Japan's Deputy Prime Minister has retracted his recent comments made in connection with Japan and Nazi Germany.

Taro Aso issued the statement, after suggesting this week that the current government of Japan could take lessons from how the Nazis circumvented the constitution of the-then Weimar Republic to establish an offensive military establishment.

His comments have come amid expected plans by the current Japanese government to try to amend the country's pacifist constitution to create an offensive military.

Amid the recent remarks made by Japanese politicians, the Chinese government has issued a new statement, calling on the Japanese side to make more "substantial efforts" to improve the relations.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying says "it will not help to solve the problem with only empty slogans calling for a dialogue".

 

China "strongly" opposes U.S. Senate resolution on maritime disputes: spokeswoman

The foreign ministry has issued a statement, saying the Chinese government "strongly" opposes a U.S. Senate resolution on disputes in the East China Sea and South China Sea.

Spokeswoman Hua Chunying says the resolution puts pressure on China when it comes to the territorial disputes in the region.

Hua says the resolution is "sending the wrong message".

 

Snowden granted one year's temporary asylum in Russia

U.S intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden has received temporary asylum in Russia for one year.

Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena says he has moved to a safe place, though his whereabouts remain a mystery.

The Russian Federal Migrant Service has confirmed the temporary asylum.

Meantime, the US government says it is "extremely disappointed".

White House spokesman Jay Carney says Washington is evaluating the scheduled presidential summit in September.

But at the same time, Jay Carney says the U.S. and Russia have a relationship that is based on "realism" and the two sides have a wide range of common interests.

 

Mugabe's party wins most of the announced first-batch parliamentary seats

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party is reportedly celebrating an early election victory. 

The country's electoral commission says Mugabe's party swept 26 out of the 28 parliamentary seats as it announced the first batch of election results.

The early results come as three provinces have already finished counting their votes.

Counting in the rest of the country is coming to an end, with long-serving Mugabe already claiming a landslide win is on the horizon.

But Zimbabwe's Prime Minister and opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai is dismissing the election as a sham.

 

Zardari asks U.S. to prepare a "Marshall Plan" for Pakistan's economic development

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari is urging the international community, particularly the United States to prepare a "Marshall plan" for his country's economic development.

Zadari has said the international community is obligated to offer Pakistan assistance as the country is at the forefront of fighting militancy and terrorism.

Zadari made the comments during a meeting with U.S Secretary of State John Kerry.

Kerry made an unannounced visit to Pakistan, the first since he became Secretary of State, to mend relations and resume the two side's strategic dialogue.

Strategic dialogue between both countries was suspended after NATO fighter jets bombed a Pakistani border checkpost and killed 24 soldiers in November 2011.

 

U.S. kidnapper of three girls sentenced to life in prison

Ariel Castro, from the U.S state of Ohio responsible for kidnapping, raping and imprisoning three girls for over a decade, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The 53-year-old school bus driver has been sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years for aggravated murder and other charges related to kidnapping and rape.

The only victim to speak in court Michelle Knight, wept as she delivered her victim impact statement before Ariel Castro, telling her captor he would face "hell for eternity". 

In court Castro apologized to the three victims and asked for their forgiveness:

 

Italy's top court upholds Berlusconi's jail verdict

Italy's top court has upheld a jail sentence against former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for tax fraud.

The Italian Supreme Court confirmed a four-year jail term and ordered a new appeal trial for a related ban on public office.

The highest court's decision, was the first definitive conviction after up to 30 court cases against the three-time premier since he entered politics some two decades ago.

Those allegations include tax fraud, corruption and more recently having sex with an under aged prostitute.

 

China solicits opinions on harsher environmental law

China's top legislature is soliciting public opinion about a draft amendment to the environmental protection law.

The amendment was last reviewed by lawmakers a year ago.

For the first time, it specifies that protecting the environment is a basic state policy. 

It also has harsher punishments for polluters. 

As an example, if polluters fail to correct their problems before a given time, they will be forced to pay daily fines for every day they're late.

 

China's first inter-city express train starts test runs

China's first inter-city express train has begun its test runs in Sichuan.

The train will run between Chengdu, Dujiangyan and Dazhou. 

The express train, which can carry some 15-hundred passengers, is designed to travel at 200 km per hour.

Another fast train with a speed of 160 km per hour will also start trial runs soon.

It will be put into use on the line linking the cities of Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen.