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• BEIJING (AP) -- As Hu Jintao steps down as head of China's Communist Party after 10 years in power, he's hearing something unusual for a Chinese leader: sharp criticism.
• In media commentaries, think-tank position papers and the less censored blogosphere, Hu's reign is being portrayed as a missed opportunity to tackle longstanding problems grown more deep-seated, from a yawning rich-poor gulf and worsening environmental degradation to stiffly authoritarian politics. One commentary has referred to the period as a "lost decade."
• "We didn't realize Hu would turn out to be so conservative," said Wu Jiaxiang, a former party researcher-turned-businessman and avid blogger, summing up the disappointment of many in China's chattering classes. He dates his own disappointment with Hu to the closing of liberal-minded websites in 2005.
• Some of the criticisms are designed to influence Xi Jinping, who will begin taking over from the technocratic, ultra-reserved 69-year-old Hu at a party congress that opens Thursday.
• Mainstream state media, which answer to the party and dominate what most Chinese see, read and hear, have been praising the Hu era, calling it a "Glorious Decade."
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• JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. (AP) -- Staff Sgt. Robert Bales made a mid-massacre confession, asked for help bleaching his blood-stained clothing and deliberately destroyed his laptop computer, fellow soldiers have testified -- statements that prosecutors say show he knew what he was doing the night 16 civilians were slaughtered in two villages in southern Afghanistan.
• The remarks, offered by soldiers testifying for the government Monday and Tuesday, could pose a high hurdle for defense lawyers who have indicated that Bales' mental health will be a big part of their case. Testimony continues with several more witnesses Wednesday in a preliminary hearing that is being held to help determine whether the case goes to a court martial.

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