 |
 |
| January 03, 2014 |
 China envoy compares Japanese militarism to Voldemort Beijing (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - China's ambassador to Britain has invoked Lord Voldemort, the villain of JK Rowling's Harry Potter series, in a diplomatic standoff between Beijing and Tokyo over the Japanese prime minister's visit to a controversial war shrine. "In the Harry Potter story, the dark wizard Voldemort dies because the seven horcruxes, which contain parts of his soul, have been destroyed," ambassador Liu Xiaomi ... more |  |
 Kerry in Israel on new Mideast peace push Jerusalem (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - US Secretary of State John Kerry met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday as he pushed a framework for Middle East peace talks, amid growing tension with the Palestinians. The two met in Jerusalem, launching what is expected to be an intense four days of shuttle diplomacy between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Kerry's meeting with Netanyahu was extending into the night, h ... more |  |
 Iraq forces battle jihadists in western cities Ramadi, Iraq (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - Iraqi forces backed by tribesmen battled jihadists on Thursday after they seized parts of two Sunni-majority cities following days of violence triggered by the demolition of a year-old protest camp. Militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized half of the city of Fallujah, outside Baghdad, and parts of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi farther west. ... more |  |
Censored China paper insists on right to truth Beijing (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - A Chinese newspaper at the centre of rare protests over government censorship last January when its New Year message was altered insisted on its right to "express the truth" in this year's article Thursday. The row at the Southern Weekly newspaper blew up when an article urging greater protection of people's rights was replaced by one praising the ruling Communist Party. Demonstrators ma ... more |  |
Beijing's aircraft carrier returns from South China Sea Beijing (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - Beijing's first aircraft carrier has returned from a training mission in the South China Sea, state media said, completing a 37-day deployment carried out amid mounting regional tensions. The newly-commissioned Liaoning returned to its home port of Qingdao after carrying out a series of trials with "aircraft, naval vessels and submarines", China's official news agency Xinhua reported on Wedn ... more |  |
 | |
Colleague of China's ex-security chief sacked for graft Beijing (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - A former close colleague of China's ex-chief of internal security Zhou Yongkang has been sacked for "suspected severe violations of disciplines", state media said Thursday, stepping up anti-corruption inquiries another notch. Li Chongxi was dismissed as chairman of the Sichuan province Political Consultative Conference - a debating chamber that is part of the Communist Party-controlled gove ... more |  |
Turkey denies reports of arms shipment to Syria Istanbul (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - Turkey denied on Thursday local media reports that its security forces had seized a truck laden with weapons bound for Syria. "The truck was loaded with aid for the Turkmen community in Syria," Interior Minister Efkan Ala told reporters. Hurriyet newspaper had reported that security forces stopped a truck loaded with arms and ammunition on the Syrian border on Wednesday and arrested th ... more |  |
Nordic vessels ready for delayed Syria chemical shipment Nicosia (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - Danish and Norwegian naval vessels are to head for waters off Syria again Friday in readiness to escort a delayed shipment of key chemical weapons for destruction, a spokesman said. The ships will weigh anchor from the nearby island of Cyprus, where they headed to port on Monday when it became clear that a year-end deadline for the shipment would be missed, Norwegian armed forces spokesman L ... more |  |
Commentary: 2014 Washington (UPI) Jan 2, 2013 - New Year projections for 2014 conveyed, for the most part, pessimism. They seemed like a rerun of 2009's Annus Horribilis. In the January issue of Newsmax, a conservative monthly, these were headlines on subsequent pages: - China's Nuclear Cross Hairs Fixed on U.S. Coastal Cities - Drastic Military Cuts Leave Us Vulnerable - Why the Saudis Loathe the U.S. ... more |  |
 China voices anger over release of Uighur Guantanamo trio Beijing (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - China voiced anger Thursday over the transfer of three Uighurs from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay to Slovakia, branding them "terrorists" who will pose a threat to their new home. The trio were freed earlier this week as part of Washington's efforts to close the jail, and were the last of 22 Uighurs to be held in the prison, with the others being resettled in six countries includi ... more |  |
 | |
Syrian group hacks Skype Washington (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - The Syrian Electronic Army hacker group set its sights on Skype's social media accounts Wednesday to accuse Microsoft of spying on user data. Microsoft-owned Skype's Twitter account displayed the message: "Don't use Microsoft emails(hotmail,outlook),They are monitoring your accounts and selling the data to the governments.More details soon #SEA." It was posted around 1030 GMT but was rem ... more |  |
Iraq tribesmen, police fight militants in Ramadi: officers Ramadi, Iraq (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - Iraqi tribesmen and police on Thursday battled Al-Qaeda-linked militants who took control of part of the city of Ramadi, police said. The fighting erupted in eastern Ramadi, two police officers said. An interior ministry official had said that some areas of the city were under the control of militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), while other parts ... more |  |
Japan rescues Chinese balloonist trying to reach islands Tokyo (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - A Chinese man who tried to fly a hot-air balloon hundreds of kilometres to islands disputed between Beijing and Tokyo was rescued by Japan's coastguard after ditching in the sea, an official said Thursday. The 35-year-old took off from China's Fujian province on Wednesday morning in an attempt to land on one of the Tokyo-controlled islands, the Japan Coast Guard official said. It was an ... more |  |
 India scraps AgustaWestland chopper deal over bribe allegations New Delhi (AFP) Jan 01, 2014 - India cancelled on Wednesday a 556-million-euro ($753 million) contract with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland to buy luxury helicopters for VIPs amid bribery allegations. The deal signed in February 2010 was scrapped after Defence Minister A. K. Antony held a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh whose Congress-led government has been buffeted by a string of corruption scandals. A ... more |  |
Arson damages Chinese consulate in San Francisco San Francisco (AFP) Jan 02, 2014 - An arsonist severely damaged the front door of China's consulate in San Francisco in a "despicable" attack, Chinese officials said Thursday, urging US authorities to protect diplomatic personnel. The State Department responded by saying it was "deeply concerned" by the reports, and pledged to find who carried out the New Year's Day attack and bring them to justice. "January 1, 2014, at 9 ... more |  |
| ADVERTISEMENT + A Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison Report  Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison The Temperflow? uses a patent pending technology that allows body heat to ventilate out the mattress, while cooler air can flow back into the mattress. See www.Temperflow.com for more information about how their technology works. Or read our comparison report on two different memory foam mattress products.+ Buy a Temperflow? bed today and sleep better tonight! | |
China mulls revamping military regions: Japan report Tokyo (AFP) Jan 01, 2014 - China is considering reorganising its seven military regions into five in a bid to respond more swiftly to a crisis, the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Wednesday. The news comes amid rising tensions over Beijing's territorial claims in the region, with China and Japan squaring off over a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Each of the new military regions will ... more |  |
Abe says Japan's pacifist constitution may be revised by 2020 Tokyo (AFP) Jan 01, 2014 - Japan's nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the country's pacifist post-World War II constitution which limits its military to self-defence could be amended by 2020. In a New Year comment published in the conservative daily Sankei Shimbun on Wednesday, Abe predicted the constitution "will have been revised" by 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Summer Olympics. His comments come days a ... more |  |
 N. Korea warns of nuclear disaster, threatens US Seoul (AFP) Jan 01, 2014 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Wednesday the Korean peninsula would be engulfed by "massive nuclear disaster" if war breaks out there again, warning the US it will not be safe in the event of a conflict. "If the war breaks out again in this land, it will bring about a massive nuclear disaster and the US will never be safe," Kim said in his New Year message, broadcast on state TV. ... more |  |
 Apple denies 'backdoor' NSA access Washington (AFP) Dec 31, 2013 - Apple said Tuesday it had no "backdoor" in its products after a security researcher and a leaked document suggested the US National Security Agency had unfettered access to the iPhone. Apple said in an email to AFP that it "has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone." The statement added that " we have been unaware of this alleged NSA prog ... more |  |
Syria must 'intensify' chemical disarmament: mission chief Damascus (AFP) Dec 31, 2013 - Syria must "intensify efforts" to destroy its chemical arsenal in line with a timetable set by the United Nations, its disarmament mission chief told AFP Tuesday as a year-end target date was missed. Sigrid Kaag said she could not specify a new date for Syria to complete shipping out the most dangerous components of its chemical weapons programme for destruction under international supervisi ... more | |
| ||||
| ||||||||
No comments :
Post a Comment