China :: Asia

AYUTTHAYA, Dec 27 - Honda Automobile (Thailand) began destroying the first lot of 1,055 passenger cars badly damaged in severe flooding at its car delivery centre at Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok. Several models, destroyed today include the 217 Brio, 213 Jazz, 353 City, 150 Civic, 91 Accord, 30 CR-V and one Freed. Pitak Pruittisarikorn, executive vice-president of Honda Automobile, representatives from the Thailand Automotive Institute, the Office of the Consumer Protection Board, the Thai Industrial Standards Institute, the Provincial Excise Department and the media witnessed the event. Mr Pitak said all processes were supervised by the company, and related state agencies and industrial organisations to prevent re-use of all destroyed parts in order to regain public confidence. All processes were being carried out within the Honda premises will be complete by February, when production is expected to resume. The plant has a production capac...

BEIJING Chinas home-grown satellite navigation system launched a limited positioning service Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said, as the country seeks to break its dependence on foreign technology. China started building its space-based navigation network in 2000 to stop it having to rely on the US-controlled Global Positioning System (GPS), and previous reports have said it will provide a worldwide service by 2020. The Beidou, or Compass, navigation system was now providing services for China and surrounding areas, Xinhua said, and Beijing would launch another six satellites in 2012 to expand it to most of the Asia-Pacific region. The first Compass satellite was launched in April 2007, after four other experimental satellites were placed in orbit earlier in the decade. It is not clear how many satellites have been launched so far. Once completed, the system will have 35 satellites developed using Chinese technology, and will provide services for mapping, fishery, transport,...

BANGKOK, Dec 27 -- The cabinet will today consider the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management's urgent plan for flood prevention covering six issues in its regular Tuesday meeting. Yesterdays water committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra approved the flood prevention plan focused on six main issues: a permanent organisation to deal with water management overall; rebuilding and repairing all water gates and dredging all canals; to effectively manage water stored in dams; measures to help agriculturists with land in water retention areas; drawing up flood response and flood water drainage plans to expel water into the sea. Wichean Chawalit, secretary of the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management, said most of the proposals the cabinet will consider today are short term or urgent measures to fight floods that could happen in the next rainy season. Long term plans would only be forwarded to the cabinet for approval in principle before goi...

Syrian government forces shelled parts of the besieged city of Homs for the fifth consecutive day Monday, causing numerous casualties, as a team of Arab League observers headed to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Syrian government forces pounded the districts of Bab Amr and Bab Sibah in Homs, using tank shells, field artillery and mortars. Videos on opposition websites showed bodies lying in the streets and others being piled onto trucks. Other opposition videos showed buildings pock-marked by shrapnel, store-fronts blasted open, and rubble in the streets. A young man named Ibn Ayoush explained what happened to him. He said he lost his father, his house and his car in the shelling. He asked why the Arab League observer team has not yet made it to Homs to see what is happening and to see how people are being killed. He asked why the world is doing nothing. Numerous witnesses indicated that electricity was cut and food was running short in many parts of Homs. A video on Facebook showed wome...

Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba has met with Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, seeking to assure her of Tokyos full support for expanded democratic governance in the Southeast Asian nation. Gemba held talks Monday with the Nobel laureate at her residence in Rangoon, and later told reporters he wants her and leaders of the countrys new civilian government to attend a summit in Japan next year. I invited President U Thein Sein to attend the Japan-Mekong sub-region summit due to be held in Tokyo sometime next year. I also invited Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Japan. For her part, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent much of the past two decades under house arrest, thanked Japan for its support. Our country is bound and determined to march towards the democratic goal. In doing so, I expect Japan to be at the forefront of friendly nations who will help us. Earlier Monday, the Japanese minister agreed with Burmese leaders to open negotiations on a bilateral investment pact. He a...

A Chinese police raid on a religious gathering follows the detention of unofficial "house" church members across the country. Police in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan fired tear-gas canisters at worshipers at a mass outdoor unofficial Christmas service, and moved to detain other members of "house" churches who tried to organize Christian worship elsewhere in the country, according to participants and rights groups. Sichuan-based church member Li Ming, who attended the Christmas service on a public square in Langzhong city, said police had raided the gathering and detained three people. "[On Christmas] morning at about 8.00 a.m. our church was holding a Christmas activity on Binjiang Road in Langzhong city," Li said in an interview on Monday. "There were around 20-30 police officers, and they used tear-gas canisters," he said. "My eyes were so swollen I couldn't see at all." Li said police had confiscated the group'...

LONDON Jose Mourinho says he has his sights set on an eventual return to England but only once he has made the most of the great experience of being at the helm of Real Madrid. The former Chelsea manager has long stated his love of the English game and many observers feel he will ultimately be headhunted to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United after the latter eventually retires. Mourinho joined Real on a four-year contract in 2010 fresh from delivering a first European Cup for Inter Milan in four decades, having already won the competition with Porto. Having landed the Spanish Cup in his first season Mourinho has now taken Real to the top of La Liga but he told the BBC on Monday he still dreams of returning for a second spell in the English Premier League. I am very, very happy to be in Real Madrid. It is a great experience for me, Mourinho stressed. I believe it is probably the biggest club in the history of football, I didnt want to miss the chance to work here. But my p...

Policy debate heats up as economy cools. Signs of a slowdown are rippling through China's economy, raising concerns about the effects of government policies. Reports suggest the economy has belatedly heeded Premier Wen Jiabao's call to cool overheated sectors like property development and drive down inflation. The question now is whether the government has gone too far. "They put in place a policy for slowing the economy down and that policy has been very successful," Harvard economist Dale Jorgenson told RFA. "Now they have to navigate to the proverbial soft landing." Monetary policies appear poised between tightening and loosening after the government eased reserve requirements for banks on Nov. 30 for the first time in nearly three years. Earlier this month, officials seemed ready to declare victory in Wen's fight to curb price growth after November inflation fell to 4.2 percent from 5.5 percent the month before. Similar success was seen in housing as...

Karachi : The recently launched computerized arms license management information system by the defunct city district government Karachi (CDGK) has become almost dysfunctional just after one month of its inauguration, sources informed PPI. The system was inaugurated on November 11, 2011 and the purpose of the system was to garner record of all arms licenses issued under the tenure of defunct CDGK and in the second phase it was to be digitized. It had also a facility that a license holder could get his information by typing his National Identity Card number on its website that was supposed to be launched by February 2012. Sources told that the data of more than 2,000 arms licenses had already been already been computerized, however after the revival of commissionerate system, the computerization of arms licenses project became dysfunctional. It is learnt that after the restoration of commissionerate system, all such records have now transferred to commissioner office. Sources informed th...

PHANG NGA, Dec 26 Thailands Andaman coastal provinces in the South held tsunami remembrance ceremonies to mark the seventh anniversary of the Dec 26, 2004 disaster that hit Thailand's six Andaman coastal provinces killing more than 5,000 persons, including foreign tourists. In Phuket, multifaith ceremonies of Buddhists, Christians and Muslims were held at Mai Khao Cemetery where remains of tsunami victims were formerly kept, while a similar event was also held at Kamala Beach by the Japanese Association. At 7pm today, the province is set to hold the Light Up Phuket event at Loma Park on Patong Beach. The candlelight ceremony will pay tribute to the dead and other victims. Candles will be placed in sand holes and airborne lanterns will be released. In Phang Nga, merit making ceremonies were held at two locations in Takua Pa district -- at the remains of police patrol vessel Tor 813 left grounded far inland by the tidal wave and Baan Nam Kem Tsunami Memorial Park at a fishing v...

KABUL A suicide bomber attacked a funeral in northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 19 people including an MP and wounding dozens of others, officials said. The attacker, who was wearing a suicide vest, blew himself up among a crowd of mourners gathered for the funeral of a government official in Taluqan city, the capital of Takhar province, 155 miles (250 kilometres) north of Kabul. We have 19 dead including an MP, Abdulmutalib Baig, and more than 40 wounded, mostly civilians, said Takhar provincial governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa. I was also invited to this ceremony but I didnt go. The target was either me or the MP. Baig was a former anti-Taliban Northern Alliance commander and the former police chief of Kunduz province. He was working with opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah in the newly established National Coalition of Afghanistan. This ruthless act of terror to target innocent people who had gathered for a religious ceremony yet again demonstrates the vile and vicious ...

No change is seen in North Korea's much criticized 'military first' policy after Kim Jong Il's death. AFP Photo handed out by North Korea's state KCNA news agency shows military officers crying as they pay their last respects to Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, Dec. 20, 2011. A week after Kim Jong Il's death, signs are emerging that power in North Korea will remain in the hands of the military. At the weekend, Pyongyang hailed Kim's heir-apparent son Kim Jong Un as "supreme leader" of the 1.2-million strong military. And footage on state television suggested that the junior Kim's chief adviser, uncle Jang Song Thaek, may have secured a key role in the armed forces. The new title bestowed on the younger Kim, already a four-star general although only in his 20's, and Jang's appearance in uniform signals that North Korea will maintain Kim Jong Il's Songun or "military first" policy, experts say. The policy has kept the reclusive Nor...

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan on Sunday promised the nation on Quaids birth anniversary that he will fulfill the dream of the Founder of the nation, saying I will do what Quaid-e-Azam wanted to do. PTI leaders on the stage during National Unity Jalsa, Mazar-e-Quaid, Karach Addressing thousands of his supporters at a grand rally near the Quaids mausoleum here on Sunday, he said: I promise on Quaid-e-Azams birth anniversary that I will do what the Quaid-e-Azam wanted to do. Imran Khan in his speech punctuated with loud slogans of the cheering crowd and national songs, said he would introduce a strong justice system in Pakistan under which free justice would be provided to the poor. Quaid-e-Azam never wanted you to bow before anyone, I will ensure that you dont have to bow before anyone. He said today one more wicket fell today and announced that Pakistan Peoples Party leader Assef Ahmed had also joined PTI. Imran Khan promised to build a strong judicial s...

FAISALABAD, Pakistan Pakistan on Saturday emerged victorious in a four-match series with China, the first international hockey in the troubled country since 2004. Pakistan notched up a 3-1 victory after taking the first two meetings in the port city Karachi earlier this week by 3-0 and 5-3. Their final match will be played in Lahore on Sunday, but Saturdays win gives Pakistan the series title. Before a home crowd in the city of Faisalabad, Pakistani forward Ali Shan struck in the second minute of the match, scoring a field goal to give the hosts an early lead in the series third encounter. Vice-captain Shakeel Abbasi doubled Pakistans lead with another field goal in the 21st minute. Chinese Liu Yixian converted a penalty corner in the 61st minute to give the visitors their only goal of the match. Before a home crowd i! n the ci ty of Faisalabad, Pakistani forward Ali Shan struck in the second minute of the match against China, scoring a field goal to give the hosts an early ...

BANGKOK, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's just-concluded official visits to Vietnam and Thailand proved to be a major diplomatic move meant to strengthen China's relations with countries in the neighboring region, a senior Chinese diplomat said Saturday. The visits were of great significance to promoting and making closer China's relations of strategic partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and consolidating and developing China's good-neighborly foreign relations with the neighboring region, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said. Xi's visits have opened a new chapter for China's traditional friendship with Vietnam and Thailand and boosted mutual benefit and win-win cooperation oriented toward the future, Zhang said upon the conclusion of Xi's tour to the two Southeast Asian countries. Aiming to strengthen the good-neighborly ties, enhance strategic mutual trust and advance pragmatic cooperation,...

A mass funeral in Damascus for the victims of a double suicide car bombing on Friday has turned into a strong show of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose government is under pressure from a nine-month opposition uprising. Thousands of people attended Saturdays funeral at the Omayyad Mosque, where authorities placed the flag-draped coffins of the 44 people killed in the attacks, some still unidentified. Many of the mourners shouted pro-Assad slogans and denounced Qatar, one of the strongest Arab critics of the Syrian presidents deadly crackdown on the uprising. Syria says the suicide bombings outside two government security compounds in Damascus also wounded 166 people. The attacks were the first of their kind in Syria since March, when pro-democracy activists began protests against Assads 11-year autocratic rule. Syrian army defectors later joined the uprising and have battled pro-Assad troops. No group has claimed responsibility for Fridays bombings. Arab League Secret...

Karachi: Federal Petroleum & Natural Resources Minister Dr. Asim Hussain says a proposal is under consideration of the government to close CNG stations in Sindh province for whole of January, 2012. Talking to newsmen here Saturday after attending ceremony organized by Dr. Sir Ziauddin Ahmad memorial society, he said government is forced to make this tough decision because of acute shortage of gas and energy crisis in the country. Replying to a question Minister assured that there would be neither any closure of gas for domestic users nor there would be any prolonged closure for the industries.

A prominent U.S. newspaper says the Central Intelligence Agency has suspended drone strikes targeting low-ranking militants in Pakistan in an effort to mend badly frayed relations with the South Asian nation. The Los Angeles Times Friday quoted unnamed U.S. officials who say the CIAs undeclared halt in attacks is aimed at reversing a sharp erosion of trust between the two countries, following a series of deadly incidents, including a NATO attack in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The newspaper says the six-week pause comes amid an intensifying debate in U.S. President Barack Obamas administration about the future of the CIAs drone operation in Pakistan. The report says drone strikes have killed dozens of of al-Qaida operatives and hundreds of low-ranking fighters since 2004, but they have also infuriated many Pakistanis. The Los Angeles Times quotes State Department and National Security Council officials who say the airstrikes are counterproductive, because rank-and-file m...

SEOUL, Dec 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and China will hold high-level talks in Seoul next week to exchange views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, a senior Seoul official said Friday. The one-day meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, will be led by South Korean First Vice Minister Park Suk-hwan and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, said the official at the foreign ministry. "The meeting is aimed at sharing views on the current situation after the passing of Kim Jong-il and consulting on the way forward regarding the Korean Peninsula," the official said on the condition of anonymity. In the wake of the abrupt death of Kim, analysts expect China to bolster its support for North Korea as Beijing wants to avoid any instability in the North to avoid a mass influx of refugees. For China, North Korea is also considered a buffer zone to the U.S. alliance with South Korea. Thus far, South Korean and U.S. military offici...

Be wary when purchasing goods online 24 .. 2554 KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (Bernama) -- The police today advised the public to exercise caution when making purchase transaction through the Internet following the increase in online scam since the past three years. Assistant chief of the Inspector-General of Police Secretariat (Public Relations), ACP Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, said that during the first 10 months of this year, a total of 1,424 cases, involving losses of RM3.519 million, were reported. A total of 1,114 cases, involving losses of RM3.124, were reported in 2010 and 551 cases, with losses totalling RM786,000, were reported in 2009, he added. In a statement issued here Friday, he said most of the cases involved transaction through "mudah.my", with 1,009 transactions and losses of RM1.7 million during the first ten months of this year. Ramli said the police also received 2,472 reports on online financial fraud since 2008 until October this year, involving losses of about RM19...

MULTAN: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) firebrand leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has reached the Multan airport and announced that he is joining Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) Saturday, Geo News reported. Before leaving for Multan airport, PML-N workers blocked the road outside his house to prevent him reaching the airport. Workers were chanting slogans and expressed their solidarity with the party and the senior leader. However, Hashmi was successful in reaching the airport to catch his flight for Karachi where PTI chief Imran Khan is likely to receive him at the Karachi airport. While talking exclusively to Geo News earlier on Friday, Hashmi said that he would decide about joining PTI after consulting with his comrades here in his constituency. He told that he and Imran Khan were in talks on the same. To a question regarding his partys reaction on this development, a disillusioned Hashmi said that he had conveyed his reservations to the party leadership. He told Geo News tha...

Anti-human trafficking groups criticize Cambodia for amnesty decision. AFP Alexander Trofimov smokes a cigarette after his verdict at the Phnom Penh municipal court, March 14, 2008. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's government asked the country's King Norodom Sihamoni to pardon a Russian businessman convicted of sexually abusing more than a dozen girls in Cambodia, according to a prince. Prince Sisowath Thomico told RFA in an interview Friday that the king granted an amnesty to Alexander Trofimov, who was freed on Tuesday, based on a government request. Trofimov, who became the focus of Cambodia's largest-ever pedophilia case, had been convicted of buying sex from 17 girls between the ages of six and 13. Anti-human trafficking groups have expressed dismay over his release, saying it would be a bad example for criminals. I dont want to respond to [the] anti-human trafficking groups' comment and thought but I can comment based on the laws. The King has granted amnesty be...

Lao authorities detain several Christian leaders after their prayers draw protests. Torbenbrinker / Wikipedia A Protestant church in Vientiane. Authorities in central Laos have detained eight Christian leaders after neighbors violently protested over their pre-Christmas prayers, complaining they were noisy. Formal charges have not been slapped on them since they were detained last week by police after leading some 200 Christians in prayer in Savannakhet provinces Boukham village. The prayers triggered an angry response from neighbors who pelted the group with stones when the worshippers refused to end their session. Representatives from the Savannakhet provincial branch of the Lao Evangelical Church (LEC)the only Protestant group recognized by the communist governmentwere able to negotiate the release of one of the leaders after he paid a substantial fine two days after the detention. A local Christian woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said that authorities still had not offered a ...

Washington : Listening to music can help reduce pain in high-anxiety people, who can easily become absorbed in cognitive activities, a new study has suggested. Researchers from the University of Utah Pain Research Center evaluated the potential benefits of music for diverting psychological responses to experimental pain stimuli. They hypothesized that music may divert cognitive focus from pain. If true, the key to successful pain control from this method would be the degree of engagement by the patient in the diversion task. One hundred forty-three subjects were evaluated for the study. They were instructed to listen to music tracks, follow the melodies, and identify deviant tones. During the music tasks, they were given safe, experimental pain shocks with fingertip electrodes. The findings showed that central arousal from the pain stimuli reliably decreased with the increasing music-task demand. Music helps reduce pain by activating sensory pathways that compete with pain pathways, st...

Posted about 24 mins ago | Karachi : Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Company Limited has signed an agreement with China Three Gorges Corporation to provide 33 units of wind turbines for Three Gorgess wind energy project in Pakistan. Xinjiang Goldwind would also provide operations and maintenance services for two years. This is Goldwinds first order from Pakistan, which marks another achievement in its global expansion.

Islamabad : India and Pakistan will discuss conventional and nuclear confidence building measures during their bilateral talks on December 26 and 27 in Islamabad. Pakistans Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit said the fifth round of expert level talks on conventional confidence building measures (CBM) will be held on December 26 and the sixth round of talks are scheduled on December 27. He said the meetings mark a step further of the Foreign Secretary- level meeting of both sides held in Islamabad last year, where agreed to re-convene expert groups, The Daily Times reports. Disarmament and International Security Affairs Director General D Bala Verma would lead the Nuclear CBM Group, while Joint Secretary, Yashwant K Sinha would head the Conventional CBM Group, while representing India. The Pakistan delegation for both export groups would be represented by United Nations and European Union Additional Secretary Munawar Saeed Bhatti. Basit said the national security committee of the P...

Hundreds protest in a southern Chinese town as tensions ease in nearby Wukan. AFP An elderly man walks past police after a large crowd formed at the scene of environmental protests in Haimen, Guangdong Province, Dec. 22, 2011. Officials in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, which has been hit by two separate mass protests this week, have released one detainee in the rebel village of Wukan, with two more slated for release on Friday, villagers said. But as Guangdong provincial deputy Communist Party secretary Zhu Mingguo visited Wukan, which only last week saw angry villagers fight off riot police over the barricades, authorities moved to quell a second protest just 75 miles (121 kilometers) away in the seaside town of Haimen. Official media on Thursday denied reports that people had died in recent clashes between Haimen residents angry at pollution from a nearby coal-fired power plant and police, but confirmed that five people had been detained by police for "vandalism....

The hearing to determine whether a U.S. Army intelligence analyst will be court martialed for allegedly passing classified documents to WikiLeaks has concluded. The presiding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza, has until January 16 to make his recommendation on Private First Class Bradley Manning. Manning faces 22 charges including aiding the enemy. The hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland outside of Washington concluded Thursday. On Wednesday, experts for the prosecution testified they found evidence the intelligence analyst downloaded diplomatic cables onto compact discs that were sent to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Mannings lawyers have described their client as a troubled man who should not have been allowed access to classified material while serving in Iraq between November 2009 and May 2010. Lawyers also said the militarys oversight of the computers was lax, citing testimony by their witnesses that soldiers played video games on the computers. Manning, who has not ent...

Photo: Tyler Chapman One of the earthmovers creating a jetty as part of the new India-financed port at Sittwe in western Burma in Oct. 2011. SITTWE, BurmaThe earthmovers are busy clawing and scraping at the Sittwe waterfront, creating piles of sand jutting out into the Andaman Sea. No pictures, no pictures, a young man in a hardhat says. Yet what is happening here is no secret. This is the beginning of a U.S. $136 million project, financed by India, to provide Burma with a new port and two jetties close to its western border with Bangladesh. The project is scheduled for completion in 2013. Chain-link fences surround the site. Red signs at the two gates identify the contractor as Essar Projects (India) Ltd. Essar calls itself Indias leading engineering, procurement and construction company. This is more than just a port for Burma, however. It gives India a foothold in Burma and a counterbalance to Chinas planned natural gas and oil pipelines from Sittwe across Burma to its own Yunnan pr...

Posted about 24 mins ago | Islamabad : Prime Minister Syed Yusaf Raza Gilani called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday. Prime Minister remained with the President for some time and discussed the current situation of the country.

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POSCO to boost Thai unit's output to 300,000 tons by 2015 22 .. 2554 SEOUL, Dec 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's leading steelmaker POSCO said Thursday that it plans to boost the annual output of its plant in Thailand to 300,000 tons by 2015 as part of its efforts to meet rising demand. In September, POSCO succeeded in its takeover bid of Thainox Stainless Pcl, Southeast Asia's largest stainless steel producer, after a tender offer. The Thai unit, POSCO Thainox Pcl, has an annual production capacity of 180,000 tons, but is seeking to expand its output capacity to 300,000 tons in an attempt to meet stainless steel consumption growth. POSCO's acquisition of the Thai company is the latest in a series of acquisitions sought after by the world's third-largest steelmaker. POSCO has been pursuing acquisitions at home and abroad to boost revenue and to catch up with foreign rivals. Over the past year, POSCO has taken over Asia Stainless Corp. in Vietnam and Taihan ST Corp. in...

The United States Wednesday warned Syria of additional punitive steps by the international community if the government of President Bashar al-Assad fails to halt its crackdown on protestors. The U.S. call came before the expected arrival in Syria Thursday of an advance team of Arab League monitors. U.S. officials are expressing dismay that Syrian security forces are escalating repressive steps only a day before the monitors long-awaited arrival. Amid reported death tolls in Syrian clashes approaching 200 over a two-day span, the White House said Wednesday that words by the Assad government have no credibility when they continue to be followed by outrageous and deplorable actions. Obama administration officials said Damascus had already flagrantly violated Arab League peace protocol commitments it had signed onto Monday, pledging to end violence and withdraw security forces from residential areas. The White House urged what it termed Syrias few remaining supporters to warn Damascus that...

Defectors send flying messages to North Korea slamming the hereditary power transfer following Kim Jong Il's death. AFP North Korean defectors release balloons containing leaflets criticizing the dynastic succession in North Korea, at Imjingak peace park in South Korea, Dec. 21, 2011. North Koreans who fled harsh rule for South Korea have set off giant balloons with tens of thousands of leaflets into North Korea condemning the dynastic succession in the hardline communist state following the death of Kim Jong Il. The leaflets, launched two days after the North announced that its leader had died on Saturday of a heart attack, also called for an Arab spring-like uprising in the nuclear-armed nation, which rights groups call the world's most oppressive nation. Pyongyang is moving to ensure a smooth third-generation transition of power to Kim Jong Un, the heir-apparent and youngest son of Kim Jong Il, who took over upon the death of his father and national founder Kim Il Sung in 19...

LONDON Manchester City maintained their two-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 defeat of Stoke as rivals Manchester United destroyed Fulham 5-0 to stay in touch. City ensured they will lead the top-flight at Christmas for the first time since 1929 after wrapping up all three points courtesy of two goals from Sergio Aguero either side of a long-range strike from Adam Johnson. Manchester United enjoyed a similarly routine stroll at Craven Cottage, crushing Fulham to stay in second place. Danny Welbeck fired United ahead on five minutes, the England striker sweeping in Nanis low cross after the Portuguese winger took flight on a solo run down the right wing.Nani doubled the lead on 28 minutes before Ryan Giggs scored the 19,999th goal in Premier League history to make it 3-0 just before half-time as United piled on the agony for the Cottagers. A 35-yard wonder strike from Wayne Rooney made it 4-0 before Dimitar Berbatov completed the scoring with a cheeky back-heeled ...

Protest march is called off by a rebellious village in southern China after talks with government officials. Residents of the rebel Guangdong village of Wukan on Wednesday called off a planned protest march after winning concessions from the government, as villagers in a similar dispute nearby said police had started arresting those who took part in recent land protests. Wukan villagers had planned further protests this week to call for a probe into alleged official corruption and the return of the body of a fellow protester, defying threats of force from officials, as thousands of armed police encircled the area. But last-minute negotiations with local officials yielded promises that their demands would be met, village representatives said on Wednesday. "First, they will release the detained villagers, and investigate fully the cause of Xue Jinbo's death," said a villager present at the meeting, surnamed Zhang, referring to a protester who died in police custody earlier ...