POLITICS & POLICY

Poland and the U.S. have jointly announced that their ballistic missile defense agreement entered into force Thursday. The pact will see the deployment of land-based anti-missile batteries in the European country by 2018.

Crimes committed by adolescents are alarmingly increasing since 2006.

South Korean women will be assigned with more combative posts beginning 2012.

A Spanish court has reopened the case of a model who was allegedly raped by a Saudi prince in Ibiza, Spain in 2008 and the victim and her lawyer are asking the accused to provide his DNA sample to prove his innocence.

China's heavy expenditures on its military weaponry and more aggressive maritime activities has raised the concern of Japan's new Prime Minister.

Ahead of his Australian visit this November, US President Barack Obama has slammed North Carolina's legislature for introducing a ban on same-sex marriage.

The National Transportations Safety Board has called for a ban on cell phone use for commercial drivers across the United States.

Gina Hancock Rinehart, head of Hancock Prospecting and currently the richest person in Australia, won the approval of the court to settle the legal disputes with her children in private.

The U.S. National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled on Wednesday plans to build a $35-billion powerful rocket called Space Launch System.

Beijing municipal government will implement a policy requiring all companies to establish a labor union not only to attract new investments, but also to help labor workers receive higher wages.

Although the Greek debt crisis led Moody's Investors Service to downgrade two major French banks Wednesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have reaffirmed that Greece should stay in the 17-nation euro zone.

Good news for Australians whose gender do not fall on the conventional male and female category, new passport guidelines approved by the federal government will now allow them to simply use the letter ‘X’.

Live concert at the Hollywood Bowl to honor the former president and his philanthropic efforts.

Closer military cooperation will mark the new Australia New Zealand United States (ANZUS) military pact between the Aussies and the Americans and possibly a state visit from U.S. President Barack Obama later this year, according to officials of both nations.

In the Gulf, developers are learning from what did not work and moving on to what is feasible for all. Property developers in the Gulf are trying something new in the market -- focusing on actual housing demands with great consideration to economic reaches of the potential occupants.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government will review its child protection law after the territory's government was alerted of a possible breach of the Children and Young People Act.

Poland's finance minister and the current chair of the rotating EU presidency warned Wednesday that the debt crisis could lead to war in the continent within a decade.

The AUD has strengthened overnight after a downward revision in our local CPI data saw the AUD fall to below USD1.0200 during our trading session yesterday.

The U.S. space agency disclosed Wednesday it is building a more powerful rocket capable of propelling astronauts to deep space missions, including going to asteroids and the planet Mars.

A human-error-led train collision resulted in nine casualties including the on-duty train guard in India.

Efforts of Chinese authorities bear positive results after six months of investigation on the "gutter" cooking oil" that proliferates on the market.

Twenty hours after gunfire and explosions rocked the Afghan capital on Tuesday, government security forces declared the stand-off officially over as the last of the Taliban insurgents was killed, according to statements issued by authorities.

After an overnight stay on board a patrol vessel of Japanese coast guard, the government is inclined to give in to nine North Korean defectors' request.

Former West Australian Premier Brian Burke is facing a new corruption trial after the Court of Appeal in Perth reversed on Wednesday his acquittal by the Supreme Court.

Japan has hit a new high record for having the most centenarians for 41 consecutive years.

Nine North Korean passengers including three children, who are believed to have escaped their country, are seen on board a small boat drifting in Japan's Noto Peninsula.

Australia will have no use of the carbon pricing scheme that Prime Minister Julia Gillard had introduced to the Parliament on Tuesday, according to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who claimed that the proposal would even increase local carbon emissions.

Coca-Cola Amatil has expressed plans to launch a legal action against the upcoming Northern Territory recycling initiative that would provide a $0.10 incentive for every plastic bottle returned to a beverage manufacturer.

One of the world's most powerful women says the Miss Universe 2011 title should have gone to Miss Philippines, and not to Miss Angola.