Five new countries joined the UN Security Council (UNSC) as non-permanent members starting from the new year, while Jordan assumed Thursday the rotating presidency of the Council for January. Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania and Nigeria have begun their two-year term, replacing Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo, Xinhua reported Friday. Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zedi Al-Hussein, […]
Israeli F16 fighter jets carried out several raids in the Gaza Strip early Friday after Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel, witnesses and security sources said. The air strikes targetted militant training sites and open spaces in the middle and north of the coastal enclave started just after midnight. There were no immediate […]
The volume of oil theft in oil rich Nigeria’s Niger Delta region has reduced from 100,000 barrels to 40,00 barrels per day, the governor of oil rich Delta State said Thursday. Although the quantity of the stolen crude was still on the high side, with proactive measures by government, the menace would be checked, reported […]
Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), has condemned the Syrian regime for using brutal methods to continue killing its people. Al-Zayani, it was reported Thursday, said that the regime’s forces were killing people and destroying Syrian cities, regardless of both humanitarian and ethical […]
A Chinese helicopter Thursday transferred all 52 passengers aboard a stranded Russian ship to a safer place near an Australian rescue ship, 10 days after the MV Akademik Shokalskiy got stuck in ice in the Antarctic sea. The passengers, as well as luggage, scientific instruments and equipment, were flown to a safer place near the […]
India and the Maldives Thursday agreed to “amicably resolve” all differences, including on the GMR issue, as visiting Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen held talks here with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he has requested the Maldives government to “amicably settle the issue of the Male International Airport”. The two sides also […]
South Korea’s senior military officer Thursday cautioned about a possible good cop-bad cop strategy of North Korea, pointing towards the New Year’s address made by its top leader. Seoul’s Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin said North Korea might conduct the carrot-and-stick strategy, which means Pyongyang could offer to hold dialogue with Seoul while having an axe […]
Chile took its seat at the United Nations Security Council(UNSC) as a non-permanent member of the international body till Dec 31, 2015. It marked the fifth time the South American nation has been invited to sit on the council and help uphold the UN’s “principles of non-intervention and respect for international treaties”, Chile’s foreign ministry […]
The toll has risen to 33 in the suicide bombing attacks earlier this week in the Russian city of Volgograd, the country’s emergencies ministry said Tuesday. The city’s railway station was bombed Sunday and a bus was ripped apart Monday, raising fears of Islamist attacks on the upcoming Winter Olympics in Soch, some 1,600 km […]
Mount Sinabung, one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, erupted Tuesday, spewing hot ash up to 7,000 metres high along with lava and forcing evacuation, an official said. Hot lava burst forth with flames from the crater and slid off the southeast slope of the volcano, leading the authorities to warn all residents nearby […]