The formative Swiss years of a Thai king

by Marc-André Miserez, swissinfo.ch Before he became the king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej lived an almost ordinary life as a student on Lake Geneva in western Switzerland. A new book, written in French by Swiss journalist and author Olivier Grivat, looks at the adolescence of a shy young man, who […]

Arabnews Editorial: Bitter betrayal

The infantile response from the US and Israel to the decision by UNESCO to give full membership to Palestine is astounding. The Israelis have frozen the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, worth about $100 million a month, and say they will speed up settlements in the West Bank […]

Egyptian Military Draws Fire Over Politics .

CAIRO—A broad cross-section of Egyptian political parties lodged strong objections to attempts by the country’s ruling military council to expand its authority over the process of drafting the country’s first postrevolutionary constitution. The complaints came on Wednesday after Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmi asked some 500 politicians from among Egypt’s […]

Chinese spacecraft dock in orbit

China has joined two space vehicles together in orbit for the first time. The unmanned Shenzhou 8 craft, launched earlier this week, made contact with the Tiangong-1 space lab at 1729 GMT. The union occurred over China itself. Being able to dock two space vehicles together is a necessary capability […]

Malaysia accedes to Antarctic Treaty Pact

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has officially become a member of the Antarctic Treaty Pact. It is the first Asean country and the 49th nation to do so. Malaysia’s accession to the treaty as a non-consultative party means that it can take part in the decision-making process at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative […]