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West Asia
EU ends arms embargo on Syrian rebels to press Assad’s regime
The European Union said its member states within days will be able to send weapons to help Syria’s outgunned rebels, seeking to pressure President Bashar Assad’s regime ahead of planned peace talks mediated by the United States and Russia. Though no EU country has any such plans now to send…
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East Asia
China, US officials pave way for first Xi-Obama summit in early June
Chinese President Xi Jinping met U.S. National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon on Monday, forecasting that his upcoming talks with U.S. President Barack Obama will feature discussions on important and strategic issues. “I look forward to meeting with President Obama in California in earlier June,” Xi said at the start of…
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South East Asia
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi slams two-child limit for Muslim families
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Islamic leaders expressed dismay Monday over plans by authorities in western Myanmar to revive a two-child limit on Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to Buddhists and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing. Some Buddhists, however, welcomed the plan for…
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West Asia
Israeli and Palestinian President shake hands at World Economic Forum
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, Israeli President Shimon Peres, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas all shake hands during the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa at the King Hussein Convention Centre at the Dead Sea in Jordan Sunday May 26, 2013. <AP Photo/Pool,…
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East Asia
Japan offers 51 bn yen loan and major aid package to Myanmar
Japan on Sunday provided a fresh loan of about 51 billion yen (about 504 million U.S. dollars) to help Myanmar’s infrastructural development projects for Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), official sources said. According to the notes exchanged between the visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Myanmar President U Thein…
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West Asia
US Secretary of State Kerry meets with Palestinian President Abbas
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, May 23, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in Jerusalem Thursday, May 23, 2013. The United…
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West Asia
Arab FMs attend emergency meeting on Syria at AL headquaters in Cairo
Foreign ministers attend the emergency meeting of Arab Ministerial Committee on Syria at the headquarters of Cairo-based Arab League (AL) in Cairo, Egypt, May. 23, 2013. The Arab Ministerial Committee on Syria held an emergency meeting Thursday here in the headquarters of Cairo-based Arab League (AL) to discuss efforts exerted to…
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East Asia
Chinese Premier Li meets Pakistani President to strengthen alliance
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) meets with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad, Pakistan, May 22, 2013. <Xinhua/Pang Xinglei> Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, center, and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, fourth right, watch as Pakistani and Chinese officials, foreground, sign an agreement during a ceremony in Islamabad, Pakistan…
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East Asia
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sends special envoy to China
After months of ignoring Chinese warnings to give up nuclear weapons, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a high-level confidant to Beijing on Wednesday, in a possible effort to mend strained ties with his country’s most important ally and a sign that he may be giving diplomacy a chance.…
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West Asia
‘Friends of Syria’ meeting: US, allies to increase support to Syrian rebels
The United States and its European and Arab allies on Wednesday said they would increase support to rebels until the formation of a transitional government in Syria. In a communique issued by “Friends of Syria” meeting, the foreign ministers of the United States, several Arab and European states said that…
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