TOKYO – China’s top banker has pulled out of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Tokyo Wednesday in a move widely seen as a protest for the ongoing dispute between Japan and China over islands in the East China Sea. Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People’s Bank of China, was scheduled to give the…
CARACAS – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has hailed a “perfect victory”, after defeating Henrique Capriles to secure a fourth term in office. Chavez won 54% of the vote, the electoral council announced, with turnout at about 81%. Brandishing a replica of the sword of independence hero Simon Bolivar, he pledged Venezuela would continue its “march…
HOMS – The Syrian city of Homs has been subjected to its most severe bombardment in five months, activists say. Aircraft and artillery targeted the neighbourhood of Khaldiya, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. There are also reports of fresh violence across the country. Activists reported fierce clashes in the second city Aleppo, and…
ANKARA – Turkey’s parliament has authorised troops to launch cross-border action against Syria, following Syria’s deadly shelling of a Turkish town. The bill, passed by 320 to 129, also permits strikes against Syrian targets. But Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay insisted this was a deterrent and not a mandate for war. Turkey has been firing…
NEW YORK – US Republican candidate Mitt Romney won the first of three televised debates with President Barack Obama, polls and analysts say. After the 90-minute duel centring on taxes, the deficit and healthcare, polls gave Mr Romney a 46-67% margin with Mr Obama trailing with 22-25%. Commentators said Mr Romney appeared in command while…
BEIJING – A Chinese-owned firm in the US is suing President Barack Obama after he blocked a wind farm deal on national security grounds. Ralls Corp, a private firm, acquired four wind farm projects near a US naval facility in Oregon earlier this year. Mr Obama signed the order blocking the deal last week. The…
TBILISI – President Mikheil Saakashvili has admitted his party has lost Georgia’s parliamentary election, in a live TV announcement. He said the Georgian Dream bloc of his main rival, billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, had won Monday’s election. Victory for Mr Ivanishvili means the first democratic transfer of power in Georgia’s post-Soviet history. Mr Saakashvili, who…
NEW YORK – European delegates got an unusual reprieve at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday when the Iranian President offered them no reason to get up and walk out, a move that has become a bit of tradition for western delegations. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a history of controversial statements, but in his eighth…
NEW YORK – President Barack Obama is to tell the UN General Assembly the US will “do what we must” to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, officials say. The Middle East is set to dominate the summit in New York and the president will give one of the opening speeches. In an address six weeks…
NEW YORK – For the second time in as many weeks, Mitt Romney’s campaign released a new television ad blasting President Barack Obama as weak against China on trade. “Fewer Americans are working today than when President Obama took office,” the ad’s narrator says. “It doesn’t have to be this way. If Obama would stand…
