Southern China will be hit by a new cold front this week, extending the country's chilliest winter in 28 years, the country's weather agency said.Temperatures in the south will hover about 3 degrees Celsius lower than average and provinces including Guizhou and Hunan may experience snowstorms, the China Meteorological Administration said in a statement today.The cold weather will prove challenging as the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday approaches, with icy rain and snow disrupting transportation,

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan agreed Saturday to the unconditional and speedy implementation of deals reached in September to demilitarize their shared borders and allow oil exports to flow from South Sudan's oil fields north through Sudan's pipelines, an African Union official said.Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir met on Friday and Saturday in Ethiopia's capital to revive a stalled oil exportation deal that has lagged fo

NEW YORK (AP) -- Every day, throngs of riders stand on the edge of danger in the busiest U.S. subway system, waiting on platforms with nothing between them and the tracks.Dozens of subway and light rail systems around the world have safety barriers with sliding doors on their platforms, but the idea hasn't gotten traction in New York. Yet transit officials are giving it a new look after two people were pushed and a third fell to their deaths on the tracks since early December.Safety doors would

NEW YORK (AP) -- The makers of Thomas' English muffins and Tastykake snacks are emerging as two of the bidders for Wonder Bread and other Hostess bread brands as the company tries to sell off its assets under bankruptcy-court oversight, a newspaper reported Saturday.The Wall Street Journal said Hostess Brands Inc. could reveal as early as next week that Flowers Foods Inc. and Grupo Bimbo SAB are in discussions to acquire its bread brands, which also include Nature's Pride. The report said the br

HONOLULU (AP) -- President Barack Obama is hailing a last-minute deal that pulled the country back from the "fiscal cliff," but warned that he "will not compromise" over his insistence that Congress lift the federal debt ceiling.Obama said in his radio and Internet address Saturday that the fiscal cliff deal, approved by Congress on New Year's Day and signed Thursday, raises taxes on the wealthiest Americans while preventing a middle-class tax increase that could have thrown the economy back int

BEIJING (AFP) -- Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai's long-awaited martial arts film "The Grandmaster" was shown in public for the first time in Beijing on Sunday, after more than six years in production.The film spans several decades of Chinese history to tell the story of legendary martial artist Yip Man, who went on to train Bruce Lee, and features lengthy battles between rival kung fu masters.Wong, 54, is best known for his 2000 slow-burn drama "In the Mood for Love".His new film, packed with C

LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday Britain was prepared to fight militarily to keep the Falkland Islands if necessary, in the face of renewed Argentinian rhetoric over their future.Cameron said Britain had "strong defences" in place on the islands and fast jets and troops were stationed there.Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner said this week Britain was forcibly stripped of the Falklands in "a blatant exercise of 19th-century colonialism" and demanded they be handed ove

DAMASCUS (AFP) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a rare speech Sunday denounced the opposition as "slaves" of the West and called for a national dialogue conference to be followed by a referendum on a national charter and parliamentary elections.Outlining a reconciliation plan aimed at resolving Syria's 21-month conflict which according to the UN has claimed more than 60,000 lives, Assad called on foreign powers to end their support for rebels seeking to topple his regime."Regional and inte

YANGON (AFP) -- Myanmar democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday said she would not step in to help end worsening conflict between the army and ethnic Kachin rebels without government approval."It is up to the government. This case is being handled by the government at the moment," Suu Kyi told AFP when asked if she would get involved in efforts to resolve the fighting, after the army's use of air strikes drew international concern.The Nobel laureate said she would need an official invita

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Gerard Depardieu, the French actor who has threatened to quit his homeland to avoid higher taxes for the rich, has received a Russian passport and met with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said Sunday.Depardieu met Putin, who earlier granted him citizenship, at the Russian leader's sumptuous residence in the palm-dotted Black Sea resort of Sochi on Saturday, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP.Putin granted Depardieu "a short meeting" and did not personally deliver the

LONDON (AFP) -- The G8 summit of the world's eight richest nations will be held in Northern Ireland next year, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Tuesday.The meeting will be held next June at the five-star Lough Erne hotel and golf resort in County Fermanagh to the southwest of the British province, Cameron announced during a visit to Northern Ireland."I want the world to see just what a fantastic place Northern Ireland is," Cameron said as he visited a factory in County Armagh.Ar

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday it had reached a deal with Egyptian authorities on a 22-month loan totaling some $4.8 billion to help the country overcome economic difficulties.The staff-level agreement is expected to be submitted to the IMF's executive board for approval in a few weeks, a statement said."The Egyptian authorities have developed a national program that seeks to promote economic recovery, address the country's fiscal and balance of payments deficit

CAIRO (AFP) -- Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi said Israel's "aggression" against Gaza will end on Tuesday and Cairo-mediated efforts will produce "positive results" within hours, the official MENA news agency reported."The farce of the Israeli aggression will end today, Tuesday, and the efforts to reach a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israelis will produce positive results within a few hours," it quoted him as saying.A Hamas official said chief Khaled Meshaal and his negotiators were

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. said Tuesday that a British company it bought for $10 billion last year lied about its finances, resulting in a massive write-down of the value of the business.HP is avoiding calling it a fraud, but it said there were ``serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations at Autonomy Corporation PLC.''HP is taking an $8.8 billion charge in its latest quarter to align the accounting value of Autonomy with its real value. It sai

Spending on AIDS by the countries hit hardest by the disease exceeded foreign aid for the first time last year, as developing nations lessened their dependence on rich countries that curbed donations to battle deficits.Low- and middle-income countries have doubled spending on AIDS to $8.6 billion since 2005, compared with international funding for the disease that stalled at $8.2 billion last year, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS, said in its annual report on the epidem

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the biggest wind turbine maker, said the Sailrocket 2 boat it sponsors set two sailing records, becoming the fastest wind-powered vessel.Sailrocket 2 set the best average speed recorded over a 500-meter stretch of water, posting a mark of 59.23 knots (109 kilometers an hour) that eclipsed the previous best of 55.65 knots set in 2010 by American kite surfer Rob Douglas, Vestas said today in a statement on its website."The boat was really flying across the water today," pr

LONDON (AFP) -- Britain on Tuesday recognized Syria's newly formed opposition coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people, becoming the latest Western country to give its backing to the group.Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament he took the decision after he met coalition leaders in London on Friday and they assured him that they have backing inside Syria and would respect human rights.Hague said he has asked the group to appoint a political representative to Britain and

JERUSALEM (AP) -- A Palestinian rocket struck the outskirts of Jerusalem on Tuesday, landing harmlessly in an open area in one of the longest rocket strikes fired from the Gaza Strip in nearly a week of fighting.The rocket attack, the second aimed at the holy city since an Israeli offensive began a week ago, set off air raid sirens throughout the metropolis. A distant explosion could be heard in the city's downtown. Jerusalem residents ran for cover as buses and trains stopped to let passengers

PARIS (AFP) -- Multiple rounds of international sanctions are failing to have any effect on Iran's controversial nuclear programme, the head of the UN atomic agency said on Tuesday."We are verifying the activities at the nuclear sites in Iran and we do not see any effect," International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano said in Paris."They are for example producing enriched uranium up to five percent and 20 percent with a quite constant pace."Uranium enrichment lies at the heart of the inte

Independent presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo said Tuesday that if he becomes the standard bearer for the liberal camp, his campaign will rally around the main opposition Democratic United Party to win the December poll.In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, the 50-year-old entrepreneur-turned-politician said there will be a need to reflect the wishes of all people who supported the liberal cause.The comments come as Ahn is engaged in talks with DUP candidate Moon Jae-in to decide who should