French exports of wine and spirits hit a record €10 billion in 2011, a 10.5% annual increase, the Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters said Tuesday. The federation said demand had been on the rise worldwide, particularly in Asia.
More than a billion Asians welcomed the Year of the Dragon on Monday as they celebrated the start of the lunar new year with feasts and fireworks from Malaysia to the Koreas. A dragon year is thought to bring luck and prosperity but also volatility.
Southeast Asian nations have chosen Burma to chair their regional organisation in 2014, betting the junta-led country can make its way out of isolation by then. But US President Obama says the regime first needs to improve its human rights record.
Australia has agreed to host 2,500 US marines in the north of the country, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced at a news conference with US President Barack Obama on Tuesday. The deployment is seen as a move to counter China's rising influence.
Bangkok's system of dikes and barriers spared the Thai capital from the country's worst flooding in 50 years on Sunday. Areas outside of the capital were less fortunate, with thousands of people left struggling to survive in half-submerged towns.
Four suicide bombers killed two civilians and wounded two guards in an attack on the Provincial Reconstruction Team headquarters Saturday, which houses U.S. and Afghan troops and civilians in the anti-Taliban northern Panjshir province.
Bangkok is bracing itself for further flooding this weekend as spring tides are expected to add to the difficulties facing the city, which is battling the worst floods in decades that are currently affecting one third of Thailand’s provinces.
Ten years to the day after anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud was killed in combat, Afghanistan celebrated his passing with a ceremony that was notable this year for the absence of President Hamid Karzai.
Nepal's parliament has elected a senior leader of the former Maoist rebellion as prime minister after weeks of fruitless attempts by lawmakers to come to an agreement over the formation of a national unity government.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that the Chinese President Hu Jintao has “confidence” in the euro Thursday, following talks between the two countries during a short stopover in China by Sarkozy.
