RUSSIA

US diplomats in Washington once dubbed North's Korea's military drills as 'fish-killing' activities. Yet the South, backed by the Obama administration, has been continuously holding live-fire drills in the disputed zone of the Korean Peninsula. With a continual military activity, the coming months could only witness a deteriorating situation in the peninsula, unless both sides are pressured to engage in a dialogue.

Sponsors and supporters of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act were in Washington, D.C. today to urge the U.S. Senate to get past partisanship and pass the measure that will bring permanent healthcare and compensation to the approximately 20,000 Americans who are suffering from illnesses contracted while working at Ground Zero in the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.

The nuclear-arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia cleared a key hurdle in the Senate on Tuesday as Senators voted by a significant margin to advance the bill for a final vote.

Is North Korea finally, though momentarily perhaps, willing to throw away the mantle of a cranky child angrily throwing toys from the pram?

The world's largest exchange traded gold fund - the New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore-listed SPDR Gold Trust - added 15 tonnes to its holdings on Friday, the largest one-day addition since the height of the Greek deficit crisis in May.

U.S. Senate debate on the START nuclear treaty with Russia will restart Monday afternoon in a secret meeting behind closed doors after opening statements on the chamber's floor this morning.

International observers slammed the Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, alleging that fraud and violence were widespread in Sunday's polls. They maintained that the results were 'seriously flawed' and at least six of the nine presidential candidates were arrested and reportedly beaten up by the police.

The South Korean military has begun live-firing exercises on Yeonpyeong Island, the country's defense ministry announced on Monday. Local residents were ordered to move into air raid bunkers ahead of the drills. The move comes at the time of heightened tensions in the region and constant threats of retaliation from the North.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is set to be voted in for his fourth consecutive term, exit polls suggest. Local media has reported that Lukashenko is likely to win a massive 72 per cent of the votes while his rival Andrei Sannikov is predicted to get 6.33 per cent. Opposition had already voiced allegations of election fraud by the ruling party in the country. Lukashenko is running against nine opposition candidates.

The angry mob battling the police in their riots gear at the heart of Moscow screamed, Russia for Russians! The slogans spread to the Country's second largest city of St. Petersburg. In rather a dramatic fashion, the death of one Russian football fan sparked riots that soon engulfed the whole of the country. Local media has been reporting that city centers have been shut time and again and roads were frequently blocked, over the past couple of days, following sporadic incidents.

Nerbrand's team at HSBC reckon that Gold Investment accounts for just 0.14% of the average global portfolio today. If this figure increases, as we expect, the Gold Price could rise significantly...We believe asset allocators are likely to increase their weighting in gold over the next ten years if they focus on risk management

It's a rather new Cold War. New rhetoric, spiraling conflicts and opposing fronts have returned to the panorama of the World. Posing a threat to the region's still fragile peace, a new arms race has begun in the Asia-Pacific.

Increasing domestic oil production could reduce unemployment, create jobs, and help jump-start the U.S. economic recovery, said Marc Weidenmier of the American Enterprise Institute.

An escalation of trade tensions between China and the U.S. may involve protectionist measures on the U.S. side and the creation of exclusionary Asian trade walls on China's side.

Visitors will be able to tour the sealed zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where Chernobyl reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, contaminating a large part of Northern Europe including Belarus and Russia, with harmful radiations. The tragedy left many dead and the city was evacuated within a radius of 48 kilometers.

Singapore's top government officials spewed venom towards the political leaders of some of its Asian neighbors, according to U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and provided to an Australian newspaper, The Sun Herald.

India is set to launch its advanced GSAT-5P communication satellite on December 20 that will replace the INSAT 2E to ensure continuity of telecom and television services.

The Obama administration is seeking to give its allies and U.S. exporters a boost, proposing new rules that will ease trade in items that could prove to be security risks if they fell into the wrong hands.

Corruption has been on the rise over the last three years, according to the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer.

China’s trade surplus rose in November raising fresh fears about renewed criticism from the US and Europe over Beijing’s currency policy.

Twitter is ending the year with the number of accounts touching the 100 million mark. To celebrate, the site has created an infographic on Twitter's 'Class of 2010', which includes Bill Gates, Kanye West, Tiger Woods and many more.