Last Update: 5:07 am ET

Politics

China’s Wen warns “outside forces” off sea dispute

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday that “outside forces” had no excuse to get involved in a complex dispute over the South China Sea, offering a veiled warning to the United States and others not to stick their noses into the sensitive issue.
But Wen also struck a softer line [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 19, 2011

Suu Kyi party to register for Myanmar elections

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition announced its return to Myanmar’s political arena Friday, as the country’s nascent reforms received a dramatic seal of approval from the United States.
After speaking directly to Nobel laureate Suu Kyi for the first time, in a call from Air Force One, US President Barack Obama said Hillary Clinton [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 19, 2011

Pakistan envoy to US offers resignation in memo row

Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, Hussain Haqqani, said on Thursday that he had offered to resign over reports that he sought US help against the country’s powerful military.
Haqqani, a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari, has played a key role in helping Pakistan’s civilian government navigate turbulent relations with Washington that nosedived over the US [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 19, 2011

Australia tells China not to interfere

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has assured China the boosting of US troops on Australian soil was not directed at Beijing while warning the country not to interfere in Canberra’s security decisions.
US President Barack Obama announced in Canberra on Wednesday that the US would deploy up to 2,500 Marines in the northern [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 19, 2011

Japan calls on Germany to build debt ‘firewall’

Japan called on Germany on Friday to step up and help plug the widening hole in the eurozone’s finances, saying Berlin should play a leading role in creating a debt “firewall”.
Japan, along with China, was one of the first ports of call when the bloc began looking abroad for cash to keep [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 19, 2011

Germany gears up for Afghan meet with Pakistan talks

Germany on Friday welcomed a promise from Pakistan to work “without hidden agendas” in Afghanistan, as it gears up to host a key international conference on the war-torn country.
More than 90 delegations from all over the world will gather in Bonn on December 5, with Afghanistan’s neighbours playing a key role.
German Foreign Minister [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 19, 2011

Obama: Clinton to travel to Myanmar

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Detecting “flickers of progress” in the long shunned and sanctioned nation of Myanmar, President Barack Obama announced Friday that he will send Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the repressed country next month, the first official in her position to visit in more than 50 years.
“We want to seize [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 19, 2011

Nepal to begin asking ex-rebels: army or money?

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Government monitors reached seven camps spread across Nepal by Friday to begin asking 19,000 former rebels whether they will join the army or leave with cash to start new lives, five years after ending their insurgency to join a peace process.
The process was long stalled over the [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 19, 2011

Suu Kyi ‘likely’ to stand in Myanmar by-election

Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to contest an upcoming by-election, a party spokesman said Saturday, paving the way for a political comeback after years of exclusion by army generals.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD), delisted last year for boycotting the first elections for 20 years, will consider on Friday [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 13, 2011

Sri Lankan FM slams ‘biased’ UN rights report

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Sunday condemned a “preposterous” UN-commissioned report alleging war crimes in his country, revealing he stopped Canada raising it at a Commonwealth meeting.
Foreign Minister Gamini Peiris also confirmed Sri Lanka will host the next Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in 2013, saying that none of the 54-nation bloc raised the prospect of [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 31, 2011