The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Friday published pilot work rules for discipline inspection organs to strengthen self-supervision. The rules, passed by a plenary session of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) that ran from Jan. 6 to 8, clarify procedures for the handling of cases, including the collection and verification of […]

Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is looking into allegations that British engineering giant Rolls-Royce had paid bribed state-owned oil firm PTT, NACC president Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit confirmed on Friday he had assigned the anti-graft agency to promptly find out the facts behind some 10.7 million U.S. dollars in the alleged kickback to PTT. Information pertaining to […]

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warned against negative competition in policies at the World Economic Forum happening here. “If we end up in a race to the bottom on tax, financial regulation and trade, that would have devastating consequences,” she warned during a panel session on the 2017 global economic […]

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Friday that some 45,000 civilians are reported to have fled Gambia into bordering Senegal as troops from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) give Gambia’s veteran leader Yahya Jammeh a last chance to step down peacefully. “Authorities in Senegal have developed plans to distribute food and relief […]

Charles Osei Asibey, General Manager at 360 Radio, an Accra based new radio station has said that the Ghana Black Stars cannot win the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. Speaking on Metro TV as a guest with Capt. (Rtd) Andy Sam of Aspire Football Dreams fame, he said the team led by Asamoah Gyan […]

Zambia and the European Union (EU) have signed a 65-million-euro financing agreement aimed at improving electricity connectivity in the country’s capital, a senior official said Friday. The agreement, signed in Brussels, Belgium, by Zambia’s Finance Minister Felix Mutati and European Commissioner for International Development Neven Mimica, was meant for the improvement of transmission, distribution and […]

South Korean prosecutors independently investigating the presidential scandal indicated the second request to detain the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country’s largest family-run conglomerate, after the previous attempt failed. Lee Kyu-chul, spokesman of the independent counsel probing the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye, told a press briefing Friday that the second request can be […]

Zambia’s energy regulator has suspended fuel importation licenses for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), a senior official said Friday. The suspension came after the announcement of the Zambian government plan to disengage from the procurement of oil, which will be taken up by the private sector. Energy Regulation Board (ERB) consumer and public affairs director Agness […]

Troops from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) stopped advancing in Gambia on Thursday night to give Gambia’s veteran leader Yahya Jammeh a last chance to step down peacefully. “Orders were given to the troops to stop their advance and they have stopped, because the ECOWAS privileges the initiatives of dialogue and diplomacy,” […]

King’s Cup holders Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in their quarter-final first leg to end a nine-and-a-half year barren spell at home of the Basque side while Atletico Madrid crushed Eibar on Thursday. Brazil forward Neymar won and scored a penalty in the 21st minute after being tripped by Aritz Elustondo to decide the game […]

In India, where crimes against women are rampant, a female activist and documentary filmmaker stands out for being a rare voice for abused men. The BBC’s Geeta Pandey in Delhi profiles Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj as part of a series on the Asian women likely to make the news in 2017. India regularly gets hauled over […]

A top practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine has called Wikipedia irresponsible over its entry on acupuncture, which calls the practice “pseudoscience”. Acupuncture is not based on widely accepted scientific knowledge, according to the English version of the free online encyclopedia, which also says that TCM in general is “fraught with pseudoscience”. But Li Zhenji, vice-chairman […]

 Novak Djokovic out of Australian Open after stunning Denis Istomin loss. Waking up on Thursday morning, Novak Djokovic wouldn’t have thought he’d be packing his bags, heading home in defeat from the Australian Open after winning the title six times. Former world top 40 player Denis Istomin – who won the Asian wild card playoff to […]

 2017 NBA All-Star game starters announced. Starting lineups for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game were revealed on Thursday, with LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and James Harden set to headline the roster. Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City failed to earn a starting spot, although he averaged a triple-double with 30.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and 10.4 […]

Two days after announcing a “hard Brexit” objective, British Prime Minister Theresa May was trying to assuage global concerns about Brexit in a special address on Thursday at the World Economic Forum. British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 19, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] […]

Under Donald Trump, the future of the ties between Havana and Washington remains uncertain, despite a recent thaw, according to a Cuban expert. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday. Luis Suarez, a Cuban expert on international relations, believes Trump’s administration will maintain some of Barack Obama’s […]

The New Zealand government on Friday welcomed an international ratings agency’s credit and foreign currency ratings as a vote of confidence in the national economy. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) decision to affirm the AA foreign currency and AA local currency sovereign credit ratings with a stable outlook reflected international confidence in New Zealand’s economic and […]

South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold joint maritime drills this week to enhance capability to detect and trail ballistic missiles from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Yonhap news agency reported on Friday citing South Korea’s navy. The missile warning exercise will be conducted from Friday to Sunday in waters near […]

China’s economy grew 6.7 percent year on year in 2016, the slowest pace of growth in 26 years, but well within the government’s target range, official data showed Friday. Growth in the fourth quarter came in at 6.8 percent, accelerating from the 6.7 percent in the third quarter, according to National Bureau of Statistics data […]

Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. said it hopes to consolidate Latin America as one of its top growth markets, alongside Europe and Asia, as it launched its new smartphone the Mate 9 in Panama on Thursday. Johanna Escala, Operations Manager for Huawei in Panama, told Xinhua that the company had met its objective of […]