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A Chinese passenger train hit a record speed of 302 miles per hour (486 kilometers per hour) Friday during a test run of a yet-to-be opened link between Beijing and Shanghai, state media said. China Railway High-Speed (CRH) train enters Bengbu south railway station, a stop in Anhui province on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, on Friday Dec. 3, 2010. The Xinhua News Agency said it was the fastest speed recorded by an unmodified conventional commercial train. Other types of trains in other countries have traveled faster. A specially modified French TGV train reached 357.2 mph (574.8 kph) during a 2007 test, while a Japanese magnetically levitated train sped to 361 mph (581 kph) in 2003. State television footage showed the sleek white train whipping past green farm fields in eastern China. It reached the top speed on a segment of the 824-mile (1,318-kilometer) -long line between Zaozhuang city in Shandong province and Bengbu city in Anhui province, Xinhua said. The line i...

Newly appointed South Korean defense minister Kim Kwan-jin took office Saturday and vowed a strong military response that would force rival North Korea to surrender if it attacks the South again. Newly appointed Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin salutes during his inauguration ceremony at the South Korean Defense Ministry in Seoul on Saturday, "If North Korea carries out a military provocation on our territory and people again, we must retaliate immediately and strongly until they completely surrender," Kim Kwan-jin said in a speech Saturday to senior military officials. Kim also called for military readiness, saying North Korea would plot new provocations. He later visited the island targeted by the North Korean attack and vowed to take strong measures to ensure North Korea would not dare to make more provocations. He said the military would quickly hold firing drills if the weather permits, according to the Yonhap news agency. Before this, during a confirmation he...

The US jobless rate surged to 9.8 percent in November, a hammer blow to the economic recovery and to President Barack Obama's hopes for a quick end to high unemployment. The world's largest economy created many fewer jobs than expected and the unemployment rate rose from 9.6 percent to its highest level since April, the Labor Department reported. A measly 39,000 jobs were created during the month, well short of the 130,000 predicted by economists and well beneath the levels needed to dent unemployment rates. Job losses in the retail and manufacturing sector led the decline as the employment market once again proved unable to untether itself from the long-ended recession. The jobless rate has remained above nine percent for the last 19 months, leaving more than 15 million jobseekers unemployed. The White House, under pressure to prove its economic policies are working, acknowledged the unemployment rate was "unacceptably high." Massive government stimulus p...

Pakistan's one-day captain Shahid Afridi said Friday he was not fully satisfied with preparations for next year's World Cup, acknowledging low expectations of victory. Afridi expressed reservations in the light of problems that have dogged Pakistan's recent tours with players disciplined and dragged into damaging spot-fixing allegations. "I am not 100 percent satisfied with the team's preparations for the World Cup," Afridi told reporters at a local function. "We've had problems on every tour, and although there aren't high expectations, as captain I'm positive and will keep on motivating the team," said Afridi. His comments came one day after manager Intikhab Alam said Pakistan was capable of winning the World Cup -- to be jointly hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka from February 19 to April 2. Key players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammed Aamer -- suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over spot-fixin...

In an ongoing show of force following a deadly North Korean attack on a front-line island, the US and Japan began one of their biggest-ever military exercises on Friday, mobilizing more than 44,000 troops, hundreds of aircraft and a US super carrier. The drills come just after the U.S. and South Korea concluded maneuvers in the Yellow Sea. The exercises brought immediate criticism from China, which is wary of having foreign navies off its shores and has been increasingly assertive over large swaths of waters in the south and east China seas, where some of the drills would take place. "At present, there are already enough of these kinds of military exercises. Under the present conditions, all relevant parties ought to do more to benefit the maintenance of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region, and not the opposite," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. The Nov 23 North Korean attack killed two South Korean marines and two civilians on Yeonp...

Russia and Qatar became the winners in the race to arrange world cup 2018 and 2022 respectively held on December 2, 2010. They could achieve the final recognition from FIFA to arrange the prestigious and pleasant event of the football. FIFA gave its ultimate recognition to new regions of the world to balance in  sharing the pleasure of world cup final. Soccer's governing body's executive committee voted for the two winning bids after a fierce lobbying campaign which saw world political leaders and top sports personalities gather in Zurich to press their case for one of the most prestigious and lucrative prizes in global sport.  Russia won the right to put on the 2018 World Cup, the first time it will have been staged in Eastern Europe after 10 editions in the western half of the continent. Qatar will stage the 2022 finals, a first both for the Middle East and for an Arab country. It will also be the smallest nation ever to host the World Cup with a population of less th...

The most courageous and brave publisher of the world JulianPaul Assange was born in July 3, 1971. He is an Austr alian publisher and internet activist. He is best known as the spokesperson and editor-in-chief for WikiLeaks, a whistle-blower website.  Before working with the website, Mr. Assange was a physics and mathematics student as well as a computer programmer. He has lived in several countries and has told reporters he is constantly on the move.  He makes irregular public appearances to speak about freedom of the press, censorship, and investigative reporting; he has also won several journalism awards for his work with WikiLeaks. Assange founded the ever strongest publisher WikiLeaks website in 2006 and serves on its advisory board. In this capacity, he has received widespread public attention for his role in releasing classified material documenting the involvement of the United States in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. On 28 November 2010, WikiLeaks and its five...