Kofi Annan, the joint UN and Arab League special envoy for Syria, said here Thursday that it is very important now to push for the implementation of his six-point plan to end the 16-month crisis in Syria or the violence will be spin out of the border to affect peace and stability in the region.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday warned that the escalating eurozone debt crisis and the looming U.S. fiscal cliff had posed significant risks to U.S. economic recovery, but gave no explicit hint of massive monetary steps to strengthen the tepid growth.

China and Russia pledged Tuesday to increase their cooperation in the United Nations, as the giant neighbours try to resist mounting pressure for international action to stop the bloodshed in Syria.

Queen Elizabeth II led a grand carriage procession through London to mark her diamond jubilee Tuesday but faced the crowning moment of the festivities without her ill husband Prince Philip.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared three days of national mourning after one of the West African country's worst plane crashes killed at least 193 people in the economic capital Lagos on Sunday.

British Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday took part in the largest event held to celebrate her 60 years as queen by leading a flotilla of boats in a pageant down the River Thames through central London.

StringerHosni Mubarak, toppled by an uprising last year after 30 years ruling Egypt, was sentenced to life in jail on Saturday for his role in killing protesters after a trial that sets a precedent for holding Middle East autocrats to account.

Japan and China on June 1 began direct bilateral trade of their currencies (Yen and Yuan). This not only simplifies trade and financial transactions between the countries but also has a considerable impact on their political relations.

Rescue workers ended their search for survivors on Wednesday after a second killer earthquake in northeastern Italy claimed 17 lives and caused millions of euros of damage.

Syria's main rebel commander urged Kofi Annan on Thursday to announce that his peace plan has failed in order to free insurgents from any commitment to a truce deal, which the United States said may collapse and trigger a wider Middle East crisis.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said here Thursday that the United States continues to back UN-Arab League joint envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria, and dismissed talk of a military solution to the conflict there.