PYONGYANG – A powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been removed from his post, South Korean media reports say. Citing South Korea’s intelligence agency, they say Chang Song-thaek, 67, lost his position as vice-chairman of the North’s top military body. Two close aides were also executed for corruption, according to the reports….
BANGKOK – The leader of anti-government demonstrations in Thailand on Sunday urged Yingluck Shinawatra to resign, the latest move in a relentless campaign to oust the prime minister. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister under the previous Democrat-led government, gave Yingluck two days to “return power to the people unconditionally,” Suthep’s group…
NEW YORK – Three major U.S. airlines on Saturday confirmed that pilots were complying with Chinese government demands that it be notified of plans to traverse the newly declared air defense zone over the East China Sea. The demands from Beijing have resulted in tensions with Japan and the United States. On Saturday, United, American…
ROME – The Italian Senate has voted to expel former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi from parliament with immediate effect over his conviction for tax fraud. Berlusconi, who has dominated politics for 20 years, could now face arrest over other criminal cases as he has lost his immunity from prosecution.
HARARE – US President Barack Obama has defended a deal between Iran and world powers on Tehran’s nuclear programme. He acknowledged that obstacles remained but said “tough talk and bluster” did not guarantee US security. The six-month interim deal struck in Geneva on Sunday saw Iran agree to curb some of its nuclear activities in…
BEIJING – China is launching its first lunar probe in early December, state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday, just over a decade after the country first sent an astronaut into space. The Chang’e-3 probe — which will blast off from a Long March 3B rocket in Sichuan province located in southwest China — is expected…
JAKARTA – Rising diplomatic tension between Australia and Indonesia spread into the corporate world on Friday, after a state-owned Indonesian firm suspended talks with Australian cattle ranchers, citing trust issues between the neighbors. PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI) is the first Indonesian firm to freeze business ties with Australia due to the uproar sparked by…
WASHINGTON – It seems George W. Bush can take a joke — and tell one. But before the former President sat down with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show late Tuesday, the comedian turned his successor, Barack Obama, into the brunt of his hard jabs. Leno raked him over the coals over Obamacare. “Better him…
BEIRUT – A radical Sunni group has claimed responsibility for bombings that killed nearly two dozen people outside the Iranian Embassy in southern Beirut. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades said the dual suicide blasts were “carried out by two heroes from the Sunni people of Lebanon.” The al Qaeda-linked group is based in southern Lebanon. “We…
PARIS – A gunman has opened fire inside an office building in Paris housing the left-wing newspaper, Liberation, leaving one man seriously injured. The victim was a photographer’s assistant, aged 27, Liberation said. On Friday a man armed with what appeared to be a gun broke into the Paris offices of the rolling news channel…
