Mission Global Governance off to a good start

Delivering a speech at the inauguration of the two-day G20 Summit on Sunday, President Xi Jinping emphasized that all G20 members "face the problems squarely" and deliver "real action" not "empty talk" as they seek to resuscitate the global economy. The prescription, as he said in his Saturday speech at the B20 Summit, lies in the joint efforts to build an innovative, open, interconnected and inclusive world economy.

Obama has job cut out to leave behind legacy

US President Barack Obama is going to leave the White House and quite a few legacies, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, nuclear deal with Iran, and the reconciliation with Cuba, in four months. But he will also leave as many controversies behind.

A stalled TPP bad news for liberalization

The prospects for the passage of the US-led 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement by the US Congress look bleak. Both US presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, are critical of the TPP. Although US President Barack Obama will try hard to get the TPP ratified before leaving office, the current anti-trade political sentiment in the United States makes the task extremely difficult for the Obama administration.

Japan's overtures to Russia to join its fold bound to fail

Although Japan is aligned with the United States and the two countries have formed a "united front" against Russia, it has not stopped Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from visiting twice this year the country suffering the consequences of the West's sanctions.

US, Russia fail to reach Syria deal

Top diplomats from the United States and Russia on Monday failed to reach a deal to ease fighting in Syria, US officials said, after government troops encircled rebel-held parts of Aleppo and a string of bomb blasts hit across the war-battered country.

World's largest gorillas on endangered species list 'one step from going extinct'

Illegal hunting in Democratic Republic of Congo has wiped out 70 percent of Eastern gorillas in the past two decades and pushed the world's biggest primate close to extinction, a Red List of endangered species showed on Sunday.

Replica torched to mark Great Fire anniversary

A massive wooden replica of 17th Century London was torched on Sunday on the River Thames to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London, which paved the way for the building of the modern city.

Team probing haze threatened with death

Dozens of Indonesian men, suspected of being hired by an palm oil plantation company, threatened to kill environmental investigators checking on fires on Sumatra Island, the environment ministry said.

IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Historic flight from US lands in Cuba

After 55 years of interruption, Cuba and the United States on Wednesday re-established regular commercial direct flights, marking a concrete step in thawing ties between the former Cold War foes.

Trump doubles down on illegal immigration

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday that anyone who is in the United States illegally would be subject to deportation if he is elected, sticking with his hardline position after flirting with a softer approach.

Fossil find shows life on Earth 3.7 billion years ago

Life on Earth is even older than we thought, Australian scientists said on Thursday as they unveiled fossils dating back a staggering 3.7 billion years.