Browsing: World News

A Japanese whaling fleet left port Saturday under tight security, marking the first hunt since the UN’s top court last month ordered Tokyo to stop killing whales in the Antarctic. Four ships departed from the northeastern fishing town of Ayukawa to…

Concerns are growing among anguished families that the bodies of those who died in the sinking of a South Korean ferry may never be found, as search teams suspended work Saturday because of bad weather. A looming storm and high tides put a temporary…

1. For over 2,500 years Iranians have been known for their beautiful and masterfully woven rugs. However, when Iranian…

President Barack Obama and top European leaders are moving ahead on a new round of sanctions against Russia, US officials said amid hints they could come within days. US sanctions could be imposed as early as Monday, a source close to the issue told…

The Group of Seven rich countries agreed Saturday to impose new sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, after Kiev accused Moscow of seeking to trigger a “third world war”. The G7 nations, in a joint statement, said they would “move swiftly…

A nearly two-week strike at a huge shoe factory in southern China appears to have ended after the Taiwan-backed company agreed to meet some of the workers’ demands, including raising their living allowance and benefit payments. More than 80 percent…

A key Palestine Liberation Organisation body was set to hold Saturday talks after Israel pulled out of US-sponsored peace negotiations in response to a Palestinian reconciliation deal with Hamas. The meeting of the PLO’s Central Council at its West…

US President Barack Obama was all about business even at a special sushi dinner in Tokyo, which Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wanted to use as a bonding opportunity, reports said Saturday. “It was all about work,” Abe told his key ministers Friday…

Two Chinese coastguard ships sailed into waters around disputed islands in the East China Sea Saturday, the Japanese coastguard said, two days after US President Barack Obama declared his support for Japan. The vessels entered 12 nautical miles (22…

North Korea is a “pariah state” whose heavily militarised border with the South marks “freedom’s frontier”, US President Barack Obama told American troops in Seoul on Saturday. Obama, who was wrapping up a two day visit to South Korea, said Pyongyang…

A new net neutrality proposal from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which includes rules that say broadband providers can’t block legal Web traffic, does not destroy open Internet principals and meets the goals of past efforts, the FCC…

North Korea will gain nothing by making threats, US President Barack Obama said Friday, warning it of sanctions with “more bite” if it went ahead with a fourth nuclear test. Speaking in South Korea as satellite images revealed the North could be preparing…

Russian warplanes violated Ukraine’s airspace several times in the past 24 hours, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday, in the latest sign of a mounting confrontation between Moscow and Kiev. “I can confirm that on several occasions in the last 24 hours…

A 56-year-old blind American set off in a kayak Friday in an attempt to cross the treacherous Florida Straits that separate Cuba and the United States. Peter Crowley left Havana at 12:35 pm (1635 GMT) in his red boat, accompanied by his son who is guiding…

Top US diplomat John Kerry heads on his first major tour of sub-Saharan Africa next week with talks on some of the most brutal conflicts plaguing the continent high on his agenda. His stops in Ethiopia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo will…

Britain’s biggest employers’ organisation, the CBI lobby group, sought Friday to disassociate itself from the campaign against Scottish independence after a backlash among its members north of the border. The CBI has warned against Scotland breaking…

Australian authorities said Friday they would widen the underwater hunt for missing flight MH370, as the deep-sea search for wreckage at the suspected crash site neared completion with no results. Mini-submarine Bluefin-21 has scanned 95 percent of…

Syria has nearly completed surrendering its chemical weapons stockpile, a joint task force in charge of the operation said Thursday, as UN Security Council members called for a fresh probe into alleged gas attacks. “Today’s operation brings the total…

Shareholders of state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland will not get to vote on allowing its bankers to earn an EU bonus cap of twice their salary, the government said Friday. UKFI, the body that manages the government’s 81-percent stake in the lender,…

London shares opened lower on Friday as airlines fell amid reports of a highjacking in Indonesia, dealers said. The benchmark FTSE 100 index lost 26.70 points or 0.40 percent to 6,676.30 points at 8:19 am. A passenger plane landed at Bali airport on…