Arab League Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Hossam Zaki has said the pan-Arab organisation is optimistic about achieving progress on the situation in war-torn Yemen. “In spite of the difficult situation in Yemen and the humanitarian crisis there, we are optimistic that progress could be achieved in the Yemeni file next year,” he said on Wednesday, […]
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday that the wartime sexual slavery issue of “comfort women” cannot be resolved by a 2015 agreement with Japan. Moon’s comments came a day after Seoul’s Foreign Ministry confirmed a secret deal in the 2015 agreement, Xinhua news agency reported. The government in Seoul then under impeached President […]
The Spanish government has approved a series of measures aimed at preventing gender-based violence, an issue which has left 47 women dead there so far in 2017. The measures would include improving on help and protection provided to victims, carrying out awareness and education campaigns and providing professional training, Efe news reported. Coordination between courts […]
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who saw his salary and perks jump 47 per cent to almost $13 million in 2017, will now fly on private aircraft even for personal travel for “security and safety reasons”. According to a new shareholder proxy statement from Apple, the board of directors has approved that Cook will fly on […]
Japan will not relocate its embassy from Israel’s Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has said. In talks with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, Kono on Tuesday said that Tokyo considers Jerusalem as one of the final status issues that need to be settled through direct negotiations. Kono reiterated Japan’s support for […]
At least 32 people, including women and children, were killed Monday in airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led Arab coalition near the Yemeni capital and in the provinces of al-Hudaydah and Damar. Eleven died in the town of Aser, near Sanaa, eyewitnesses told Efe. The bombs destroyed a house located behind the town’s Egyptian Cemetery, […]
Russia’s central election commission on Monday rejected the registration of the opposition leader’s candidacy for the country’s upcoming presidential race. According to local media, 12 out of 15 commission members voted against Alexei Navalny’s bid to register as a candidate in the March 2018 election to run against popular incumbent Vladimir Putin. Navalny, who leads […]
Pope Francis I on Monday called on Christians to pray for all the children living in places ravaged by war and conflict in his traditional Christmas Day message. In his annual Urbi et Orbi (“to the City and the World”) nativity address, which he delivered from the central loggia of the Vatican Basilica, the pontiff […]
US President Donald Trump said he was proud to wish people a Merry Christmas, and so defend the beautiful time-honoured phrase against political correctness. “People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!” Trump said on […]
A British frigate has escorted a Russian warship through the North Sea near UK waters on Christmas Day, the Royal Navy has revealed. Russia has not commented on the issue, the BBC reported. In a statement, the Royal Navy said HMS St Albans was called upon to sail on December 23, and “keep watch on […]