22 Dec 2011 - 5:25pm
HAVANA: President Raul Castro is Friday expected to announce an end to onerous, unpopular travel restrictions that have been in place for almost 50 years and which keep most Cubans from traveling abroad.
The Roman Catholic Church and regime-friendly musicians like Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanes have joined a chorus of Cubans calling for...
22 Dec 2011 - 2:38pm
DAMASCUS: Although an Arab League observer mission, due to land on Thursday, has been welcomed by Syria, the opposition has been critical and called instead for the issue to be taken to the UN.
Launched in the hopes of ending months of unrest and quelling the regime's violent crackdown on dissent, the mission will see an initial group of 30...
22 Dec 2011 - 3:33am
WASHINGTON: The United States Wednesday rejected accusations that it was interfering in Egyptian affairs, after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments provoked an angry response from Cairo.
"We are going to speak out for the human rights of people around the world. We do not consider that interference," State Department...
22 Dec 2011 - 1:49am
KUALA LUMPUR: In the wake of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on December 17, bloggers have been asking: What now?
A contributor to American blog One Free Korea, which calls for the reunification of Korea under a fully democratic government, responded to news of Kim's death by saying "Good riddance to him. Any bets on who...
21 Dec 2011 - 7:03pm
WUKAN: Authorities in southern China moved Wednesday to defuse an outbreak of unrest, agreeing to free villagers detained for protesting land seizures and suspending a power plant project.
The wealthy province of Guangdong has seen an upsurge in protests in recent months, as middle-class Chinese become increasingly willing to take on the...
21 Dec 2011 - 4:04pm
BAGHDAD: Iraq's government marked its first anniversary Wednesday in turmoil as its Sunni vice-president disputed charges he ran a hit squad and the US urged calm in a row that has heightened communal tensions. A year after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's unity government was approved by MPs, Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi has holed up in...
21 Dec 2011 - 3:33pm
HANOI: After years of sky-rocketing credit growth to finance development, Vietnam's banking system is now weighed down by toxic loans that have forced the communist nation to launch tough reforms.
The Southeast Asian country's financial sector consists of about a hundred banks -- either state-owned, private or foreign bank branches. But...
20 Dec 2011 - 6:36pm
BRUSSELS: The EU has fallen short of a target for loans to the IMF destined for a eurozone bailout, with Britain leaving its EU partners in the lurch for the second time this month. Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said the 17 countries that share the single currency pledged 150 billion euros (RM625 billion) in bilateral loans for the...
20 Dec 2011 - 4:32pm
LUMAJANG: From their hospital beds, shocked migrants on Tuesday recounted the horror of spending three days in violent seas clinging to wreckage after their overloaded boat sank off Indonesia, en route to Australia.
Seventeen-year-old Afghan student Samin Gul Afghani broke down in tears as he described seeing his uncle and two younger...
20 Dec 2011 - 3:24pm
RIYADH: Saudi King Abdullah called for the formation of a Gulf union in response to growing threats, as rulers of the wealthy Arab GCC met on Monday against a backdrop of regional turmoil and fears over Iran.
"I ask today that we move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union within a single entity," said the Saudi king, addressing...
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