Putin to meet new Iran president next month: Kremlin

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his first meeting with new Iranian President Hassan Rowhani on the sidelines of a regional summit in Kyrgyzstan next month, the Kremlin said Friday.Russia has agreed to a proposal from Tehran for the meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on September 13 in Bishkek, Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

Aug. 9, 2013

Detained China activist releases video urging rights

BEIJING (AFP) - A detained Chinese activist has managed to release a video from behind bars urging citizens to fight for their rights in an act likely to further antagonize authorities. Xu Zhiyong, who has been detained since mid-July, is among two dozen activists rounded up this year for criticizing corruption and other sensitive topics -- despite a government campaign to fight graft. "Let us come together and work to make the rights of citizens’ matter, the identities of citizens’ matter, and

Aug. 9, 2013

IOC wants reassurances on Russia anti-gay law

MOSCOW (AP) _ The International Olympic Committee is waiting for more clarifications from the Russian government on the anti-gay law that is overshadowing preparations for the Winter Games in Sochi, IOC President Jacques Rogge said Friday. The law, signed by President Vladimir Putin in June, bans ``propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations'' and imposes fines on those holding gay pride rallies. It has caused a major international outcry and spawned calls for protests ahead of the Feb. 7-23 O

Aug. 9, 2013

Gunmen in Pakistan kill 9 in attack at mosque on Muslim holiday

PAKISTAN (Reuters) - Gunmen in Pakistan fired on the vehicle of a politician driving past worshippers leaving a mosque on a Muslim holiday on Friday, killing nine people and wounding 27 in the city of Quetta, police said. Quetta is the capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, where several militant groups are active, including the Pakistani Taliban, who claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack that killed 30 people at a policeman's funeral on Thursday. The United States has w

Aug. 9, 2013

Radioactive water may overflow at Japan plant

TOKYO (AP)-The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said Tuesday it is struggling with its latest efforts to stop contaminated underground water leaks from running into the sea.Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that some of the water was seeping over or around a ``liquid glass wall'' it has created by injecting chemicals into the soil that solidify into a wall.The latest problem involves underground water which has built up over the last month, since the company started creating the

Aug. 6, 2013

US orders evacuation of embassy in Yemen

WASHINGTON (AP) --The U.S. State Department on Tuesday ordered non-essential personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen to leave the country following the threat by al-Qaida that has caused temporary shutdowns of 19 American diplomatic posts across the Middle East and Africa.The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the evacuation ``due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks'' and said U.S. citizens in Yemen should leave immediately because of an ``extremely high'' securi

Aug. 6, 2013

Japanese PM Abe won't visit Yasukuni shrine

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not expected to visit the controversial war shrine on the anniversary of the end of World War II, most likely in a bit to avoid further tension with its neighbors South Korea and China.Citing a government source, Kyodo News reported that Abe will not pay homage to Japan's war dead at the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of World War II, and also Liberation Day in South Korea.The South Korean government has yet to commentThe shr

Aug. 1, 2013

Six out of 10 Japanese see Dokdo as theirs

About six out of 10 Japanese see the South Korean islets of Dokdo as their territory, a Japanese government survey showed Thursday.In an apparent attempt to reiterate its claim to South Korea's easternmost islets, Japan's Cabinet Office released the findings of its first survey on the Japanese people's thoughts on Dokdo, called Takeshima in Japan.The government polled 3,000 Japanese adults aged 20 or older, and 1,784 responded.According to the survey, 60.7 percent said they view Dokdo as Japanes

Aug. 1, 2013

Cambodian strongman PM set to maintain grip on power

PHNOM PENH,  (AFP) - Cambodia's strongman premier Hun Sen looked poised Sunday to extend his 28-year rule after elections marred by allegations of widespread irregularities and the exclusion of the opposition chief.The former Khmer Rouge fighter turned prime minister appeared so confident of victory that he did not even bother personally to campaign.The opposition decried what it described as the kingdom's worst ever poll irregularities, including missing voter names and thousands of people who

July 28, 2013

10 gunmen killed in Egypt Sinai operation

CAIRO, (AFP) -- Egyptian security forces killed 10 "terrorist" gunmen and captured 20 in an operation in the Sinai Peninsula over the past 48 hours, state news agency MENA reported on Sunday. "Security operations carried out by the armed forces and police in north Sinai to hunt down armed terrorists... (resulted) in the liquidation of 10 of these armed terrorist elements," the agency said, citing a security source.

July 28, 2013

Suicide bomber kills nine police in northern Iraq

KIRKUK (AFP) -- A suicide bomber killed nine Kurdish police in northern Iraq on Sunday, a district official and a  doctor said.The bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near a three-vehicle police convoy in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, also wounding nine officers, district official Shalal Abdul Baban told AFP.A doctor and police confirmed the toll.The town is part of a swathe of northern territory that Kurds want to incorporate into their three-province autonomous region over the strong obj

July 28, 2013

Jimmy Carter to visit N. Korea 'soon' for rescue mission: RFA

Former United States President Jimmy Carter plans to visit North Korea "very soon" to win the release of a Korean American man detained there, a U.S. radio station reported Sunday.Carter "is scheduled to visit North Korea very soon to discuss the release of Kenneth Bae," the Washington-based Radio Free Asia said in a report, citing multiple human rights officials.Last week, Kyodo News Service reported that Carter is considering a visit to Pyongyang at the invitation of the North Korean governmen

July 28, 2013

Snowden has document to enter Russia:report

MOSCOW (AP)--The National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has been given a document that allows him to leave the transit zone of a Moscow airport and enter Russia, Russia's state news agency said Wednesday. Snowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia last week after his attempts to leave the airport and fly out of Russia were thwarted. The United States wants him sent home to face prosecution for espionage. Snowden, who revealed details  of NSA's wide-ranging spying activities targeting

July 24, 2013

Apple software developers site hacked

Computer and software giant Apple said Sunday that it took its software developers website offline after it was hacked, warning that personal information about them may have been stolen."Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website," Apple said in a statement.Although sensitive  information was encrypted, "we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers' names, mailing addresses, and/or email ad

July 22, 2013

South Korea becomes observer to Latin American economic bloc

South Korea has become an observer to the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American economic bloc, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.The Pacific Alliance, launched in June last year, groups Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru and aims to strengthen their joint competitiveness through free trade. It now has 20 observer nations, including South Korea.The ministry said the tie with the bloc would enable South Korea to be ready for a possible link between the Pacific Alliance and the U.S.-led Trans Pacific

July 17, 2013

Snowden does not rule out applying for Russian citizenship: lawyer

MOSCOW (AFP) – U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who has applied for temporary asylum in Russia, does not rule out applying for Russian citizenship, a lawyer assisting him said on Wednesday."He does not rule out the possibility of asking for Russian citizenship," prominent lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, who helped Snowden put together his asylum bid on Tuesday, told reporters. "He told me: 'I am not going to go anywhere from Russia.'"  

July 17, 2013