International

Russia faces new U.S., EU sanctions over Ukraine crisis

(Reuters) – European Union governments agreed on Thursday to begin their new sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis on Friday but could lift them next month if Moscow abides by a fragile truce, while the United States prepared its own fresh sanctions. The steps are the latest by the United States and the EU following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March and what the West sees as an effort since then to further destabilize Ukraine by backing pro-Russian separatists with […]

Arab states ready to support US fight with ISIS

At least ten Arab states are ready to back-up President Obama in his fight against ISIS. This includes Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. According to US Secretary of State John Kerry, said Arab states are ready to join a comprehensive fight against ISIS. President Obama first announced his plans against ISIS in a national address, saying that the United States will lead the fight against the […]

US lawmakers support Obama’s steps against ISIS

Nevertheless, they are apprehensive of an open-ended conflict. Obama sent a panel of top administration officials to the Capitol for the said step. Included in the plan are first-time airstrikes against Syria and sending more military advisers to Iraq. Said measure aims to stop the violence perpetrated by ISIS.

Obama leads U.S. in remembrance of September 11 victims

(Reuters) – Led by President Barack Obama, Americans commemorated the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Thursday by observing moments of silence for the thousands killed that day at New York City’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. In what has become an annual ritual, relatives began slowly reciting the nearly 3,000 names of the victims at a ceremony in lower Manhattan, from Gordon Aamoth Jr. to Igor Zukelman. Readers […]

Is bigger better for ASEAN in a mega-regional world?

Author: Razeen Sally, NUS (Courtesy East Asia Forum) Sept. 10, 1014 — Big-block trade agreements or ‘mega-regionals’, revolving around one or more major powers, are the latest trend in trade policy negotiations. ASEAN is involved in two: the American-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Chinese-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). But are mega-regionals good for trade and economic growth? Will they spur regional and global economic integration? And where does ASEAN stand?As of 2013, there were […]

ASEAN Formulates a Post-2015 Vision and Strategic Action Plan on Competition

JAKARTA, 11 September 2014 – The ASEAN Experts Group on Competition (AEGC) gathered at the ASEAN Secretariat from 9-10 September to deliberate a post-2015 vision, with new targets and a regional plan of action on competition for the period 2016-2025. The envisaged establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015 will mark an important milestone on ASEAN’s way towards deeper regional economic integration and community-building. The Brainstorming Meeting was convened in compliance […]

South African judge clears Pistorius of premeditated murder

(Reuters) – A South African judge cleared Oscar Pistorius of premeditated murder on Thursday, saying prosecutors had failed to prove the Olympic and Paralympic track star explicitly intended to kill his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day last year. Although she described the 27-year-old as a “very poor” and “evasive” witness, judge Thokozile Masipa said this did not mean the track star was necessary guilty in a case that she said was based entirely on circumstantial evidence. […]

China asserts paternal rights over Hong Kong in democracy clash

(Reuters) – Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing’s most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing’s Communist leaders. The setting at the Aug. 19 meeting was calm: A room with plush cream carpets, Chinese ink brush landscape paintings and a vase of purple orchids. The political mood outside, however, was fraught. […]

Obama orders U.S. airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama told Americans on Wednesday he had authorized U.S. airstrikes for the first time in Syria and more attacks in Iraq in a broad escalation of a campaign against the Islamic State militant group. Obama’s decision to launch attacks inside Syria, which is embroiled in a three-year civil war, marked a turnabout for the president, who shied away a year ago from airstrikes to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using […]

MH17 hit by ‘numerous high-energy objects’ – Dutch Safety Board

Dutch Safety Board says no evidence of technical falults in MH17 crash.  The report adds that flight MH17 with a Boeing 777-200 operated by Malaysia Airlines broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside Malou Francisco reports from The Netherlands . [youtube id=”hHirkCk9WIM”]