The story of Tokyo winning the Olympic bid caught everyone's attention this week, but everyone was focusing on the wrong get together involving Japan.
New Zealand has decided to ease sanctions and increase aid to Fiji after the Pacific Island nation's military regime adopted a new constitution on Sept 6 and said it would hold election. The constitution, signed by President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, establishes a 50-member parliament, election every four years and grants each citizen a vote.
Freedom Flotilla to West Papua has said that its flagship yacht “The Pog” has crossed into Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone and is continuing attempts to open dialogue with the Navy Command in their destination port Merauke in West Papua.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the receipt of a letter from the Government of Syria affirming that it will sign and abide by the 20-year-old international treaty on banning chemical weapons.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the National forces (FARDC), with support from the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO and its intervention brigade, have averted threat to the city of Goma, nearby refugee camps and U.N. missions by pushing the M23 rebel group back towards the north, in fighting which took place late Aug. This was informed by Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations at a press conference at the U.N. Headquarters.
Young people attending a United Nations (U.N.) conference in Costa Rica have called on world leaders to “support innovation and technology as methods to advance broader development, drive positive change and bring citizens closer to their Governments.”
U.S. President Barack Obama called for the full implementation of 2011 plan to station U.S. troops in Australia and backed the ambitious goal of negotiating the free trade Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, when he called up incoming prime minister Tony Abbott, on Wednesday night, to congratulate him.
The President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Vuk Jeremic, on Thursday, called upon Member States to push for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria by supporting efforts to bring all parties to the negotiating table, at a proposed conference in Geneva.
Australian Labour Party power broker Bill Shorten announced on Sept 12 that he will seek Labor leadership after the party's stinging loss to the Coalition's Tony Abbott in the recently concluded federal polls. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who lost to Mr Abbott in the elections, kept his Parliament seat but declined to become the party's leader. The Coalition's win marked the end of the Labor party's rule in Australia for six years.
Evading the Indonesian navy, two boats met near the Australia-Indonesia border, to ceremonially reconnect the indigenous peoples of Australia and West Papua and handover sacred water and ashes carried onboard the Freedom Flotilla, to be presented to West Papuan leaders. This marks the successful completion of the “scared mission” of the Freedom Flotilla, which travelled 5000 km beginning in Lake Eyre, late Aug, a press release issued on Friday said.
A Canadian woman has been arrested in Colombia after her fake baby bump yielded 2kgs (4.4lbs) of cocaine.
Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbot might just be the long lost friends after all
The photo of President Benigno Aquino III with Jeane Napoles, the daughter of the alleged brain of the pork barrel scam, created a stir in social media because of what it implied or indicated.
Today, more people than ever are living abroad; with Asia seeing the largest increase of international migrants over the past decade, and the United States and Europe remaining the most popular destination. The U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) said on Wednesday that today 232 million people or 3.2 per cent of the world’s population live abroad worldwide. This compared to 175 million in 2000 and 154 million in 1990.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, on Wednesday, welcomed emergence of “serious international discussions” on securing and destroying Syria’s chemical weapons. He hoped that the discussions could lead to an agreement in the U.N. Security Council on the way to manage the Syrian crisis.
No one in the whole of the world knows for sure when, but on Wednesday, Americans got the utmost surprise of their lives when Russia's very own president, Vladimir Putin, wrote a letter addressed to each and every single U.S. citizen, urging them to caution whatever plans they have against civil war-stricken Syria.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Australia, has called upon Israel to stop importing live animals from Australia. PETA Australia emphasised that live cattle are transported in complete violation of animal rights. The conditions the cattle endure during their travels to Israel are very grim; many collapse or die from dehydration, suffocation, trampling or disease. PETA Australia made this demand in a letter addressed to Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz and...
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key will be visiting Her Majesty, the Queen, at Balmoral Castle along with his wife and children. This will be John Key's fifth official visit to the Queen as prime minister of New Zealand. His trip to Balmoral Castle was scheduled for the later part of September.
Sydney Leathers crashes Anthony Weiner’s concession party
Earlier speculations linking Janet Lim-Napoles, the pork barrel scam queen, with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, was further fueled on Wednesday after a photo of the president with the controversial daughter of the businesswoman surfaced.
Employment Outlook Survey of New Zealand reveals a moderate fall, in hiring, in the country for the coming fourth quarter of 2013. This follows, two quarters of marginally more optimistic results, according to, survey data released by, ManpowerGroup. However, the survey finds that the pace of hiring will continue to remain stronger when compared to the international market.
As millions of children suffer across the world in conflict-ridden countries, unable to go to school, the international community has the responsibility to take up measures to protect them from violence. These thoughts were expressed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, at the 24th Session of the Human Rights Council, which began in Geneva on Monday.
All eyes during the Sept 7 federal election in Australia were on the two male protagonists - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Coalition leader Tony Abbott.
Apparently, global markets rallied overnight on hopes that a conflict may be avoided if Syria gives up its chemical weapons. If that's the case, it's a rally that will fade later in the week.
In what might become global history's momentous yet unbelievable collaboration, the U.S. and Russia have become unlikely allies as both work to win over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to turnover his government's stockpile of chemical weapons. News of alternative solutions to avert any impending doomsday World War 3 immediately caused the global markets to jump on Tuesday.
The Freedom Flotilla’s flagship yacht, “The Pog” with six protestors, has left Thursday Island towards West Papua. Meanwhile, reports say the Indonesia security forces are preparing themselves for a possible showdown with demonstrators. Reports say, around 2500 security personnel have arrived at the Flotilla’s destination port of Merauke, anticipating trouble.
Should the United States wage a strike on Syria and President Bashar Assad's forces, the attack is bound to be swift and harsh. President Obama has already signalled that a punishment is necessary for Syria to exercise restraint in the international community. Various contingency plans will be created while locations where the chemical weapon storage areas will be the major targets of attack. The U.S. has maintained the position that Syrian should be disarmed of its chemical stockpile so tha...
Even as U.S. and allies push forward with their plans to enter the Syrian civil conflict on the side the rebels, the Syrian People’s Assembly has reached out to the U.S. Congress ahead of the crucial vote approving President Obama to strike government forces in Syria. Warning that, “irresponsible, reckless action by the U.S. will kill innocent civilians; the letter implores the U.S. to "communicate with us [Syria] through civilised dialogue rather than the language of fire and blood."
In what could turn out to be a major embarrassment for the United States and its allies, reminiscent of similar action in Iraq, the world is still to see concrete evidence of President Assad government in Syria ordering use of chemical weapons. Although the Obama administration and its allies continue to insist they have the intelligence, the German media reports that Assad has actually refused permission to his troops to use chemical weapons on several occasions.
With victory in his pocket and claiming a mandate to act, Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott has vowed to immediately scrap the hated tax on carbon polluters, popularly called Carbon Tax. He is reported to have instructed his team on Sunday to begin drafting legislation to abolish the carbon-pricing scheme. Meanwhile, businesses are warning that the economy will face a multi-billion-dollar drag, if the opposition Labor and the Greens succeed in thwarting Abbott's plans.
