CULTURE AND SPORT

Thailand has closed a host of popular dive sites to tourists indefinitely to allow coral reefs to recover from widespread bleaching caused by warmer sea temperatures.

South Korean navy commandos stormed a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing all the crew and killing eight pirates, according to military officials.

The UN's World Meteorological Organisation said Thursday that 2010 was the warmest year on record.

The male pop group Backstreet Boys will perform in Vietnam in March, following their tour to Latin America.

Google unveiled a surprise shakeup of its top management on Thursday, announcing that co-founder Larry Page would replace Eric Schmidt as chief executive of the Internet giant in April.

A new hotel has opened in the heart of Madrid proudly declaring that it's complete rubbish.

Venezuela says it has dethroned fellow OPEC member Saudi Arabia to become the nation with the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, at nearly 300 billion barrels.

The United States and China have announced a raft of trade deals worth $45 billion, as the two powers tried to narrow disputes by tethering their economic fortunes.

US President Barack Obama said Wednesday that Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed with him on the need to fight climate change by moving ahead in international negotiations.

Tunisia's interim president promised a "total break" with the past and hailed "a revolution of dignity and liberty," as prosecutors opened a vast inquiry against the previous leader.

In Vietnam’s new campaign to select a national flower, the lotus seems to be the front-runner.

Vietnam , Laos , Cambodia and Myanmar will jointly produce a documentary titled, “Four countries -- one destination” with the aim of promoting the countries’ tourism industry.

Officials in South Korea's southern regions have urged people not to return to home towns there for the Lunar New Year holiday for fear of foot-and-mouth disease.

Arab leaders gather in Egypt to discuss trade and development as the region feels the aftershocks of a popular uprising in Tunisia that emboldened dissidents in the Arab world.

Models Lan Huong and Quang Thinh will participate in the 6th Asia Model Festival on January 21 in Seoul, South Korea.

A powerful earthquake rocked southwest Pakistan early Wednesday, sending panicked people rushing from their homes in fear for their lives as the ground shook.

Four ministers in Tunisia's new unity government pulled out a day after being appointed amid popular rage against the continued presence of the ousted president's party.

WHO chief Margaret Chan warned that the health community needs to tackle strong and "worrisome" public mistrust of vaccines, following signs of a tail-off in flu vaccination.

China's President Hu Jintao arrived in the US for a state visit promising frank talk over economics and currency disputes, but likely to expose a wide gulf over human rights.