US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to France and Kuwait from Jan 11 to 15 ahead of a key peace conference on Syrian crisis, the State Department said Wednesday. In Paris, the top US envoy will attend a ministerial meeting of the London 11, a group of countries backing the Syrian opposition, to […]
The Japanese government plans to register as state property around 280 remote islands it sees as being within its territorial waters in a bid to strengthen management over them, a senior minister said Tuesday. “The Japanese government plans to register the remote islands as part of its state property to enhance their management” Xinhua quoted […]
Hong Kong media mogul and philanthropist Run Run Shaw passed away aged 107 at home Tuesday morning, announced Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) of Hong Kong. TVB said in a press release that Shaw, its chairman emeritus, passed away peacefully at home in the presence of his family at 6.55 a.m., Xinhua reported. Born in 1907 […]
US Senate Monday confirmed Janet Yellen as the next head of the Federal Reserve, to replace the outgoing Fed chairman Ben Bernanke whose term ends at the end of this month. The Senate voted 56 to 26 to approve the confirmation, Xinhua reported. Yellen, currently the Fed’s vice chair, would become the first woman to […]
More than 1,800 flights were cancelled Monday as frigid weather caused a number of problems at both Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport, including the freezing of equipment used to fuel the planes. Southwest Airlines suspended operations at Midway until later Monday afternoon because of the refueling problems, but other major airlines including […]
in December. She was skiing near the resort of St. Moritz. Merkel will have to remain lying down as much as possible in the next three weeks and several visits will be cancelled, reported BBC quoting spokesperson Steffen Seibert. She also suffered severe bruising in the accident, which occurred in the Alpine Engadine region of […]
Thailand’s anti-government protestors Sunday morning began a warm-up rally to mobilise more people to join a mass campaign planned for Jan 13 to paralyse the capital. Led by Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary-general of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, protestors started around 10 a.m. a march of about eight km in downtown Bangkok, Xinhua reported. Similar warm-up […]
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has requested the US Coast Guard’s icebreaker Polar Star to assist the Russian vessel MV Akademik Shokalskiy and the Chinese vessel Xue Long (Snow Dragon) which are stuck by ice in Antarctica, Xinhua reported. AMSA has identified the Polar Star as a vessel capable of assisting the trapped vessels. […]
The direct talks set for Saturday between the warring sides of South Sudan have been delayed in absence of an agenda, the East African bloc IGAD said. According to sources of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the rival sides met Friday, but failed to agree on an agenda for direct talks to put […]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Saturday left for an official visit to the Middle East ahead of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva, the president’s office said. The UNHRC session in March is expected to discuss Sri Lanka, where the military has been accused of killing a large number of innocents in […]