Mexico's Congress approves historic oil reform
Mexico's Congress approved historic energy reform Thursday aimed at luring foreign oil firms back into the country and ending the state's 75-year-old monopoly following a heated debate.
North Korea may be set for 'Cultural Revolution': Japan
The recent purge of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's once-powerful uncle could herald a period of radical upheaval comparable to China's Cultural Revolution, Japanese defence minister Itsunori Onodera said Thursday.
12 December 2013
Kenya celebrates 50 years of freedom with challenges ahead
Kenyans mark half a century of independence from Britain on Thursday, celebrating progress of the regional economic powerhouse but also struggling to shake off a legacy of corruption, inequality and ethnic violence.
12 December 2013
US House votes to get tough on child abduction
The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to punish countries that do not promptly return abducted children, upping pressure in an issue that has soured relations with Japan and other allies.
12 December 2013
Kerry marks 70th birthday with return to Israel
US Secretary of State John Kerry was marking his 70th birthday Wednesday leaving again for Israel, in his dogged quest for an elusive Middle East peace deal.
12 December 2013
Italy's Letta wins parliament vote, vowing to fight 'chaos'
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Wednesday won a parliamentary confidence vote triggered by the fall of Silvio Berlusconi, promising to push through a pro-European reform agenda and fight populism.
12 December 2013
Republicans thump Obama for Castro handshake
Republicans were left steaming Tuesday after President Barack Obama shook the hand of Cuban leader Raul Castro, with one senior lawmaker likening the act to appeasement of the Nazis.
India's top court upholds law criminalising gay sex
India's Supreme Court Wednesday upheld a colonial-era law criminalising homosexuality in a landmark judgment that crushes activists' hopes for guarantees on sexual freedom in the world's biggest democracy.
11 December 2013
Kazakh PM visits South Korea
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Akhmetov has signed a number of cooperation agreements with South Korea in Seoul.
11 December 2013
Canada vows to defend Santa Claus
Canada vowed Tuesday to defend the North Pole and Santa Claus, insisting the mythical figure is a citizen, after Russia ordered its military to step up its Arctic presence.
China seen as 'confident', 'belligerent': state media
People around the world see China as "confident", "belligerent" and "arrogant", state-run media reported Tuesday in an unusually direct survey of attitudes towards the country.