China and Russia are about to conclude joint naval exercises in the South China Sea [Xinhua]
China’s Foreign Ministry has sharply criticized remarks made by Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada regarding the South China Sea issue.
During her visit to Washington last weekend, Inada said Japan would work with neighbors to boost their naval capacities along the South China Sea and work with the US on joint missions in that body of water.
United Russia performed better on Sunday than in legislative elections in 2011, exit polls showed [Xinhua]President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party is heading toward a win in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, the national electoral commission said with 25 per cent of the vote counted.
Despite hundreds of opposition candidates running in the elections for the lower house of Parliament, United Russia won 51 per cent of the tally so far.
China’s economy needs to undergo structural reforms with focus on innovation, a new report shows [Xinhua]
A report from the School of Economics at China’s Renmin University has shown that the country’s GDP growth will hover between 6.5 and 6.6 per cent provided policymakers make structural reform the main economic driver.
GDP growth for Q2 in 2016 was 6.7 per cent. While this is far lower than the hey day of just a decade ago when the growth rate approached double digits, it falls within government forecasts for the year.
“Renewing our relationship with China is extremely important for Canada,” Trudeau said after meeting with Li and Xi in Beijing in early September [Xinhua]
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in New York Sunday to take part in the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which opened last week, and to visit Canada and Cuba.
Li’s visit to Canada comes two weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, on the sidelines of his participation at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Hangzhou.
The Syrian army said its soldiers were about to attack an Islamic State position when they were struck by US fire [Xinhua]
The Russian Ministry of Defense late Saturday confirmed Syrian army reports that US forces attacked and killed government soldiers stationed in Deir e Zor in the east of the country.
Early reports said that US F-16 fighter jets and A-10 tank busters attacked a Syrian army contingent at Jebel Tharda and killed 30 soldiers.
Russia’s government has taken a number of measures which have beaten back recession and returned the economy to growth prospects, global firms say [PPIO]
Russia’s economy is gradually emerging from contraction and heading to recovery, a global ratings firm says.
S&P said in its latest report on the health of the Russian economy that the recession it has faced is coming to an end.
It revised its assessment of Russia’s credit risk from negative to stable.
Fighting in and around Aleppo has generally subsided giving civilians much needed reprieve, but there have been reports of violations [Xinhua]
Russia has accused US-backed Syrian rebels of failing to hold their end of the bargain in a ceasefire which only began four days ago.
Major General Igor Konashenkov of the Russian military said in a statement from the Kremlin on Friday that he suspected Syrian rebels – namely Islamist armed groups – may not have the ability to comply with the tenets of the ceasefire agreement.
Top security officials of the five countries met in New Delhi ahead of next month’s 8th BRICS Summit [Image: State Security Agency, South Africa]National security advisors of the BRICS countries have agreed to strengthen joint efforts on enhancing cyber security during a two-day meet in the Indian capital New Delhi that began on Thursday.
Emerging markets from Dubai to Mexico suffered drawbacks this week but in the long-term, the longer the Fed delays a rate hike the better the prospects for growth in these economies [Xinhua]
Speculation has run high among investors and analysts in the past few weeks as they look for every clue whether the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in October.
Asian, European and US stocks have fallen and risen as the prospects for a rate hike rose and then fell during the same period.
The leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un (front) has vowed to speed up the nuclear and ballistic missile programs [Xinhua]
China’s foreign ministry has said that the current crisis in the Korean Peninsula can only be resolved through direct negotiations which ensure the benefit of all parties involved.
