China :: Asia

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...