Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday hailed the ongoing state visit by South Korean President Park Geun-hye to China as "historic," saying her visit heralded a "new chapter" in bilateral relations. Wang made the remarks as he held bilateral talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Brunei. Park is on a four-day visit to China that included summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "President Park Geun-hye made a historic vi

June 30, 2013

Cambodia on Saturday denied it had banned foreign radio broadcasts in the run up to next month's election, after the US accused the government of violating freedom of expression.This week, local FM radio stations were ordered to provide "neutral" coverage of election campaigning and to temporarily suspend broadcasting Khmer-language programs made by foreign stations.But Chhum Socheat, an official at the information ministry, told AFP on Saturday "we do not ban broadcast by foreign radios".Foreig

June 29, 2013

Violent attacks have spread this week in a tense minority region of western China, state media reported Saturday, just days before the anniversary of a bloody clash between minority Uighurs and the ethnic Han majority that left almost 200 dead and resulted in a major security clampdown.China's communist authorities have labeled some of the incidents -- including one which left 35 people dead -- as terrorist attacks, and President Xi Jinping has ordered that they be promptly dealt with to safegua

June 29, 2013

Barack Obama will express "profound gratitude" for Nelson Mandela Saturday, as his hero's battle for life adds a emotional edge to his first visit to South Africa as president.Obama said he did not need a photo-op with Mandela following speculation he could visit the anti-apartheid icon and his fellow Nobel peace laureate in the Pretoria hospital where he has been for more than three weeks.Fears for Mandela health, weighing heavily on Obama's three-nation Africa tour, eased slightly Friday, as t

June 29, 2013

WASHINGTON,(AFP) - The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the US economy grew only 1.8 percent in the first quarter, a sharp revision from the previous estimate of 2.4 percent.The department said personal spending was lower than previously estimated, and that both exports and imports actually declined in the January-March period.

June 26, 2013

BERLIN (AP) -- Berlin is celebrating the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's famed "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech -- a pledge of support to the divided city on the Cold War's front line that still resonates in a much-changed world.Kennedy made his speech during a several-hour trip to West Berlin on June 26, 1963 _ nearly two years after communist East Germany cut the city in half by building the Berlin Wall and amid concern that America might abandon the Cold War outpost.Egon Bahr, th

June 26, 2013

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was ousted as Labor Party leader Wednesday by her predecessor, Kevin Rudd, in a vote of party lawmakers hoping to avoid a huge defeat in upcoming elections.The ballot took place three years and two days after Gillard ousted Rudd in a similar internal government showdown to become the country's first female prime minister. She lacked Rudd's charisma, and although many Labor lawmakers preferred her style, her deepening unpopularit

June 26, 2013

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - US President Barack Obama heads to Africa on a long awaited first major tour Wednesday at a poignant moment, just as the world prepares to bid a reluctant farewell to Nelson Mandela. The possibility that the critically ill anti-apartheid icon could fade away within days has sparked uncertainty about Obama's itinerary, which is due to take him to Africa's francophone west, democratic east and its southern tip.Plans to visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania over the next week

June 26, 2013

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's Treasury chief is set to announce billions of pounds in spending cuts as the cash-strapped nation tries to make ends meet.George Osborne had hoped that Britain could move past austerity programs by the time he released Wednesday's national spending review, which sets out state spending limits for 2015-2016. In his last review, in 2010, he laid out plans to cut the deficit by 2015 _ in time for the next election.However, Britain's growth rate remains an anemic 0.3 percent

June 26, 2013

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) --  Iran burned at least 100 tons of illicit drugs Wednesday, some in a Tehran ceremony attended by officials and foreign dignitaries, to highlight what it says are its unsupported efforts to stem the flow of narcotics across its territory to Europe.Officials at the burning, an annual occurrence marking the UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, accused the West of failing to back it in interdicting drug traffic that they said was driven by European ad

June 26, 2013

The United States has agreed to exempt U.S.-bound air passengers from South Korea from a last minute inspection, South Korea's transportation ministry said Tuesday.Since an attempted terrorist attack using liquid explosives on a U.S.-bound flight in 2006, all U.S.-bound passengers, not only from South Korea but from any country, have been subjected to a second inspection for liquids at boarding gates, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.Seoul asked to be exempted from

June 25, 2013

The Taliban and the U.S. said Tuesday they will hold talks on finding a political solution to ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan, as the international coalition formally handed over control of the country's security to the Afghan army and police.The Taliban met a key U.S. demand by pledging not to use Afghanistan as a base to threaten other countries, although the Americans said they must also denounce al-Qaida.But President Barack Obama cautioned that the process won't be quick or eas

June 19, 2013

Thousands of demonstrators flooded into a square in Brazil's economic hub, Sao Paulo, on Tuesday for the latest in a historic wave of protests against the shoddy state of public transit, schools and other public services in this booming South American giant.  Sparked earlier this month by a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares and organized via social media, the nationwide protests are giving voice to growing discontent over the gap between Brazil's high tax burden and the low quality of public

June 19, 2013

President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other G-8 leaders attempted to speak with one voice Tuesday on seeking a negotiated Syrian peace settlement _ yet couldn't publicly agree on whether this means President Bashar Assad must go.Their declaration at the end of the two-day Group of Eight summit sought to narrow the diplomatic chasm between Assad's key backer, Russia, and Western leaders on starting peace talks in Geneva to end a two-year civil war that has claimed an estima

June 19, 2013