Obama, Lawmakers Hold Round Four of Debt Talks

President Barack Obama along with several Republican and Democratic congressional leaders held a fourth round of negotiations in as many days Wednesday at the White House aimed at achieving a deficit reduction and debt compromise. With media reports

EU Mulls Gender Quotas to Crack Glass Ceiling

Francoise Roels is the only woman among 12 board members at Cofinimmo. But that's about to change. The top brass of the leading listed real-estate investor in Belgium will soon have a completely different set-up. Last year Belgium introduced gender q

Poorest Chinese province to settle 100,000 in new homes

GUIYANG, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A southwestern Chinese province with the largest impoverished population in the country will relocate more than 100,000 destitute rural residents into modern communities before spring 2013. The move was part of a poverty a

U.S wins world basketball championship

ISTANBUL, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States defeated Turkey（土耳其） 81-64 in Sunday's final of the 2010 World Basketball Championships here. The U.S. took the lead early in the first quarter and held through for the entir match. Kevin Dur

Comfortable win for Spain in Euro warm-up

MADRID, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish national team enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 win over Serbia in their first preparation game for the European Championship this Saturday. Playing in the Swiss town of Saint Gallan, the reigning European and world cha

U.S. Fed minutes show more urgency for monetary easing

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua)-- The U.S. Federal Reserve would lean more close toward new stimulus actions unless incoming information signifies a substantial strengthening in the economic recovery, the central bank's policy meeting minutes showed on

Iran starts exporting gasoline: official

TEHRAN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran has started exporting gasoline（汽油）, an official was quoted by the local satellite Press TV as saying on Tuesday. The first shipment of Iran's gasoline has been exported（出口 ）, Ali Asghar Arshi, manager

Man drinks gasoline for 42 years

BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Gasoline powers vehicles all around the world, but a sick Chinese man has been drinking the sticky liquid for 42 years under the illusion that it can relieve his physical pain. Chen Dejun, 71, lives by himself in shabb

China to raise gasoline, diesel prices

BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- China will raise the retail prices for gasoline and diesel by 300 yuan (47.53 U.S. dollars) per tonne starting Feb. 8, the country's top economic planner said Tuesday. The benchmark retail price of gasoline will be lifted

Inter penalised for protesting against referee

ROME, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Inter have been hit with suspensions and fines following their protests in Saturday's controversial loss to Napoli. The Nerazzurri suffered a 3-0 defeat at the Stadio Meazza in a game where the decisions of referee Gianluca R

Napoli coach Mazzarri blames referee for mistakes

ROME, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Napoli head coach Walter Mazzarri accused the referee of robbing his side's deserved win after they were held to a scoreless draw at home on Wednesday. Napoli were held at the San Paolo, as Goran Pandev's goal was disallowed

US House Approves Extension of All Bush-Era Tax Cuts

WASHINGTON, D.C. The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation that will preserve tax cuts for all Americans regardless of income, setting up an election-year standoff with President Barack Obama and Senate Democrat

Thousands attend Aquino funeral

Tens of thousands of mourners have gathered in the Philippines' capital Manila for the funeral of former President Corazon Aquino. After a mass in Manila Cathedral, her body was carried through the city to be buried next to her husband, Benigno Aqui

Too much screen time bad for children

BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Children who spend hours each day watching television or playing computer games have more psychological（心理的） difficulties than those who don't, according to a study published in the US journal Pediatrics（小儿

Coe to take over British Olympic Association chairman

LONDON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Sebastian Coe is sure to be elected unopposed to be the next British Olympic Association chairman after his only opponent withdrew from the contest. Richard Leman, the head of British hockey, pulled out finding that he wil

Effectiveness of Four-Drug TB Treatment Confirmed

One of the biggest challenges in fighting tuberculosis comes from new drug-resistant(抗药性的) strains of the disease. And one of the main reason those strains have developed is that TB patients often don't take their standard, 14-pill, course of

Do Nothing' Option for US Deficit Reduction Explored

Hopes were dashed this week for bold congressional action to slow the growth of Americas $15 trillion national debt. A special bipartisan committee failed to agree on ways to trim the deficit by $1.2 trillion. But if Congress has shown itself incapab

Shelter-in-place ordered after fire at NASA

HOUSTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A shelter-in-place was ordered after a battery caught fire during a testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center Monday morning. A battery was being tested inside a containment system when it got overheated and caught fire at a

Sichuan post-quake reconstruction completed successfully

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The reconstruction of parts of southwest China's Sichuan province, which was hit by a devastating earthquake in 2008, has been completed, the vice governor of Sichuan province announced Friday. Wei Hong, also the director

Li Bingbing appears on American talk show

BEIJING, July 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese actress Li Bingbing has made her first appearance on American talk show The View. She is in the U.S. to promote her latest movie, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. When asked what it is like to be a huge star in