LONDON (Xinhua) - British former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke, her spokesman announced Monday.
The spokesman Lord Bell said: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama launched his second term as U.S. president by confronting conservative opponents in Congress, declaring in an inaugural address before nearly a million spectators that he will tackle climate change, protect America's social safety net and pursue other decidedly liberal goals.
The president — often criticized by supporters for being too quick to compromise in his first term only to get little in return from Republicans — spoke with fire for the center-left political agenda that first carried him into the White House four years ago.
SINGAPORE, December 19, 2012 - Economies of developing East Asia and Pacific remained resilient despite the lackluster performance of the global economy. The World Bank’s latest East Asia and Pacific Economic Update released today, projects the region will grow at 7.5 percent in 2012, lower than the 8.3 percent registered in 2011, but set to recover to 7.9 percent in 2013.
With weak demand for exports from global markets, domestic demand has remained the main driver of growth for most economies of the region. The region’s economic performance in 2012, the report says, was affected by China’s economic slowdown.
