Former No.1: Japanese women enjoyed the longest average lifespan for 26 years until being usurped by counterparts from Hong Kong For 26 years Japanese women have been blessed with the world’s longest life expectancy, being able to look forward to an average age of 86.3 years. But last year they lost their longevity crown, and the Japanese government has blamed the 2011 earthquake and tsunami... 

Recovering: The premature baby was found in a bin, with placenta and umbilical cord still attached, in Anshan city in northeast China An abandoned newborn baby is recovering in hospital after having her throat cut, being put in a plastic bag and thrown into a garbage bin in China’s Liaoning province. The female baby – so newborn that her placenta and umbilical cord were still attached –... 

English language schools whose students entered New Zealand on fraudulently obtained visas say they had no way of knowing about the scam. A routine audit by Immigration New Zealand’s Beijing branch last month uncovered 279 fraudulent visas. Of that total, 231 students are still in the country with the visas and authorities are trying to track them down. The scheme involved education advisors... 

Tajikistan’s latest move to toughen its position in renewing the lease of the 201st Russian army base is connected with the activities, which the United States and China have been conducting in the former Soviet republic recently. As a result, Moscow may lose its influence in this country, Alexander Karavayev, deputy director of the Center for the Study of the former Soviet Union, Moscow State... 

It was supposed to be a state-of-the-art city for 500,000 – but eery footage shows how a Chinese-built urbanisation is at risk of becoming Africa’s first ‘ghost town’. Constructed on the outskirts of Angola’s capital city Luanda, Nova Cidade de Kilamba has 750 eight-storey blocks of flats, a dozen schools and more than 100 shop units. But, crucially, it has no residents,... 

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan (C) speaks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) next to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) at the opening of a meeting on June 30, 2012, at the United Nations office in Geneva. The Syrian crisis is to be resolved by a transition government consisting of the current authorities and opposition leaders. The proposal was announced by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi... 

Google’s new media device the Nexus Q is making headlines not just because of its technology, but due to the one noteworthy feature: unlike most of today’s hi-tech products, it is being manufactured in the United States. ­The Google team decided to build the device in the US as an experiment in American manufacturing which has been in decline for decades. “We’ve been absent for so long,... 

Pottery fragment from Xianrendong Cave in northern Jiangxi Province, China. Bits of the oldest known pottery, some 2,000 years older than previously found pieces, have been uncovered in China Pottery fragments found in a south China cave have been confirmed to be 20,000 years old, making them the oldest known pottery in the world, according to archaeologists. Earlier theories have held that the invention... 

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera (L) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao shake hands in Santiago on June 26, 2012. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has announced that China and Chile plan to increase their bilateral trade to 60 billion US dollars by 2015 in order to strengthen their economic relations. He made the comments at a joint press conference with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in Santiago on Tuesday,... 

It is now widely known that the Obama administration, with the help of its allies, is planning to launch an offensive against the Assad regime in Syria. The attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, with the help Israel, also seems to be on the cards. In such a situation, where Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya have proven to be clear fiascos, the dwindling world economic scene can least afford another major... 

Docking in progress, CCTV video still. China has reached two technological milestones spanning great depths and heights. In the earth’s orbit, the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft manually docked a space module while under the Pacific, a Jiaolong submersible dived to the bottom of the Marian Trench. The symbolism behind the scheduling of the two historical events was far from coincidental. The three oceanographers... 

Liu Yang, China’s first female astronaut, waves during a departure ceremony at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province China has launched its first manned space docking mission, including the country’s first ever woman astronaut. China moves one step closer to becoming the second nation in the world performing regular space flights. ­The Shenzhou 9 spacecraft was successfully launched... 

Vladimir Putin has been busier than Obama making excuses recently with trips to China and talks with leaders from Iran and Afghanistan. Self interests aside, he clearly demonstrates a desire in defending Russia and nurturing Russia’s future. However, like any good farmer, he’s found many weeds sown by the enemy. The new law passed recently is a sword that protects Russian citizens and... 

Euro fell against the dollar in the Asian session to erase gains made yesterday. Risk was off again after comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke disappointed. He refrained from signalling immediate steps the U.S. central bank might take to spur growth in the world’s largest economy. Before Bernanke’s comments , market sentiment was high yesterday as the central bank of China... 

The U.S. is building “the most advanced” warship in history – DDG-1000 destroyer of Zumwalt class that the Pentagon called a “super-stealth silver bullet.” It will be able to move quietly along the coast, including in the shallows, hitting the targets of the enemy with electromagnetic rail guns, deceiving enemy radars. Americans plan to equip its fleet in the Asia-Pacific...