BEIJING (AFP) -- Chinese authorities blamed an April railway attack in Xinjiang on an Islamic extremist group, state media said Sunday, reinforcing Beijing's claims that separatist militants are provoking domestic unrest.The far-west Xinjiang region, home to the mainly Muslim Uighur minority, has seen periodic violence. Beijing says it faces an increase in terrorism from a violent separatist movement there, driven by religious extremism and foreign groups."Notorious terrorist group the Eastern T

World News May 18, 2014

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnam smothered anti-China protests on Sunday with a massive security clampdown after deadly riots triggered by a territorial dispute with Beijing spooked foreign investors and the country's authoritarian leadership alike.As patrol ships from both countries remained locked in a standoff close to a Chinese oil rig in a disputed patch of the South China Sea, Beijing said it had evacuated 3,000 nationals from Vietnam and was sending the first of five ships to pull out other

World News May 18, 2014

SEJONG (Yonhap) -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development revised up its 2014 growth outlook for South Korea, saying that the global economic recovery could help boost its exports. Its growth projection for Korea was hiked to 4 percent for this year from the previously-forecast 3.8 percent. The international entity also raised its growth estimate for next year from 4 percent to 4.2 percent. The 2014 outlook is in line with projections by the Bank of Korea and the Seoul governm

May 6, 2014

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The White House called Tuesday for urgent action to combat climate change, as it released a study on the impact of global warming across the United States and key sectors of the US economy.The four-year survey warned of serious threats to homes and infrastructure and industry in the face of extreme weather events.President Barack Obama vowed during his victorious 2008 presidential campaign to make the United States a leader in tackling climate change and the "security threat"

World News May 6, 2014

PARIS (AFP) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday launched a spirited defence of his "Abenomics" reforms aimed at kickstarting the world's third-largest economy, saying the policy blitz had yielded great results.The reforms, based on big government spending, central bank monetary easing and structural change, had been hailed internationally as an opportunity to reverse deflation and sluggish growth after Abe launched them in 2012 when elected for a second term.But they have recently l

World Business May 6, 2014

PARIS (AFP) -- Europe's aviation safety watchdog called Tuesday for the transmission time of tracking beacons fitted onto black box flight recorders to be extended from 30 to 90 days, a reform that may have made it easier to find the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.The aircraft disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board, and an intense search for the plane has been scaled back after coming up with nothing despite an air and sea hunt over 4.64 million square kilometres of the southern Indian

World News May 6, 2014

BEIJING (AFP) -- Six people were wounded in a knife attack at a Chinese train station Tuesday, after a string of violent episodes at transport hubs authorities blame on "terrorists" from the restive region of Xinjiang.Chinese media reports said there were as many as four attackers in white caps -- often donned by Muslims -- at the station in the southern city of Guangzhou. But police said later that there was only one and did not offer any details on attire. The suspect was shot and taken to a h

World News May 6, 2014

BRUSSELS (AP) -- A group of 11 European Union countries agreed to introduce a financial transaction tax from 2016 onward, Austrian Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger said Tuesday. The nations -- including economic heavyweights Germany, France, Italy and Spain -- will initially tax only the trading of shares and some derivatives, Spindelegger told a meeting of the EU's 28 finance ministers in Brussels. European officials started pushing for the tax following the 2008-09 financial crisis, to cu

World Business May 6, 2014

The Group of Seven nations agreed to find new sources of energy and expand their natural gas infrastructure to prevent Russia from using its oil and gas reserves as a “political weapon,” German Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said. The world’s leading economies will also increase their efforts to save energy and to use renewable power as part of the agreement, Gabriel said at a press briefing in Rome where G-7 energy ministers are meeting today in Rome. The U.K. government is pushing

World News May 6, 2014

Australia issued an El Nino alert on expectations the weather-altering pattern will probably develop as early as July, potentially bringing drought across the Asia-Pacific region and heavier-than-usual rains to South America. The tropical Pacific Ocean has warmed steadily in recent months, the Bureau of Meteorology said on its website today, citing large anomalies below the surface and increasingly warm surface temperatures. Models suggested that the likelihood of an event is at least 70 percent

World News May 6, 2014

GENEVA (AFP) -- South Sudanese refugees have poured into neighbouring Ethiopia over the past three days to flee fighting in their homeland, the United Nations said Tuesday.Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for refugees, said that over 11,000 people had crossed into Ethiopia in the past 72 hours.The wave began after South Sudanese government forces captured the rebel stronghold of Nasir at the weekend.The refugees, all from the ethnic Nuer population of South Sudan, crossed t

World News May 6, 2014

PARIS (AFP) -- Setbacks for emerging markets and rising risks of fallout from the Ukraine crisis are holding back the global economic recovery, the OECD said on Tuesday.The global economy is now set to grow by 3.4 percent this year, it forecast, trimming its outlook by 0.2 points.The organisation held its forecast that the world economy would grow by 3.9 percent next year.Central banks, including the European Central Bank, must go on shoring up growth, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation a

World Business May 6, 2014

PARIS (AFP) -- Setbacks for emerging markets and rising risks of fallout from the Ukraine crisis are holding back the global economic recovery, the OECD said on Tuesday.The global economy is now set to grow by 3.4 percent this year, it forecast, trimming its outlook by 0.2 points.The organisation held its forecast that the world economy would grow by 3.9 percent next year.Central banks, including the European Central Bank, must go on shoring up growth, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation a

World Business May 6, 2014

CAIRO (AP) -- Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the former military chief who removed Egypt's Islamist president and who is now poised to win the post in elections this month, says the Muslim Brotherhood will never return as an organization, accusing it of using militant groups as cover to destabilize the country.El-Sissi spoke in the first TV interview of his campaign, aired late on Monday, vowing that restoring stability and bringing development are his priorities. The comments were a seemingly unequivoc

World News May 6, 2014

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s biggest maker of luxury autos, said first-quarter profit rose 2.6 percent as growth in demand for its sport-utility vehicles helped make up for added investments in expansion. Earnings before interest and taxes increased to 2.09 billion euros ($2.9 billion) from 2.04 billion euros a year earlier, the Munich-based company said today in a statement. Profit exceeded the 2.04 billion-euro average of 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue gained 3

World Business May 6, 2014