China halves Iranian crude imports in March

China halved its Iranian crude imports in March compared with a year earlier due to disputes over contract terms, its deepest cut so far this year as Western sanctions complicate Tehran’s oil exports.

South Korea cut its imports by 40 percent in March from a year earlier, (more…)

Syrian FM: 250 U.N. observers “reasonable and Logical”

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on Wednesday said a plan for 250 international observers was a “reasonable and logical” number to monitor a days-old ceasefire in the country, after the United Nations said it may need more troops and aircraft. (more…)

U.N. approves first observers for Syria

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to deploy the first wave of U.N. military observers to monitor a fragile cease-fire between the Syrian government and opposition fighters.

The vote marked the first time U.N. diplomats (more…)

With echoes of Saddam, Syria’s Assad may endure

Having crushed a popular uprising, he rules by force over an Arab land shattered by conflict and sanctions, his people too exhausted and cowed to resist.

Is this the fate awaiting Syria under Bashar al-Assad? (more…)

No signs of Syria troop pullback as cease-fire deadline passes

Syrian activists reported military attacks and arrest raids in several towns across Syria on Tuesday and denied claims by the foreign minister that regime forces have begun pulling out of some areas in compliance with a U.N.-brokered truce. (more…)

Syrian troops on offensive on deadline day

Syrian troops shelled villages, fired across frontiers and were accused of massacres in the hours before a deadline on Tuesday that many doubt can usher in a U.N.-brokered ceasefire and halt a 13-month slide into all-out civil war.

Diplomats trying to contain a crisis that has inflamed the Middle East (more…)

Jumblatt denies any change in alliance

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said on Sunday that his support for the Syrian uprising does not mean a change in his domestic alliances, stressing that his ministers will not resign from the cabinet of PM Najib Mikati. (more…)

A Chinese teenager sells his kidney to buy Apple products

In Beijing, A high-school teenager in China sold his kidney to buy an Apple iPhone and iPad, state press said on Friday.

The 17-year-old boy was paid 22,000 yuan ($3,500). The boy was recruited from an online chatroom and is now suffering from kidney failure. (more…)

China pushing Syrian regime to honor ceasefire

China on Wednesday urged Syria’s government and opposition factions to honor their commitments, after the regime accepted a proposal crafted by Kofi Annan designed to end the bloody conflict. (more…)

Medvedev: Annan mission may be the last chance to avoid a “bloody civil war”

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has offered full support for envoy Kofi Annan’s peace mission in Syria, saying it may be the last chance to avoid a “prolonged and bloody civil war”. Mr Annan has been seeking to persuade Russia to take a firmer stance against President Bashar al-Assad’s government. (more…)