Asian Lite News Archive

Category: World News

  • Search begins for Malaysian naval vessel

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    The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA)  assigned two vessels and a plane to assist in the search operation for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) combat vessel CB204, which went missing Sunday. CB204 lost contact with its base at 11.15 a.m. while cruising to islands off Sabah waters, The Malaysian Star reported. The vessel’s last known…

  • South Korea calls for North

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    South Korean President Park Geun-hye  called for regular senior-level dialogues with North Korea. Park’s remarks came after North Korea’s second-in-command Hwang Pyong So made a surprise visit to South Korea for the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games with Choe Ryong Hae and Kim Yang Gon, secretaries of the Central Committee of the Workers’…

  • Gazans let to pray in Jerusalem

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      Some 500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip travelled  to pray at a Jerusalem mosque, marking the first occasion since 2007 that Israel allowed such visits from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave. The holiday permits were issued to about 1,500 Gazans, aged 60 and over, a spokesperson for the Israeli army said in a statement. They…

  • Sense of humour changes with age

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    Things that you find funny today may not amuse you when you grow older, a study suggests, indicating that with age, our sense of humour also changes. While young and middle-aged adults considered aggressive humour to be funny, older adults did not, the findings showed. “Television sitcoms in which characters make jokes at someone else’s…

  • Israel to summon Swedish envoy

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    Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday it will summon the Swedish ambassador to protest new Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s decision to recognize the Palestinian state. “I regret that the Swedish prime minister was in a hurry to make statements on Sweden’s position regarding recognition of a Palestinian state, apparently before he had time even…

  • Cameron vows to hunt down Alan Henning’s killers

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    British Prime Minister David Cameron  condemned the “barbaric” murder of British hostage Alan Henning by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, and vowed to hunt down the killers. Footage released late Friday showed the murder of the 47-year-old aid convoy volunteer. Henning was a Manchester taxi driver who travelled to Syria to help distribute food…

  • US strikes kill 35 ISIS fighters

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    At least 35 fighters of the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group were killed  by the strikes of the US-led anti-terror coalition in northern Syria, media reports said. The strikes, carried out by US drones along with Jordanian war jets, targeted the IS positions in the countryside of the northern province of Hasaka and the…

  • MI6 has a new chief

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     Britain has named Alex Younger, a career intelligence officer, as the next chief of the MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) announced . The SIS, commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), refers to the British intelligence agency supplying foreign intelligence to the British government, according to Xinhua. Younger…

  • ‘What a shame’ Alan Henning executed

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      A video purporting to show UK hostage Alan Henning being beheaded has been released by Islamic State militants. The Salford taxi driver was delivering aid to Syria in December when he was kidnapped and then held hostage by ISIS. “What a world,” the president of the UN Security Council said late last night as…

  • US mum on joint military ops inside Pakistan

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    The US would not say whether India-US cooperation against Pakistan-based terrorist groups could involve coordination on drone strikes, but was open to talk with all its partners how they could help Washington’s own efforts. “Those are not conversations that I’m going to get into here,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha…

  • UK deplores Israeli plans

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    UK deplores Israeli government decision to advance plans for settlement units in Givat Hamatos and urges them to reverse decision The Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said:   “The UK deplores the Israeli government’s decision to advance plans for 2610 settlement units in Givat Hamatos.  This is an ill-judged decision which will have serious implications for the possibility…

  • Palestinians, Israelis resume talks on Gaza

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    Palestinians and Israelis have resumed negotiations on implementation of the permanent ceasefire agreed to in August that put an end to 50 days of intense conflict on the Gaza Strip. The meeting was attended by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry and Israel’s Coordinator…

  • Turkey clears action against ISIS

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    The Turkish parliament  passed a motion to authorise cross-border military actions in neighbouring Syria and Iraq to fight terrorist groups. Of the 396 parliament deputies who voted at Thursday’s session, some 298 voted for the motion while the rest 98 against, Xinhua reported. The decision will grant the government a one-year mandate to send Turkish…

  • IMF: Global economy at inflection point

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    International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday that the global economy was at an inflection point with weaker than expected recovery momentum, as he called for bolder policies and multilateral efforts to inject new impetus. Speaking at the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in Georgetown University, Lagarde said the global economy was weaker than…

  • Australia lauds the bravery of Indian soldiers

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    Indian soldiers’ bravery revisited on Haifa Day in Sydney….reports Sandeep Datta The Indian soldiers’ valour as displayed in 1918 during first World War to free the Israeli city of Haifa was remembered in Australia . On Sep 23, 1918 Indian soldiers of two elite army units from Jodhpur and Mysore, in a heroic battle with Ottomans,…

  • GALLERY: China National Day

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    China, the world’s most populous country, has celebrated its national day on October 1.   The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded on October 1, 1949 with a ceremony at Tiananmen Square. The Central People’s Government passed the Resolution on the National Day of the People’s Republic of China on December 2, 1949 and…

  • PICS: Horror Show

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     The Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore is a hit. The studio held a media preview 

  • Russia charges Ukraine with war crimes

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     Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of committing war crimes after pro-Russian separatists allegedly discovered several mass graves in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. “This is obviously a war crime. Already more than 400 bodies have been discovered in graves outside Donetsk and we hope that Western capitals will not hush up these…

  • Ebola vaccine not yet ready: WHO

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    Two vaccines that give preliminary indications of providing effective and reliable immunization against the deadly Ebola virus ravaging West Africa will not be ready for testing until next March, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Developing a vaccine usually takes time and is expensive, the WHO said. “Even in best conditions and with the huge…

  • Tutu ashamed of Dalai Lama visa row

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    Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said he is ashamed because his country refused to grant the Dalai Lama a visa to South Africa to attend the 14th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates to be held in Cape Town Oct 13-15. “I am ashamed to call this lickspittle bunch my government,” Tutu said Wednesday in a…

  • Israel approves new settlement in East Jerusalem

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    An Israeli committee has granted approval to the construction of a massive Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, Israeli settlements watchdog Peace Now said . The approval by Jerusalem District Committee came shortly before the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington for a meeting with US President Barak Obama. The move is expected to…

  • Nobel laureates summit called off

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    The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Cape Town, South Africa, this month has been cancelled owing to denial of a travel visa by the host country to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a visiting Nobel laureate said . “The venue of the summit has been shifted out of South Africa,” Nobel Peace…

  • Health forums appeal to UN

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    Experts seek UN help to launch an alert on cardio-vascular diseases – that contribute to 30 percent of global deaths, more than all infectious and parasitic diseases combined Eleven cardio-vascular organisations from the world have called on United Nations to include cardio-vascular diseases – that contribute to 30 percent of global deaths, more than all infectious…

  • UK Court orders to release Begg

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    Rights activists say Moazzam Begg release highlights anti-Muslim witchhunt A judge at the Old Bailey ordered the immediate release of former Guantanamo detainee Mr Moazzam Begg  today (Tuesday) after the Crown Prosecution Service admitted there was no reasonable prospect of securing a conviction on any of the seven terrorism charges laid against him. Mr Begg…

  • US secret service rebuked for Security breaches

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     US secret service chief Julia Pierson vowed  that the breach of White House security will not be allowed to happen again, amid mounting criticism over the agency’s failure to prevent the intrusion of a man Sep 19. Appearing before the House and Government Operations Committee, Pierson said the intrusion by US Army veteran Omar Gonzalez…

  • Britain conducts first airstrike against ISIS

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    Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) military jets have conducted their first strikes on an Islamic State (IS) heavy weapon position in Iraq, the British ministry of defence said. In the course of an armed reconnaissance mission, two Tornados were tasked to assist Kurdish troops in northwest Iraq who were under attack from IS, also known…

  • India & US commit to hit terrorist havens

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      In a significant development, India and the US have committed to make joint and concerted efforts to dismantle terrorist safe havens, including four Pakistan-based groups Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, the D-Company, and the Haqqani network, besides the Al Qaeda. A joint statement issued Tuesday after the first bilateral summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and…

  • Obama hails security deal with Afghanistan

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    US President Barack Obama hailed it as “a historic day” as the US and Afghanistan signed a bilateral security agreement that allows the residual American troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014. “Today we mark a historic day in the US-Afghan partnership that will help advance our shared interests and the long-term security of Afghanistan,”…

  • Jewish settlers seize houses in east Jerusalem

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      Dozens of Jewish settlers, escorted by heavy police force, took over at least seven empty buildings in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem Tuesday. The buildings are located in the Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood of Silwan, only some 300 metres across from the volatile area of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and the…

  • Asian Lite among short-listed for top awards

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    Asian Lite among leading media titles were short-listed for the 2014 Asian Media Awards.  The finalists were announced at an event held at ITV, The London Studios. The prestigious event is aiming to reward those working in journalism, television, radio, marketing and PR.   The Asian Media Awards take place at the Hilton Deansgate Manchester on 28 October…

  • Afghan-US Security Agreement signed

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      Afghanistan and the US  signed the long-awaited Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) to allow a limited number of troops to remain in Afghanistan after the drawdown later this year of the NATO-led troops in the country. Afghan Presidential Advisor on National Security Mohammad Hanif Atmar and US Ambassador to Afghanistan James B. Cunningham signed the…

  • Palestinians rap Bibi’s UN speech

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    Netanyahu’s UN speech provocative say Palestinian officials Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the UN General Assembly in New York was provocative to Palestinians, officials said. Netanyahu Monday said that the Hamas movement and the Islamic State (IS) are two branches of a toxic tree, and that he is seeking to reach a historic…

  • SPECIAL: Dubai ruler on ISIS & Jihadism

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     HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, calls for united front against Jihadists like ISIS.  Only one thing can stop a suicidal youth who is ready to die for ISIS: a stronger ideology that guides him onto the right path and convinces…

  • Did glaciers flow through Mars?

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    Using satellite images, researchers for the first time have identified the first mineralogical evidence of past glaciers as they flowed through the Grand Canyon of Mars. The team from the Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, US, and the Freie Universitat, Berlin, mapped the acid-sulphate mineral jarosite within Valles Marineris – the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) long chasm…

  • ‘Chalein saath saath’, US tells India

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    Once shunned by America, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the guest of honour at a private dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama ahead of their formal summit Tuesday to reset stalled India-US relations. As Modi, fasting for the Hindu festival of Navratri, sat down with Obama in the Blue Room of the president’s…

  • FAO: 805 million in dire poverty

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    World hunger falls but 805 mn still chronically under-nourished Despite the overall progress made in global hunger reduction, 805 million people are estimated to be chronically undernourished in 2012-14, down more than 100 million over the last decade, and 209 million lower than in 1990-92, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. In the…

  • Obama acknowledges underestimation of ISIS

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      US President Barack Obama has in a television interview acknowledged that intelligence agencies underestimated the rise of the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group in Iraq and Syria. “Our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that, I think, they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria,” Obama said Sunday on…

  • C’Wealth Unveils Post-2015 Agenda

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    Forum aims to tackle the causes of poverty, exclusion and inequality’….reports Asian Lite News Commonwealth Heads of Government have endorsed a Commonwealth Statement on the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda at a meeting in New York, which took place in the wings of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly. In it, Commonwealth leaders…

  • Ahmadzai sworn in as Afghan president

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    Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was sworn in Monday as the new president of Afghanistan in a ceremony at the presidential palace here. The former finance minister was inaugurated, marking Afghanistan’s first democratic transfer of power since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Al Jazeera reported. Ghani succeeds Hamid Karzai after a three-month standoff over disputed…

  • British jets return after Iraq combat mission

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    Two British Tornado fighter-bombers returned to base in Cyprus after their first combat mission over Iraq since the parliament authorised military action against the Islamic State (IS). According to eyewitnesses, the planes took off early Saturday morning and returned late evening, Xinhua reported. The British defence ministry said in a statement in that the planes…

  • Human genome shaped by evolutionary race

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    An evolutionary race between rival elements within the genomes of primates drove the evolution of complex regulatory networks that orchestrate the activity of genes in every cell of our bodies, reveal new research. The race was between mobile DNA sequences known as ‘retrotransposons’ (jumping genes) and the genes that have evolved to control them. Scientists…

  • Turkey calls for ground action against ISIS

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      Turkish president has urged the international community to escalate attacks against the Islamic State (IS) militant group, warning that the armed group could expand its reach beyond Iraq and Syria. “We see a deeper problem. The situation is now unsustainable as Islamic State gains a global character. We must extinguish the danger before it…

  • US continue to strike ISIS targets in Syria

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    The US-led anti-terror coalition targeted a position of the Islamic State (IS) militant group at a key gas production facility in Syria’s Deir al-Zour province Sunday night, the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Observatory said the US strikes hit the entrance of the Konico factory, which is the biggest gas production facility…

  • GALLERY: Asian leaders at UN

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    Asian leaders addressing the UN General Assembly

  • Britain sends fighter jets to Iraq

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    Britain has sent two Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado jets to participate in the US-led airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group in Iraq, a day after parliament voted in favour of action against the militants, media reports said Saturday. The British fighters took off from RAF’s Akrotiri station in Cyprus, the ministry…

  • Afghan govt to ink Security Agreement

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    Afghan presidential advisor on national security Rangin Dadfar Spanta Saturday said that the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Kabul and Washington would be signed Tuesday. “I am in favour of inking bilateral security agreement with US and NATO,” Spanta said at a security conference opened in Herat city. The presidential inauguration ceremony is scheduled for…

  • Turkey may support US-led forces

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    Turkey would lend its support to international military operations against the Islamic State (IS) terrorists if the actions were aimed at bringing stability and long-term peace in the region, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said. “If a military operation, with the prospect of a lasting peace, aims to bring stability to the region, we will…

  • US airstrikes continues against IS

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    The US forces continued airstrikes in Iraq and Syria held by Islamic State (IS) militants, the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) has said. The forces conducted 10 new strikes. Fighter-bombers and drones were used in the raids unleashed between Thursday and Friday on facilities near Kirkuk and Baghdad and other locations in Syria and Iraq where…

  • Jihadism, Ukraine top NATO agenda

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    Elena Moreno and Rosa Jimenez talk to NATO’s outgoing Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He says Ukrainian crisis, Jihadism world’s biggest security challenges Jihadi terrorism and Russia’s aggression against the Ukraine are the two major challenges in international relations at the present time, NATO’s outgoing Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said. Those two issues and other…

  • Special Report: An alternate for sand

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    Can discarded plastic replace sand in concrete…writes Mayabhushan Nagvenkar   Plagued by chronic sand shortage following a ban on its indiscriminate mining, a scientific project undertaken by Goa’s structural experts and Britain’s University of Bath involving plastic may well bring cheer to the beleaguered real estate industry in the state. Academics in government engineering and polytechnics in…