1. ‘Fiscal cliff’ deal passed

Two hours after a midnight deadline, the United States Senate passed a deal on January 1 to help avert* the “fiscal cliff.”

By a vote of 257 to 167, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a bill that fulfills President Barack Obama’s re-election promise to raise taxes on top earners.

The Senate passed the measure earlier in a rare New Year’s Day session and Obama said he would sign it into law shortly.

2. Kim seeks end to hostility with South

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on January 1 called for an end to confrontation* between the two Koreas in a surprise New Year speech broadcast on state media.

“An important issue in putting an end to the division of the country and achieving its reunification* is to remove confrontation between the north and the south,” Kim said in the address. “The past records of inter-Korean relations show that confrontation between fellow countrymen leads to nothing but war.”

3. Chinese investment in U.S. hits record level

Chinese foreign direct investment in the United States hit record levels in 2012 and shows little sign of slowing, China Daily reported on January 1.

Chinese companies concluded deals worth US$6.5 billion in 2012, an increase of 12 percent from the record US$5.8 billion in 2010, according to a new report by New York-based Rhodium Group.

Thilo Hanemann, Rhodium’s research director, said he believes the result reflected the growing determination of Chinese firms to expand overseas.

4. S. Korea to send arsonist home

A South Korean court rejected on January 3 a Japanese extradition* request for a Chinese national who served a 10-month jail sentence for an arson* attack on the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

The court said Liu Qiang, 38, should now be sent home to China. Liu was arrested in January 2012 for hurling* petrol bombs at the Japanese mission, leaving burn marks on the outer wall but causing no other damage.

5. India gang rape suspects stand trial

An Indian court heard the case of five men accused of gang-raping and murdering a 23-year-old student in New Delhi on January 7 behind closed doors.

The suspects were presented for the first time since the attack which took place on a bus on December 16, sparking protests in India and abroad about violence against women.

It was unclear if a sixth suspect, believed to be a 17-year-old man, would appear in the Saket district court in southern New Delhi. Police have ordered a bone test to determine the suspect’s age and whether he can stand trial in an adult court.

6. Syria’s Assad makes rare speech

Syrian President Bashar Assad delivered a rare speech on January 6 about the uprising against his rule, which has killed 60,000 people and brought civil war to the edge of his capital.

Assad said his country is being subjected to an unprecedented* attack and said the conflict can only be solved through a popular movement. He spoke in a defiant* tone, saying Syria will not take orders from anyone.

7. India accused of cross-border raid

The Pakistani military on January 6 accused forces from neighboring India of crossing the boundary between the two sides’ forces in Kashmir* and attacking a Pakistani border post, killing a soldier.

The military’s public relations office said in a statement that another Pakistani soldier was critically wounded in the incident. They said the raid crossed the “line of control” dividing the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir, a flashpoint of violence between these two neighbors for decades. Both claim the region as their own. (SD-Agencies)