Israeli President Shimon Peres is throwing his support behind the resumption of the peace talks.

Peres says the resumption of the peace talks offers a "great opportunity" for both Israel and Palestine. 

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is less enthusiastic.

Netanyahu says the talks with the Palestinians will be tough.

The comments come following the announcement this weekend by US Secretary of State John Kerry that peace talks will resume this week in Washington after being stalled for some 5-years.

 

Japan's ruling bloc wins upper house poll, sets economy as priority

The conservative ruling coalition in Japan has maintained full control of the parliament.

The Liberal Democratic Party and it's minority coaltion partner, the New Komeito Party, have won 76 of the seats up for election in the upper house of parliament.

This gives the coalition 135 of the 242-seats in the upper chamber.

The victory allows Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition to maintain its full control of both the upper and lower chambers of the parliament.

It's widely expected this victory in the upper house of the parliament will allow the LDP-coalition to move forward with stronger economic plans.

It may also allow for the re-tooling of the pacifist consitution to allow for the creation of an offensive-based military.

 

 

阿尔贝二世(左中)与即将进行登基仪式的王储(右中)。

 

Obama congratulates new king of Belgium

US President Barack Obama is among the first of the world leaders to throw his personal congratulations to the new King of Belgium.

53-year old King Phillipe I has been innaugurated on Sunday.

He replaces his father, Albert II, who decided to pass off his throne to his eldest son, citing age.

The coronation didn't come without controversy.

A large number of Dutch-speaking legislators decided to bypass the ceremony.

Belgium has been politically divided among its French and Dutch speaking population for years.

The country had no active government for 541 days between 2010 and 2011 in a rift over language.

 

15 soldiers killed in FARC ambush in Colombia

Clashes between Colubmian government forces and FARC rebels have left 15 government soldiers dead.

President Juan Manuel Santos claims government forces were ambushed by FARC fighters in the northwestern part of the country on Saturday.

Five FARC members were injured during the fight.

12 others are in custody. 

This follows similar fighting between government forces and FARC rebels in the southwest of Columbia which has left 4 government soldiers dead.

The clashes come as the government and the FARC rebels hold peace talks in Cuba.

Santos says the fighting won't affect the current negotiations.

 

4 security men killed by snipers in Egypt's Sinai

Violence in the Egyptian Sinai is increasing.

Four security officers have been gunned down by snipers.

Security officials are pinning the attack on hard-line Jihadists.

The latest attack has taken place near the border with Israel.

Attacks in the Egyptian Sinai have become more common in recent weeks.

More than two dozen people have been killed in separate attacks in the restive region over the past two weeks.

In a separate incident, 17 Egyptian soliders have been killed, and 35 others hurt, following a bus crash north of Cairo.

The bus they were riding in collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle.

 

2 killed, 8 injured as political party office stormed in Pakistan

Two are dead and 8 others hurt following an attack on the office of a political party in Pakistan.

The overnight attack has taken place in the restive port city of Karachi.

The attackers are still on the loose.

So far no group has claimed responsibility.

The attack on Sunday comes on the heels of a pair of bomb blasts in Karachi over the weekend, one of which injured a leading civic official.

 

Eco-Forum Global Guiyang concludes

An Eco-Forum has come to a conclusion in Guizhou's capital, Guiyang.

Government officials, entrepreneurs and industry experts from different parts of the world have taken part in the 2-day event. 

The event has ended with the signing of the so-called Guiyang Consensus.

As part of the agreement, the Chinese government is promising to take measures to restore this country's natural ecology and curb environment pollution.

 

GSK boss to address China scandal at quarterly results

The head of GlaxoSmithKline is reportedly going to outline what action the company taking in response to allegations of bribery here China as part of his quarterly report.

Andrew Witty is due to report the British-based drug maker's quarterly results on Wednesday.

Chinese authorities allege GSK's Chinese subsiduary funneled some 3-billion yuan through local travel agencies to bribe officials, doctors and hospitals. 

The company has already described the allegations as "shameful".

 

Froome wins the 100th Tour de France

After leading for the majority of the race, British Chris Froome was officially crowned victor at the 100th edition of the Tour de France. 

After claiming the leader's yellow jersey in stage 8, Froome didn't once surrender his lead. 

The 28 year-old's final winning margin of over five minutes, was the largest since 1997.

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