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A US congressional panel is reported to have reached a tentative deal on extending a payroll tax cut, ending weeks of uncertainty. The deal would extend the tax cut until the end of 2012, adding $100bn (£65bn) to the US deficit. Agreement came after Republicans dropped calls for spending cuts to offset the expense, and [...]
The U.S. labor market teed off the new year with a nice surprise as the country’s unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent in January, but experts believe that the jobs growth was insufficient to cure the lingeringly sick labor market in the short run. UNEMPLOYMENT THREE-YEAR LOW Payroll growth last [...]
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama will visit Texas next week as one stop of her three-day nationwide tour to promote her initiative to combat childhood obesity, the White House said Friday. The visit is part of the tour by the first lady to celebrate the second anniversary of Let’s Move!, her initiative to solve the [...]
Heavy snow gripped Belgium on Friday, paralyzing much of the country as roads are jammed and bus services delayed or even suspended. Pedestrians walk in front of the headquarters of European Commission in heavy snow in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Feb. 3, 2012. Temperatures plunged to new lows in Belgium where it has been [...]
Lanta-Viet, a local branch of the bankrupted tour operator Lanta-Tur Voyach, is back in operation to finish all proceedings related Russian tourists and pay off debts to their partners in Mui Ne, according to Nguyen Van Khoa, chairman at the Tourism Association in the coastal province of Binh Thuan. Last Sunday, the debts to some [...]
Russia and China are defending their veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have endorsed an Arab League plan for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to transfer power to a deputy to help end Syria’s months-long unrest. The Russian government said Sunday it vetoed the Western and Arab-backed resolution the previous day because [...]
China has “banned” all airlines in the country from joining the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) aimed at cutting carbon emissions. The authorities have also barred the airlines from increasing their fares or adding new charges for the scheme. The ban comes just weeks after the China Air Transport Association said its members did [...]
Sudanese rebels say they are holding nearly 30 Chinese workers following a battle with Sudan’s army in the state of South Kordofan, which borders newly independent South Sudan. A rebel spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North says 29 Chinese are being held for their own safety and are in good health. The rebels say [...]
The race to become the Republican candidate in the 6 November US presidential election took another dramatic turn on Saturday after Newt Gingrich beat rival and longtime frontrunner Mitt Romney in South Carolina’s primary. With all the votes counted, Gingrich captured 40.4 per cent, compared to 27.9 per cent for Romney. The result is [...]
Tibet analysts and human rights advocates say the spread of protests in Tibetan parts of China are the latest sign of growing dissatisfaction among Tibetans with Chinese government policies. And there is concern now, they say, that the situation could get much worse. Concern about protests in Tibetan areas of China, particularly in the southwestern [...]