Rapid and sustained economic growth achieved by emerging economies is one of the most important long-term trends shaping the global economy, from which developed countries could also draw some important lessons, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday pushed back a decision on the Palestinian bid to join the United Nations in a move that will give more time to international efforts to revive direct talks.

The International Women’s Beach Volleyball Tournament will take place in Vung Tau city from October 7-9. 

Israel approved on September 27 construction of 1,100 settlement homes on annexed land in the West Bank, complicating global efforts to renew peace talks and defuse a crisis over a Palestinian statehood bid at the UN.

Up to nine people were killed and some 90 others wounded in a spate of bomb attacks in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Karbala south of Baghdad on September 25, the police said.

A powerful roadside bomb targeting an anti-Taliban militia ripped through a pick-up vehicle in Pakistan's tribal belt on Thursday killing at least five people, government officials said. 

A prominent Thai website editor facing up to 20 years in jail appeared in court Wednesday to defend herself against charges relating to remarks about the monarchy posted by other people on her website.

China expressed "great indignation" Thursday over a $5.85 billion US deal to upgrade Taiwan's fleet of F-16 fighter jets, summoning the US ambassador and warning the move would undermine relations.

The death toll of earthquake which hit the northeast Indian state of Sikkim has risen to 58 in India, as rescuers are fighting to get into the inner areas against damaged roads and bridges, mudslides and bad weather in the hilly state, reported local media Tuesday. Villagers look at a damaged house at Nalanda district in Bihar, a state neighboring Sikkim, India, Sept. 19, 2011. So far at least 23 people were confirmed killed and more than 200 injured in the quake in Sikkim, while 12 people were killed in the neighboring states of West Bengal and Bihar, according to latest official figures. (Xinhua/Stringer)

"It's not a choice of dealing with it or not, it's an absolute fundamental imperative for development," said Dr. Douglas Bettcher, WHO's director for the Tobacco Free Initiative, told Xinhua in a recent telephone interview.

Recent floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains in southern Pakistan have killed nearly 300 people and affected 6 million more, according to the latest figures released by the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on September 17.

The annual event is organized by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordination with Beijing authorities to assist ethnic minority groups in Yunnan province’s mountainous areas.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they were convinced that "the future of Greece is in the eurozone," according to a statement issued by the Elysee Palace after a telephone conference among leaders of Greece, France and Germany. 

 

The head of the UN atomic agency warned Monday against complacency on nuclear safety six months after the Fukushima disaster, as he admitted his draft global "action plan" had been watered down.