Categories
China Culture & History

China says NO to Gun N’ Roses

No real surprise here, Chinese authorities call new album “venomous” and block access to band’s website.

Categories
Cambodia & Laos Vietnam

Cambodian PM visits Laos

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has arrived in Laos ahead of a planned meeting of the leaders of former French Indochina: Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Categories
Culture & History Russia

Russian warships approach Venezuela under US gaze

Russian warships approached Venezuela Monday for upcoming joint maneuvers — Moscow’s first military presence in the region since the Cold War — as Washington closely monitored the situation.

Venezuelan defense officials said the ships, including the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great and destroyer Admiral Chabankenko, would arrive on Tuesday reports the AFP.

Categories
Culture & History North Korea

North Korea’s Very Cautious Cinematic Thaw

Audiences at the 11th Pyongyang International Film Festival clearly enjoyed themselves this fall during screenings of Western dramas and comedies, occasionally even erupting into riotous laughter.

The festival, which ran from Sept. 17 to 26 and screened more than 100 films from at least 45 nations, including China, Russia, France and Italy (though not the United States, Japan or South Korea), offered a rare chance for ordinary North Koreans to get a glimpse of the outside world.

Categories
Central Asia Culture & History

Drone attacks in Pakistan intensify

Pilotless “drone” aircraft deliver a silent, deadly payload that has proved effective in killing militants, but has also killed civilians when intelligence goes awry or in “collateral damage, reports the Guardian.

In Pakistan, strikes were infrequent – every few months – until August, when there was a sudden and dramatic increase in the drone attacks. Since then there have been at least 20 strikes – more than one a week – possibly in a stepped-up attempt to kill Osama bin Laden before George Bush leaves office on January 20 next year.

Categories
China Russia

China and Russia pledge deeper cooperation

AFP reports

Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday pledged closer cooperation to face the world financial crisis, a Chinese spokesman said.

During their 45-minute meeting, the two leaders also pledged to pursue a six-nation effort, chaired by China, to denuclearise North Korea, Liu said.

Russian media last week quoted the country’s energy minister as saying Moscow and Beijing would resume talks about oil shipments via a new pipeline next week, after they were reportedly halted over a financial dispute.

The talks on a 25-billion-dollar (20-billion-euro) loan package from China to Russian state pipeline monopoly Transneft and oil company Rosneft had been suspended due to “absurd” Chinese conditions for the loan package, Russian media had quoted a source as saying.

Categories
Eastern Europe

Eastern European Leaders Meet to Discuss Future Cooperation

Turkish President Abdullah Gul joined the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine for an energy meeting three months after Russia dropped bombs close to a crucial pipeline through the Caucasus state of Georgia in a brief war the AFP reported.

Amid renewed criticism of Russia by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Gul steered clear of inflammatory rhetoric towards Turkey’s historical rival Moscow.

However, Gul emphasised NATO member Turkey’s desire for a greater diplomatic role in the region, after his government earlier proposed a new forum for cooperation in the South Caucasus.

“The crisis which broke out last August in Georgia confirmed that unsolved conflicts in the region constitute a major threat from the perspective of security and stability,” he said.

Categories
China Culture & History Vietnam

Chinese Navy Visits Vietnam for First Time

For the first time in their at-times turbulent history, a ship from the Chinese Navy visited Vietnam. The Chinese naval training ship Zheng He arrived at the Vietnamese central Tien Sa port in Danang yesterday Chinese state media reported.

Vietnam has hosted a number of foreign navies in recent years including ships from the United States.

Vietnam and China fought a short-lived border war in 1979.

Categories
Uncategorized

Vietnam’s president in Venezuela to boost energy ties

Vietnamese president Nguyen Minh Triet arrived in Venezuela late Tuesday where he was set to promote oil and gas cooperation for a two-day official visit, the first by a head of state from Vietnam.

Triet was set to meet President Hugo Chavez on Thursday before travelling to Lima, Peru, for an Asia-Pacific summit.

The two leaders planned to discuss a joint development fund similar to deals Venezuela has with China and Iran, according to officials in Caracas.

reports AFP

Categories
Central Asia

AirAsia Looks at Uzbekistan Route

Budget airline operator AirAsia is looking into possible flights to Uzbekistan.

AIRASIA is looking into the possibility of flying to Uzbekistan following a request by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The prime minister said AirAsia group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes was receptive to the idea and assured him that he would make an immediate appraisal of the proposal.