Sunny Peter

The Al Shabaab, the militant group, linked to the Al Qaeda, involved in siege of the Westgate mall in Nairobi has warned that more attacks will follow if Kenyan troops do not pull out of Somalia immediately. The extremist group said the carnage was in retaliation for Nairobi's two-year battle against the extremists' bases in southern Somalia.

Reasserting his country’s right to peaceful nuclear enrichment, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani proposed immediate “time-bound” talks to resolve the nuclear issue. Addressing the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations on Tuesday, President Rouhani said, he had listened carefully to the statement made by President Obama [made earlier at the General Assembly].

Two people were arrested by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) following the seizure of a .22 Caliber Sig Saur pistol and magazine by Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACPBS) officers on Aug 16, at the Melbourne Gateway Facility.

Terming the prevention of slaughter within countries, whose institutions offer no hope to innocent men, women and children, as the new challenge the world faces today, U.S. President Barack Obama called upon nations to demonstrate the courage and determination to act decisively “when the breakdown of societies is so great [and] the violence against civilians so substantial.”

There seem to be no respite for troubled Indian drug manufacturers Ranbaxy. Reports say that, after facing U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) action last week for manufacturing lapses, the company, acquired by Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo in 2008, now faces regulators agencies in Australia and Europe who are also assessing if drugs manufactured and exported by the Indian firm to their regions are affected.

Seeking closer cooperation with India in space data, Australia has expressed keenness to collaborate with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for sharing scientific space data to guard its 59,736-km-long coastline against tsunami and storms.

Screen Australia, in partnership with FilmNation Entertainment, is offering Australia’s budding film producers an internship opportunity. A press release issued on Monday said, two emerging producers will be chosen to spend six months with FilmNation in either Los Angeles or New York from January 2014. The program is supported by Screen Australia’s Talent Escalator program which offers professional development opportunities for Australian filmmakers, focused on building skills and careers in th...

Indian-origin surgeon Jayant Patel on Monday pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing potentially life-threatening bodily harm to his patient during a 2004 surgery in Australia. Meanwhile, as the trial continued on Tuesday (Sept 24), the presiding Judge Terence Martin slammed a Channel 7 report related to the case as "totally irresponsible."

Some 130 world leaders are set to gather at United Nations headquarters in New York for the General Assembly's annual General Debate, which kicks off Tuesday and aims to set the stage for building a new global development agenda which both protects the planet and promotes equity, justice and prosperity for all people. A news release by the UN said thus far 84 heads of State, 41 heads of Governments, 11 Deputy Prime Ministers and 65 Foreign Ministers are scheduled to address the 68th Annual Se...

At the United Nations (UN), world leaders pledged to work together on national and international policies that enhance and promote disability-inclusive development. This, as UN officials on Monday urged, a High-level meeting of the General Assembly, that the rights of persons with disabilities be directly addressed by the post-2015 development agenda.

Ahead of the 68thGeneral Assembly Session as world leaders begin to converge at the New York Headquarters of the United Nations, General Assembly (UNGA) President John Ashe and Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson held wide ranging consultations with more than 1,100 civil society representatives about their priorities for global sustainable development in the years following the end of the current development cycle in 2015.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council on Sunday condemned the terrorist attack at a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, calling it “totally reprehensible”. He urged that the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible, an U.N. news release said on Sunday.

ZYL Limited (ZYL), an ASX-listed metallurgical coal exploration and development company, has paid a total penalty of $66,000 after the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) served two infringement notices on the company for failing to comply with its continuous disclosure obligations. The infringement notices pertain to an ASIC investigation into ZYL announcements on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

A joint operation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) and South Australian Police (SAPOL) resulted in the arrest of two people—including a member of the Gypsy Jokers motorcycle gang—in relation to the seizure of a semi-automatic firearm and approximately seven kilograms of cannabis, 38 cannabis plants and four litres of GBL.

Grim news from Pakistan, on Sunday, of terror attack on Christians at the All Saints Church in Kohati Gate, Peshawar raised more question about the freedom and safety of religious minorities in the country. Two suicide bombers dressed as police personnel blew themselves up when people were coming out after the Sunday Mass. Media reports put the death toll at 78 and injured over 100.

This is some good news for short filmmakers. Under its talent escalator initiative offering professional development opportunities, Screen Australia on Thursday announced the launched of “Hot Shots,” a new short film programme that will fund up to three short dramas, each up to a maximum of eight minutes, with a budget of $70,000 per project.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) is warning online shoppers to watch out for a fake ‘Woolworths customer satisfaction survey’ that asks for bank account details in exchange for a $150 gift voucher. A press release issued by ACCC said, there has been surge in reports with 140 complaints received since the scam resurfaced at the start of September.

Businesses that pursued innovation are more than twice as likely to improve their productivity, than those that do not, according to figures released Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Majority of older Australians who are admitted to hospital are able to return to their home in the community after they are discharged, according to a report released on Friday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The report throws light on the quality of hospital care for older patients in Australia. Its findings also indicate that factors such as age and having dementia increase the likelihood of a person entering care after being discharged from hospital.

Four West Papuan community leaders were arrested on Wednesday after they sent a letter to the Biak police station informing them of a procession planned to welcome the sacred water and ashes delivered by the Freedom Flotilla, and to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Biak Massacre.

Some 80,000 people have been driven out of their homes over the past month, in a fresh fighting that broke out in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The United Nations reported on Wednesday that, repeated clashes have occurred between the national army and rebel forces.

The number of citizenship requests for children born in India has increased by more than 300 per cent over the past five years. This accordingly to a media report in Australia quoting documents obtained under freedom of information. This increase in Australian children being born in India shows laws criminalising commercial surrogacy are doing nothing to stop parents going overseas to find birth mothers for their children, the report quoting surrogacy advocates says.

Marking observance of the International Day of Peace, the United Nations on Wednesday urged nations to invest in education that encourages children to embrace global citizenship based on values of tolerance and diversity. The theme of this year’s observance is: ‘Education for Peace.’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rang the Peace Bell in New York, ahead of the official observance of the Day, which falls on Saturday, Sept 21.

Microsoft’s takeover of Nokia’s handset device business may be good news for both companies, helping them reinforce their inherent capabilities. However, if reports are to be believed, the growth of Windows Phone is due to the strength of Nokia. Only time will tell how Microsoft performs once it drops the Nokia brand and starts manufacturing smartphones under its own logo.

Manu Maimbilly Gopal, 39, an Indian-origin doctor in Australia, is facing multiple charges of rape and sexual assault even as he pleaded not guilty and called the charges against him “a conspiracy.” Meanwhile, on Tuesday after a two-week trial, the Australian Supreme Court jury found Mr Gopal guilty of two counts of rape.

In some good news for the agriculture sector in Australia, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) says the country’s gross value of farm production is expected to achieve a record of $49 billion in 2013-14.

Twenty years of endless negotiations and conflict in the Middle East since the signing of the Oslo Accords has undermined the belief that peace was possible, but the same 20 years of peace efforts had also demonstrated that fair, reasonable and legitimate solutions could be found, said Robert Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, in his briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday.

Sister Angélique Namaika - a Congolese nun known as ‘mother’ among women and girls displaced and abused by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) - will receive the Nansen Refugee Prize awarded by the United Nations (U.N.) refugee agency for extraordinary humanitarian work on behalf of refugees, internally displaced or stateless people. She will also receive $100,000 to support her Centre for Reintegration and Development, it was announced on Tuesday.

The 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on Tuesday, with its new president, John W. Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, outlining the need to lay the groundwork for global sustainable development after the end of the current development cycle in 2015 which is the deadline for achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The crisis in Syria is also expected to dominate the debate.