Cuba frees dissident who sparked hunger strikeCuba has released Jorge Vazquez Chaviano, a dissident whose case sparked a hunger strike by 30 protesters last month, though he remains under "many restrictions," he told AFP.
12 October 2012
Pakistan girl improving after surgery: relative A Pakistani child activist shot in the head by the Taliban is slowly improving but will remain sedated in intensive care for at least another 24 hours.
12 October 2012
Unemployment 30 mn higher than before crisis: ILO There are now 30 million more people without jobs around the world than before the global financial crisis began, the head of the International Labour Organization said.
12 October 2012
China releases panda after special survival regime A captive-bred Chinese panda has been released into the wild as part of efforts to help the struggling species, but this time with special survival training after one of the animals died in a previous attempt.
IMF wants to give Greece two more years The International Monetary Fund is happy for debt-battered Greece to have an extra two years to bring its runaway deficit in line with the demands of global creditors.
12 October 2012
Vietnam to free prostitutes from rehab: media Vietnam will free about 900 sex workers next year from compulsory rehabilitation centres across the country, state media reported Thursday.
12 October 2012
China bloggers expose more corruption: reports Chinese officials have launched a probe after microbloggers said they had uncovered another allegedly corrupt leader who owns millions of dollars worth of property.
Filmmaker didn't spark Muslim violence: lawyer A lawyer for the man behind the "Innocence of Muslims" video denied Wednesday his client was to blame for a wave of violence across the Middle East, as he appeared in court for a second time.
12 October 2012
Troubled DR Congo hosts struggling Francophonie summit Leaders from the 75-nation Francophonie were to begin their biennial summit Friday in DR Congo, a country that encapsulates Africa's many woes but also its growing stake in a body searching for a raison d'etre.
12 October 2012
Indian acting legend Bachchan celebrates turning 70 India's favourite film star Amitabh Bachchan turned 70 on Thursday, marking his birthday with a lavish celebrity party and drawing hundreds of fans to cheer their hero outside his home.
Costa Rica tightens ban on shark fins Costa Rica has banned the import of shark fins, closing a legal loophole and targeting a link in a global production chain stretching to Asian markets, where shark fin soup is seen as a delicacy.
Giant Chile telescope spots unique spiral structure Astronomers using a powerful Chile-based telescope on Wednesday released a rare image of a spiral shell of cosmic dust and gas surrounding a red giant star.