MOSCOW (AFP) -- Syria said on Friday it was ready to swap prisoners with the rebels and would take swift steps that could lead to the first such mass exchange in nearly three years of fighting.The announcement by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Moscow could mark another diplomatic success for Russia after the Kremlin managed to convince its ally Damascus to renounce its chemical weapons in order to avert imminent US air strikes.It also came just as the war-torn country's divided opposit

BEIJING (Yonhap News) -- South Korea and China agreed to forge closer cooperation in television and radio broadcasting, including the joint development of technology related to ultra-high definition TVs, Seoul's top media regulator said Friday.The agreement was reached after a meeting in Beijing earlier in the day between Lee Kyeong-jae, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, and Cai Fuchao, head of China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, Lee said.The memorandum of

The floor leaders of the rival parties agreed on Wednesday to pass key pending bills on the 2014 budget and spy agency reform next week in a move that effectively breaks the parliamentary deadlock.Choi Kyoung-hwan, the floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Pary, and the main opposition Democratic Party's floor leader Jun Byung-hun made the agreement to pass the two bills in a general National Assembly session to be held on Dec. 30.The agreement came after the parties' persistent conflict over the c

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in two separate bomb attacks in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 37 people, officials said.In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church during Christmas Mass in the capital's southern Dora neighborhood, killing at least 26 people and wounding 38, a police officer said.A little bit earlier, a bomb ripped through an outdoor market in the nearby Christian section of Athorien, killing 11 people and wounding 21, the officer added.There w

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russia was on Wednesday dropping most of the cases against 30 Greenpeace crew members of an Arctic protest ship, marking the "final chapter" of a three-month criminal probe, the environmental group said.Twenty five foreigners were summoned to the Investigative Committee where they expect to receive confirmation that the hooliganism probes launched after their September protest against oil drilling in the Barents Sea are dropped, Greenpeace said."The final chapter in the legal ord

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- In his speech on Christmas Day, Pope Francis said he hopes for a better world, including successful Middle East negotiations in the land of Jesus' birth, peace for Syria and several war-torn African countries, and dignity for refugees fleeing misery and conflict.Francis spoke from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to some 70,000 cheering tourists, pilgrims and Romans in the square below.  He said he was joining all those hoping `'for a better world.''Among places r

LONDON (AFP) -- Christians in the Middle East are being "attacked and massacred" and driven into exile, the leader of the world's Anglicans said Wednesday in his first Christmas sermon.Justin Welby used his first Christmas Day address as Archbishop of Canterbury to remember those suffering for their faith in the cradle of Christianity."Today, singing of Bethlehem, we see injustices in Palestine and Israel, where land is taken or rockets are fired, and the innocent suffer," he told the congregati

SHAOSHAN, China (AFP) -- Thousands of admirers of Communist China's founder Mao Zedong flocked to his home town Wednesday to bow before his graven image -- including one statue of solid gold -- before the 120th anniversary of his birth.Pilgrims from across the country lit firecrackers and offered flowers in Shaoshan, where Mao was born 120 years ago Thursday, to celebrate a man blamed for tens of millions of deaths but widely viewed as the father of modern China."He is a great leader who sacrifi

TOKYO (AFP) -- The long-stalled move of a US military base in Okinawa looked set to overcome a huge hurdle this week after a meeting Wednesday between the island's pugnacious governor and Japan's prime minister.Premier Shinzo Abe pledged an unheralded cash bonanza for the archipelago, in the form of stimulus spending that commentators say could help persuade governor Hirokazu Nakaima to drop his longstanding opposition to construction of a new airbase."You presented surprisingly impressive propo

TACLOBAN, Philippines (AFP) -- Survivors of the Philippines' deadliest typhoon spent a gloomy Christmas Day surrounded by mud Wednesday as heavy rain drove many inside their flimsy shelters, dampening efforts at holiday cheer in the deeply devout nation.Groups of children in plastic raincoats braved the incessant rain in the devastated central city of Tacloban, knocking on doors in trick-or-treat fashion and beseeching pedestrians for candies, coins and other Christmas presents.But housewife Sus

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Three Cabinet ministers resigned in Turkey on Wednesday, days after their sons were taken into custody in a sweeping corruption and bribery scandal that has targeted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's allies in one of the worst political crises of his more than 10 years in power.Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Interior Minister Muammer Guler announced their resignations in statements carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency.Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erd

TOKYO (AFP) -- Tokyo Electric Power Wednesday submitted a fresh restructuring plan to a Japanese government-backed fund that envisages the creation of a special unit to dismantle the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.TEPCO president Naomi Hirose pledged thorough implementation of the plan, once approved by the government as expected next month.The utility's board Tuesday approved a draft plan that would see the creation of a holding company with several sub-units dedicated to separate tasks, incl

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Thailand's prime minister proposed a "national reform council" Wednesday to seek a way out of the political crisis gripping the kingdom, following weeks of mass street protests against her government.Yingluck Shinawatra said the body would be set up in parallel with a February 2 general election to recommend constitutional amendments, economic and legal reforms and anti-corruption measures."It is now time to develop a mechanism to push forward and mobilise national reform," she

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- Repair crews worked around the clock to restore power to nearly half a million customers who faced a cold and dark Christmas in parts of the central and northeastern United States and into eastern Canada after a weekend ice storm. At least 24 deaths have been linked to the storm.It appears the bad weather isn't ready to take a break. The U.S. National Weather Service said more snow is forecast to roll into the Great Lakes and Midwest by Wednesday morning.In Canada, five pe

BEIRUT (AFP) -- A 10-day air offensive by Syria's regime against rebel areas of divided Aleppo city and nearby villages has killed more than 400 people, including 117 children, a monitor said Wednesday.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that by Tuesday night the toll since December 15 from air strikes and a bombing campaign using barrels packed with TNT stood at 410. Also among the dead were 34 women, 30 rebel fighters and nine jihadists.The Britain-based group said that the air force