U.S. President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart are hailing Thursday’s inauguration of a long-stalled free trade agreement. The pact, known as the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, was signed in 2007, but not approved by lawmakers in either country until late last year due to political opposition and changes of government in both countries. […]
US, South Korea Welcome Landmark Free Trade Pact
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 11:40 pm (UTC-5)
Leave a comment
Report: Prominent Chinese Communist Party Official Fired
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 10:30 pm (UTC-5)
China’s official Xinhua news agency says Bo Xilai, the Communist Party leader in the city of Chongqing, has been removed from his post in the wake of a scandal involving a former lieutenant. The charismatic Bo was considered a contender for a leadership post in the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee at the national congress […]
Belgium Mourns 28 Killed During a Swiss Skiing Trip
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 10:25 pm (UTC-5)
Belgium is mourning the death of 28 people, most of them children, who were killed Tuesday in a bus crash following a ski vacation in Switzerland. Family members and friends of the victims gathered for a candlelight memorial in Saint Peter’s Church, in Leuven, Belgium. Other mourners left flowers outside the Swiss morgue in Sion […]
Belgium Mourns 28 Killed in Swiss Skiing Trip
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 5:55 pm (UTC-5)
Belgium is mourning the death of 28 people, most of them children, who were killed in a bus crash following a ski vacation in Switzerland. Distraught parents flew to Switzerland Wednesday to identify the dead and attend to the surviving children. Doctor Cawen Mechiel, who is treating some of the injured children at a hospital […]
Iran’s Ahmadinejad Shrugs Off Criticism During Parliamentary Questioning
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 4:10 pm (UTC-5)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has shrugged off criticism of his record in office during an interrogation by lawmakers who accuse him of economic mismanagement and defying Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian parliament’s questioning of Mr. Ahmadinejad on Wednesday marked the first time that lawmakers had summoned an Iranian president to testify about his […]
US Soldier Who Allegedly Killed Civilians Flown Out of Afghanistan
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 3:20 pm (UTC-5)
The U.S. Defense Department says the U.S. soldier who allegedly carried out a deadly shooting spree in Afghanistan has been flown out of the country. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Captain John Kirby, would not disclose the destination where the soldier was taken Wednesday. But Kirby said the soldier was flown out for his safety and […]
‘Backyard’ Theme for White House Dinner
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 2:40 pm (UTC-5)
Wednesday night’s official White House dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron will feature an American theme – the “backyard.” The dinner – the fourth the United States has hosted for a British prime minister – is being held in a tent on the White House grounds. The White House says the decor takes its […]
Obama: US Making ‘ Very Real Progress’ in Afghanistan
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 1:25 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States is making “very real progress” in Afghanistan, despite new tensions following the shooting deaths of 16 Afghan civilians allegedly by a U.S. soldier. Mr. Obama spoke at a joint White House news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday. The president said the “tragic events” of […]
US Accuses 2 Swiss Financial Advisers of Tax Fraud
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 1:25 pm (UTC-5)
The U.S. is accusing two Swiss financial advisers of assisting wealthy Americans to hide more than $260 million in overseas bank accounts to avoid taxation. U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday alleged that the advisers, Hans Thomann and Josef Beck, working independently of each other, acted as “full service tax evasion advisers.” The prosecutors accused Beck of […]
Rights Report Details Torture of Detainees in Syria
Posted March 14th, 2012 at 1:10 pm (UTC-5)
As diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian crackdown on dissent continue, an international rights group says dozens of Syrians were abused or tortured in detention. Amnesty International issued a report Wednesday based on interviews with 25 Syrians who said they endured torture at detention centers before they fled to neighboring Jordan. The rights group says […]
