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I have to admit I find the Chinese Xinhua news service to be informative, balanced, and attuned to reporting news, rather than the latest regarding boobs and politicians, which are not always the same thing. I recommend the service as a good source of news, free of US, CBC, and BBC filters.

Below is a news piece offered to show you how real events pop up at Xinhua - important news on positive developments with the evil doers in N. Korea.

I do have to admit, this news has been mentioned in our media, much to my surprise as it means the current administration is doing something good. I am sure we will get back to more important news like whether Carl Rove uses boxers or briefs.

The N. Koreans seem willing to back down and shut down the Yongbyon reactor, if the U.S. will let them have their money back. It seems we blocked accounts, claiming the North Koreans, or as XINHUA refers to them - the DPRK, were engaged in criminal activity, not just state-sponsored terrorism. Maybe we can get Kim (I'm so ronry) Jung Il on tax evasion.

It is rumored, by me, that DPRK is actually afraid of Team America-World Police flying in to take out the government. [Lets put the "F" back in Freedom.] In any event, its nice to see that the communist North is using leverage, the threat of thermonuclear destruction, to get capitalist money.

Finally, they got it!

Check out the site. Click on the headline above. If you poke around, you will find pages where the events are reported as they happened, then, below, are links to the Chinese reactions, then other government reactions. What a bizarre way to report on world news.

By way of contrast, CNN's page this day had pictures of "People" protesting the US being in Sadr City (the people were curiously all males 18-30). CNN didn't seem to find a picture to use regarding the use of chlorine gas by the murderers, oh, insurgents in three attacks. Probably, because there were only a few dead and 350 with seared lungs. Or, as they put it, 350 injured.

There was one sentence on U.S. troops killing two gangsters setting up a roadside bomb. Superb balance.

FROM Xinhua:

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Kim Kye-Gwan, top negotiator of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), arrived here Saturday morning for the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Kim Kye-Gwan, top negotiator of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), arrived in Beijing Saturday morning.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

The DPRK would not shut down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor if the United States did not first lift financial bans on DPRK accounts in the Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a Macao-based bank, Kim told reporters upon his arrival in Beijing for a new round of the six-party talks scheduled to open on Monday.

Kim, DPRK's vice foreign minister, said the DPRK has not received any notification regarding the lifting of financial sanctions yet.

He said it is "unnecessary" for the DPRK and the United States to set up liaison offices. Concerning the HEU (Highly Enriched Uranium) issue, the DPRK is willing to cooperate with the United States, and the DPRK would like to explain if the U.S. side provides evidence, Kim said.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Wednesday a plan to resolve the financial dispute with the DPRK by formally barring U.S. financial institutions from dealing with the BDA.

The United States slapped sanctions on the BDA in 2005 and put it on a money-laundering blacklist, prompting Macao to freeze the 24 million dollars believed to belong to the DPRK. In return, the DPRK boycotted the subsequent six-party talks for more than one year.

As part of the nuclear deal reached during the six-party talks in Beijing on Feb. 13, the United States agreed to settle the financial dispute with the DPRK within 30 days. The United States has accused the DPRK of using the bank to launder illegal earnings and the DPRK has urged the United States to lift the sanctions.

Related:

DPRK reported to have started preparations for shutting down Yongbyon facilities