates in his left hand on Wednesday.

The player hurt himself on July 26 during a match against Palmeiras. Colliding into Souza, Ronaldo fell onto the ground, placing all his weight on his left hand, and broke his middle and ring finger.

The multiple fractures did not require surgery, but the athlete opted for the operation in order to speed up his return time.

Ronaldo is expected to miss nearly 40 days, or eight games for Corinthians. He will be able to return to practice in 10 days and is forecasted to return to play in four to six weeks.

The striker will spend the night in the Sao Luiz Hospital in Sao Paulo for observations. He is scheduled to be released on July 30.

Georgia will not resort to force to regain the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Monday.

Excluding a new “war” against Russia, Saakashvili told media that his country pins hope on the support of the international community in resuming its territorial integrity.

The United States holds the same stance with Georgia in this regard, the president said.

During a visit to Georgia late July, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the problems in Georgia’s conflict zones should be resolved through peaceful means instead of resorting to military force.

Biden reiterated that the United States would not recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Tensions in the border area between Georgia and South Ossetia were heightened days before the first anniversary of Georgia’s brief war with Russia in August last year.

While Georgia accused South Ossetia of shooting at Georgian villages, South Ossetian authorities said the suburbs of its capital of Tskhinvali were attacked by Georgian mortars. No one was hurt in the shootings.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday warned of using military force to defend South Ossetia “in case of further provocations threatening the republic’s population and the Russian military contingent stationed in South Ossetia.”

South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Tbilisi’s rule during a war in the 1990s that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war last summer, when Georgia attacked South Ossetia to retake the renegade region that borders Russia. In response, Moscow sent in troops to drive Georgian forces out of the region.

Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states two weeks after the conflict ended.

Decked out in traditional Korean dress, Choe greets diners at the entrance of the Korea Restaurant in Dandong, Liaoning province.

Elegant and light-skinned, Choe, 23, sports a luxury Gucci watch on her left wrist - and a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) flag pin on her chest.

Choe is no ordinary waitress and her workplace is no ordinary restaurant.

“Do you like our seafood pancake?” Choe, who only offered her first name, asked China Daily reporters during the weekend, as she placed another piece of the dish on the plate.

Choe says she came to Dandong four months ago. Her restaurant is one of Dandong’s most luxurious and one of the few establishments in the Chinese city bordering the DPRK that is still seeing brisk business in the wake of Pyongyang’s nuclear test in May and subsequent missile launches.

The Korea Restaurant, is located near the only bridge linking Dandong and the DPRK, through which the Chinese army reached the DPRK and joined the Korean War in 1950. All of about 20 tables were full on the Saturday afternoon we visited recently, despite prices that are double that of common restaurants in Dandong serving the same food.

Some men from the DPRK in dark yellow or blue suits, with pins of DPRK leader on their chests, also dined there.

Choe’s colleagues, equally young and attractive, wait at tables in blue skirt suits and light makeup. They wear stylish, high-heeled shoes and watches, serving guests with smiles.

“The main reason for the restaurant’s good business is the DPRK waitresses. It’s the easiest way to meet people from that country,” said a taxi driver, surnamed Li.

“Though border trade has been slashed, more and more people are interested in the DPRK after the recent events. You can even see more Westerners here,” Li said.

Shan Jie, board chairman of the Dandong Federal Business Corp which runs cross-border trade, said the waitresses “are by no means common DPRK citizens”.

“They’re all children of DPRK cadres and graduates of Kim Il-sung University. They can speak Chinese, and are very talented in singing and dancing,” said Shan, who has conducted businesses with the DPRK for 16 years. Most of the DPRK cadres attend that university, he said.

The girls were sent to Dandong for training and will have “a promising future as civil servants” when going back home, Shan said.

“It’s a good opportunity for them to practice Chinese and meet Chinese people of all levels. Besides, they earn money for their country,” he said.

Pyongyang has many restaurants in Dandong, and many DPRK ministries such as the ministries of trade and security have their own restaurants there, Shan said.

Choe said the Korea Restaurant is of the same restaurant chain as Beijing Pyongyang Begonia Flower Restaurant, a famous luxury Korean restaurant said to be run by a DPRK merchant with a military background.

When asked whether she is the daughter of DPRK officials, Choe switched to speaking in Korean with a colleague before ending the conversation.

“The girls here mostly work for one and half years I’ll stay for about three years,” Choe said.

“Dandong is pretty and people here are quite nice. But I will go back to my country, Pyongyang is the most beautiful place in the world.”

Ahead of the visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, Liberians from various spectrum of the country have called on the government led by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to use the chance to frankly tell the U.S. government that it is obliged to play its role as a traditional friend by increasing its investment in the western African country.

They said Liberian President Sirleaf must boldly tell Hillary Clinton that the United States needs to increase investment in Liberia in the areas of banking and factories, something which they said will help guarantee the peace and stability of the war-ravaged nation.

Alphonso Toweh, the manager of a local consultancy firm, told Xinhua that Liberia needs more American related business institutions in the country as a way of attracting American interest in Liberia’s post war reconstruction efforts.

“I will expect that our president will be frank to tell Mrs. Clinton that it needs the U.S. attention more than every before and that the U.S. government should prioritize Liberia’s interest as its traditional friend in all aspects. We (Liberia) should not play any sycophancy role in this visit but we must tell America, our traditional friend, that it needs to do more for Liberia,” he said.

For his part, Clarence Andrews, a student of Political Science at the University of Liberia, expressed the hope that Mrs. Clinton’s visit would bring back the programs that Liberians once cherish before the outbreak of the Liberian civil war in 1989, such as the activities of the U.S. Peace Corp Volunteers, who were deployed across Liberian to assist in the areas of health care and education.

“For me I think the visit will reduce the fear among us that the current U.S. administration of President Barrack Obama does not have interest in Liberia. This is a visit that signals the coming back home spirit between the two countries and I expect that it will reawaken the spirit in the relationship between the two countries,” he added.

Lawrence Fahnbullah, an accountant by profession, welcomed the forthcoming visit by the U.S. secretary of State but lashed at the U.S. government for not doing enough to lift up Liberia following years of conflict.

“I personally feel that America has not demonstrated a true sense of friendship to us as a people especially after the war. The United States in my mind can be held responsible for most of the problems of this nation, but what comes to mind is what have they done to rescue our nation from the trauma of the war?” he asked.

Fahnbullah, like most others, said should there be more U.S. investments in the country it will discourage acts of insurgency or coup in the western African nations, stressing that the United States must demonstrate its true commitment to the friendship by increasing its support and making them practical to the nation.

Melissa Broh, a nurse at Liberia’s largest hospital the John F. Kennedy Medical Center Hospital, said the visit by Hillary Clinton should send a signal to all Liberians that the challenge is now theirs to keep and sustain the peace of the nation.

“Too many important personalities are visiting this country. All of these visits, in my view, are all opportunities we must take advantage of to turn our country for the best,” she stressed.

Hillary Clinton is currently on a seven-nation African tour which has already taken her to Kenya, South Africa, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is now in Nigeria for a visit and will go to Cape Verde, the last leg of her African tour.

The visit came three weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama visited western African country Ghana during which Obama unveiled U.S. foreign policies toward the African continent.