ROME, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe of Australia swam the 16th fastest in the 100m freestyle at the Italian Winter Open meet on Friday in his first long course outing in six years. Thorpe clocked 50.84 seconds in the event...
MADRID, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona announced an agreement Friday to extend the contract for young full back Martin Montoya until the end of June 2014. Montoya, who has made a handful of appearances for the Barcelona first team and who was even...
HAIKOU, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China will actively push forward maritime cooperation with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in light of the guidelines on conduct in the South China Sea, a Foreign Ministry official has...
BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China issued rules for pilot programs of RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) on Friday, formally giving a green light to investment of overseas RMB funds in mainland securities markets. The move is expec...
GENEVA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- A ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization in Geneva formally adopted the accession agreement of the Russia Federation, drawing a finishing line for the country's 18-year-long membership accession. Russia Minist...
BASE IMAM ALI, Iraq, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military handed over its last base in Iraq to the Iraqi authorities on Friday, a day after the U.S. force marked the end of its mission in the country. The transfer ceremony was held at the base in th...
LONDON, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has confirmed details of its ticket resale process for Olympic and Paralympic ticket holders here on Wednesday. Those who have bought ticket...
The U.S. military has formally ended its mission in Iraq. At a ceremony in Baghdad, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta watched as American troops lowered their command's flag, marking an end to the nearly nine-year war that drove out Iraqi ruler Sad...
Russia says it is ready to commit more than $10 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help support the struggling eurozone economy. President Dmitry Medvedev made the pledge Thursday in Brussels during the biannual EU-Russia summit. We will a...
BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said Wednesday that China will continue its prudent monetary policy next year while making the policy more targeted, flexible and forward-looking. The announcement c...
A leading ally of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has resigned as speaker of the country's parliament. Boris Gryzlov announced his resignation Wednesday in a statement posted to the ruling United Russia party website. Gryzlov, who was elected a...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says there are no easy or fast solutions to Europe's economic crisis, but the agreement by eurozone countries last week for more fiscal discipline was a good step. Merkel's comments at the German parliament came as fin...
European leaders took steps to deal with some of their long term financial problems at a summit in Brussels last week. But they are moving ahead without one of the continent's largest economies Britain, and they left some important problems unresolve...
SHANGHAI, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Hosts China showed their power in teamwork on Sunday as they claimed both the men's and women's relay golds at the ISU World Cup Short Track speedskating Shanghai leg. South Korea continued their good form to win their t...
ROME, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Inter Milan chalked up a crucial 2-0 win over Fiorentina at home on Saturday to lift themselves from Serie A's relegation zone. Former Fiorentina striker Giampaolo Pazzini scored the opener four minutes before the break, wit...
