Fireworks over Baghdad as Iraqis take over cities

（ＡＰ） Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities Tuesday after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish [...]

What do we know about Kim Jong-il and North Korea?

Former U.S. defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s attempts to be philosophical about ‘known unknowns’ and ‘unknown unknowns’ gave him a reputation for slipperiness and cant. The phrases uttered in 2002 to explain the military’s failure to improve security in Afghanistan have passed into folklore, alongside such gems as ’stuff happens,’ which was his explanation for the looting that [...]

Officials Probe Building Collapse In China

The collapse of a nearly completed 13-story apartment building in Shanghai has renewed concerns about building safety in China. Officials are questioning nine people are part of their investigation into why the building toppled early Saturday.
Chinese officials had hoped they had neutralized the issue of building safety following last year’s earthquake in Sichuan province, when [...]

As Iraq Stabilizes, China Eyes Its Oil Fields

（NY Times）As the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing consumer of oil, China is showing increasing interest in oil fields in a country that has until very recently seemed to be firmly in the American sphere of influence for natural resources: Iraq.
Chinese oil companies are expected to bid for the rights to develop Iraq’s oil fields in [...]

A Look at China’s New Online Health Information Rules

This week, China’s Ministry of Health published a new set of measures to control online health information that will take effect on July 1.
The new rules have drawn the most attention for their stringent controls on sites that provide information on sexual health issues, which are singled out for some special treatment. But the rules also [...]

China Seeks Report on Dam’s Ecological Effects

China’s environment ministry said it has ordered an ecological assessment for a proposed Yangtze River dam that conservationists fear could threaten hundreds of fish species and drive the giant Chinese sturgeon into extinction.

Is China Trying to Prevent Another Iran?

Bent on wiping pornography from its citizens’ Web, China has expanded its Internet blocking policy to include sexual health sites.

China shoe maker in talks to buy Pierre Cardin

A private Chinese shoe manufacturer is in discussions with French attire maker Pierre Cardin for possible acquisition, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

Iran ‘frees five’ from UK embassy

Five of the local staff at the British embassy detained in Tehran have been released, Iranian officials say.

Central American FMs condemn military coup in Honduras

The foreign ministers of the Central American Integration System (SICA) member nations Sunday “strongly condemned” the military coup in Honduras.