Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was met by cheering crowds Saturday as she campaigned for parliament. A win would bring legitimacy to a government that needs Suu Kyi on its side if it is to obtain the lifting of Western sanctions.
Ousted Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed began to fight back Wednesday, saying his resignation the previous day was a coup and urging his successor to step down. Meanwhile, one thousand Nasheed supporters clashed with police.
Iranian lawmakers vowed Tuesday to ban crude oil exports to European nations, a day after US officials announced new sanctions aimed at disrupting financial transactions by Iran's central bank and other institutions.
President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives resigned in a televised address Tuesday after three weeks of public protests erupted into a police mutiny. Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik was sworn in as the new head of state.
China said Monday it will bar its airlines from paying charges on carbon emissions of flights in and out of Europe. The United States and Russia also oppose the EU-imposed measures to rein in climate-changing gases, which came into effect this year.
China on Monday defended its veto of a United Nations draft resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power, on the grounds that last year’s resolution on Libya led to foreign interference that went beyond its mandate.
A car bomb exploded outside police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday, killing seven police officers and two civilians, officials say. At least 19 people were wounded in the attack.
The number of Afghan civilian deaths rose for a fifth consecutive year to a record 3,021 fatalities in 2011, the UN said in an annual report Saturday. Most civilians die in attacks by Taliban insurgents, often from improvised explosive devices.
China’s premier Wen Jiabao (pictured) pledged his country’s cooperation to help Europe fight its debt crisis during a meeting Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel but denied it meant China wanted to “buy Europe”.
An overloaded ferry sank off Papua New Guinea Thursday, with fears rising that up to 100 passengers are still trapped inside. So far, 246 passengers have been rescued in a joint operation by Papua New Guinea and Australia.
