Anissa Katti, Correspondent (Asia: Middle East & Central) GENEVA – The discussions surrounding the more than controversial Iranian nuclear plan have resumed on October 15 and 16. The five permanent countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia) of the Security Council, Germany, the Iranian minister of Foreign Affairs (Javad Zarif) and the prime Iranian negotiator, regarding the nuclear question, were all present. This unfreezing of the political tensions surrounding the nuclear plan […]
Tia Oja, Correspondent (Europe) BRUSSELS — The Guardian recently reported about pigeons being held hostage by the Chinese government due to an import dispute with Belgium. According to the paper, the Belgian ambassador has been able to negotiate the freedom for approximately 400 pigeons so far. Among these 400 pigeons was a pigeon named Bolt, who was sold at an auction in Belgium for a whopping 3,10,000 euros. The Belgian pigeon traders’ (PIPA) chief executive, […]
Mati Maravanyika, Editor (Africa) HARARE – Zimbabwe’s principal opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), boycotted the new parliamentary ceremony. During the ceremony, President Robert Mugabe urged the West “to lift sanctions on him and his Zanu PF party leadership.” The 89 year old ruler stated; “with the elections now behind us, we look forward to meaningful and effective collaboration with all progressive members of the global community.” He also said that he was […]
Sophie Venton-Puet, Correspondent (Politics) CARACAS – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that he has cancelled his plan to take part in the UN General Assembly in New York after receiving intelligence that his life was in danger. On Wednesday, Maduro who has just returned from his visit to China, said that during a layover in Vancouver, he received intelligence on what he said were “two highly serious provocations”, which impelled him to miss […]
Cliona Elliott, Editor (Food) Over the past few years, coffee has been at the forefront of daytime social meetings, and I often ask friends ‘would you like to meet for coffee? But the extensive range of herbal teas that have been available for centuries deserve some recognition. Black tea, blue tea, green tea, white tea and finally infusions. It may seem complicated but ‘herbal tea’ isn’t actually classified as tea — reason being that […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia — Far East) BEIJING — More than 70 Chinese fishermen were reported missing after a typhoon hit the South China Sea last Sunday. Typhoon Wutip has also killed more than 20 people in Thailand and destroyed almost 1,00,000 buildings in central Vietnam. Reports claim that the floods have affected millions of people in Southeast Asia, many of whom had to be evacuated from their homes. According to the Xinhua news […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia: Far East) SEOUL – South Korean troops have fatally shot a man attempting to swim across a border river into North Korea. According to the military official, the shooting took place last Monday afternoon after a man got past a barbed wire fence and jumped into the Imjin River. The identity of a man dressed in civilian clothes was unknown at the time when local forces approached […]
Sadichchha Pokharel, Correspondent (Tech) HANOI – Vietnam seems to be following China’s footsteps when it comes to censoring social media. The country has now banned internet users from discussing current affairs online. Under Decree 72, the Vietnamese government has forbidden the public from sharing news articles on blogs and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Users are only allowed to share personal information online, and publishing anything critical of the government will […]
Viktor Tsvetanov, Correspondent (Asia – Far East) SHANGHAI — A liquid ammonia leak from a refrigeration unit at a cold storage facility in the China’s biggest city, Shanghai last Saturday killed 15 people and sickened 26 others, Xinhua news agency reported. Six of those injured were in a critical condition, the Chinese government added. The leak occurred at 10.50 am local time at Shanghai Weng’s Cold Storage Industrial Co, located in the Baoshan district, the […]
Simona Botviciute, Editor (Asia – Far East) HONG KONG – Relationship between the world’s second- and third-largest economies have been strained due to the bitter wartime past. Today the fragile ties between Japan and China came under another strain after ships from both parties sailed into the waters of the disputed islands in the East China Sea as approximately 170 Japanese lawmakers visited a controversial war memorial. The uninhabited islands, known as Diaoyu in […]
