BEIJING, China, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Heavy fog and smog gripped parts of China Sunday, with several cities closing roads and canceling flights.
The conditions showed no signs of easing Sunday, the official news agency Xinhua reported
Nearly all expressways in the eastern province of Jiangsu were closed, and though traffic resumed on certain roads in the afternoon, it remained slow, local traffic authorities told the agency.
In the provincial capital of Nanjing, visibility dropped to near 50 yards in some areas. The local airport said there were delays or cancellation of more than 100 flights.
Traffic also temporarily was suspended on several expressways in Beijing, Xinhua said. As winds picked up, those suspensions were lifted.
Xinhua said large parts of China have been plagued by foggy or smoggy weather since the start of December.
BALI, Indonesia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- President Obama Sunday congratulated the World Trade Organization for coming up with a major global trade agreement.
In a written statement from the White House, Obama said the deal hammered out by the WTO last week in Indonesia marked "the rejuvenation of the multilateral trading system that supports millions of American jobs and offers a forum for the robust enforcement of America's trade rights."
"This new deal, and particularly the new trade facilitation agreement, will eliminate red tape and bureaucratic delay for goods shipped around the globe," Obama said. "Small businesses will be among the biggest winners, since they encounter the greatest difficulties in navigating the current system."
The WTO said in a written statement the so-called Bali Package could provide some needed momentum to the stalled negotiations on the broader Doha pact.
"The decisions we have taken here are an important stepping stone towards the completion of the Doha round," Director-General Roberto Azevedo told the Bali delegates Saturday. "And it is very welcome that you have instructed us to prepare, within the next 12 months, a clearly defined work program to this end."
KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Ukrainian authorities closed three Kiev subway stations nearest the mass demonstrations against President Viktor Yanukovych's regime Monday, officials said.
Police Monday also took up positions outside the perimeter of the main protest sites as demonstrators used benches, planks and other goods to fortify the blockade that has closed the area for about a week, the New York Times reported.
The Times said some demonstrators appeared to be evacuating the occupied Kiev City Hall, anticipating that it would be a target of any enforcement action.
At Independence Square, several thousand people milled about the day after a huge rally saw a statue of Russian communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin toppled and smashed with hammers.
Protesters are angered at Yanukovych's decision not to sign sweeping political and trade agreements with the European Union. After indicating he would sign the accords, Yanukovych did a U-turn, saying instead he would pursue building relations with Russia.
International concern over the unrest deepened Sunday, as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon telephoned Yanukovych and Western leaders called on him to respond to the demonstrators' demands.
The Times said the devolving disorder touched off talk that Yanukovych would declare a state of emergency and rely on force in the removal of demonstrators who have occupied Independence Square and several public buildings.
Ukrainian government had officials promised Western diplomats they would not oust peaceful protesters by force, after police faced heavy criticism for its handling of clashes Nov. 30 in which hundreds of people were injured.
Reports also surfaced Sunday that charges of treason were being prepared against three opposition leaders in Parliament who have been at the forefront of the demonstrations, the times said.
Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, of the opposition Fatherland party, called for civil disobedience if Yanukovych tried to impose martial law.
"In the case that a state of emergency is declared, everyone should go to [Independence Square]," Yatsenyuk said.
BUHRUZ, Iraq, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A car bomb detonated in Buhruz in Iraq's Diyala province Monday, killing at least nine people and wounding about 20, provincial police said.
Police said the bomb exploded in a car parked near a popular cafe in Buhruz, close to the provincial capital city of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
Local authorities imposed a curfew following the attack, a police official said.
On Sunday, 51 people were killed and 191 injured in attacks across Iraq, police said. Most of the attacks were in Baghdad.
The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq estimated 8,109 Iraqis were killed from January through November.
DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- At least 91 people, including 15 children and eight women, were killed Monday in attacks across Syria the opposition said were conducted by government forces.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said Syrian regime forces staged air and land offensives that killed 41 people in Damascus and its suburbs, 25 in Aleppo, 11 in Homs, four in Deir az Zor , three in Daraa and Hama each, two in Quneitra, and one each in Idlib and Rakka.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights, based in Britain, tracks civilian and dissident casualties.
The Syria Local Coordination Committee, another opposition organization, said regime forces used howitzer and rockets on some of the cities. The LLC also reported troops loyal to President Bashar Assad used warplanes to bomb several regions under rebel control, the Andalou news agency reported.
Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported security forces neutralized several armed groups during the operations and destroyed tunnels used by opposition forces.
The United Nations estimated more than 100,000 people have died in the civil war that began in March 2011 as peaceful anti-government protests.
BERLIN, Germany, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- German President Joachim Gauck said he's boycotting the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, to protest human rights abuses.
Gauck told the Kremlin last week he doesn't plan to attend the games due to human rights violations and the harassment of Russian opposition political figures, Der Spiegel reported.
The president joins several athletes and celebrities who have called for a boycott of the Olympics, many due to Russia's recent law banning pro-homosexual propaganda, CNN reported. The law makes even the discussion of homosexuality in front of children illegal.
Alexey Pushkov, the head of Russian Parliament's foreign delegation, attacked Gauck's decision on Twitter, TheLocal.de reported.
"The German President Gauck has not criticized the killing of children and women in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But he is so critical of Russia that he doesn't even want to travel to Sochi," he wrote.
ISLAMABAD,
Pakistan, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Drone strikes by the United States was the main focus of a meeting of U.S. Defense chief Chuck Hagel and Pakistani officials Monday, authorities said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raised the subject of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt, a highly contentious issue that his electoral rivals have used against him, the New York Times reported. Supporters of challenger Imran Kahn a former cricket player, have partially blocked NATO supply lines through Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, the northwestern province that is controlled by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Sharif said drone strikes were counterproductive to the Pakistan government's work to combat terrorism and extremism on an ongoing basis, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Sharif and Hagel also discussed regional matters of mutual interest, Pakistan's Foreign Office said.
"The two leaders agreed to work together to strengthen Pakistan-U.S. relations and advance the shared interest of a stable, secure and prosperous Pakistan and the region," a statement issued by Foreign Office said.
Hagel also met with Pakistan's new military leader, Lt. Gen. Raheel Sharif, at Rawalpindi, the garrison city near Islamabad. In a statement Sharif, no relation to the prime minister, said the defense relationship between the two countries, bilateral ties and regional stability were discussed.
Before the meetings, a senior Pentagon official said while the United States and Pakistan have a "significant overlap" of regional security interests, "it has not been 100%."
Washington has claimed Pakistani intelligence officials were trying to stake influence in Afghanistan through covert support for terrorist groups that target Americans and Afghans, the Times said. The Pakistani government has expressed outrage over U.S. drone strikes against militant targets in Pakistan, some of which have killed civilians.
"There is some friction in the relationship," the Pentagon official told the Times. "One of the reasons the secretary is going to Pakistan is to address those issues head-on."
BANGKOK,
Thailand, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, facing weeks of anti-government protests, Monday dissolved Parliament and called for new elections.
The announcement, however, made no impact on the protesters as thousands of them resumed their march to the Government House in the capital, the Bangkok Nation reported.
In her announcement, Yingluck said she had sought the Thai monarchy's approval for dissolving the lower house of Parliament and to return power to the people to end the current crisis through new elections. The date of the elections would be announced soon, she said.
In a broadcast to the nation, she said the government led by her Pheu Thai party has tried hard to settle the conflict. She said the anti-government protesters, however, were making demands that cannot be allowed under the country's laws and Constitution.
She said as the protesters were claiming to represent the people, "the best way is to give back the power to the Thai people and hold an election," the Nation reported.
Monday's developments came the day after all 153 lawmakers from the opposition Democrat Party resigned.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva told a news conference Sunday his party could no longer wait for the government to take responsibility for its past actions, the Post reported.
The Nation quoted protest leaders as saying the dissolution of Parliament was meaningless as the Yingluck government would still continue as an interim government. Instead, they insisted on setting up a "people's council" to ensure the former regime of Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, and his supporters do not come back.
The protesters have maintained the Yingluck government is controlled by the former premier, a telecommunications billionaire who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and who has lived in exile since.
Thaksin is accused of influencing policies through his sister's government. The government has denied those allegations.
The protests recently turned violent, resulting in the deaths of at least three people.
The protesters are particularly upset over the Yingluck government's failed attempt to pass an amnesty bill they saw as paving the way for the return of her brother, who still enjoys much support in the country's rural areas.
On Monday, the protesters were marching toward the Government House in Bangkok from eight different routes.
The Nation reported a convoy of motorcyclists was leading them and several people along the way joined the procession.
Since the demonstrations began, the protesters, led by former Democrat party deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban, have occupied a number of government ministries and offices.
There was a break in the protests last week so people could take part in the celebrations marking the 86th birthday of their highly revered King Bhumibol Adulayadej.
Yingluck has refused to step down. Earlier, her government which enjoys a majority in parliament easily defeated a no-confidence motion.
BANGUI, Central African Republic, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Nearly 400 people died in the past three days of violence in troubled Bangui, Central African Republic, the French Embassy said Sunday.
"We count 394 dead in the last three days," French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius told France 3 TV Sunday. "Calm has restored to Bangui even if there are still some atrocities here and there."
The announcement came as French troops Sunday entered the northwest region of the country where there has been an increase in sectarian violence, Radio France Internationale reported.
"A certain number of operations are taking place all over the country and the operation of disarmament of the Seleka [rebel militias] are going to start," Fabius said. "The problem is that some are taking off their combat fatigues and putting on civilian clothes."
The U.N. Security Council last week authorized an African Union-led peacekeeping force to intervene with the support of French forces to help restore law and order.
French President Francois Hollande said France must intervene in order to remain a world leader, Radio France International reported. He said the intervention should bring peace to Central African Republic within six months.
"What is the role of France? What is the mission of France? What is the responsibility of France? It is to be a world power," he said during the interview with the newspaper which was published Sunday.
Hollande said France is increasing the number of French troops to 1,600. The African Union, which has a 2,500-member force in the Central African Republic, is expected to grow to 3,600 by the end of December.
Nearly 400,000 people have been displaced and another 69,800 forced into exile in neighboring countries since last December
"The latest reports from the ground are grim, indicating deepening conflict between Muslim and Christian communities and armed groups, with tragic consequences," a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday in a statement.
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- South Korea said Sunday it has set up its own air defense zone to counter China's unilateral expansion of its own air defense zone.
The new zone is designed to bolster the South's sovereignty over a reef off the south coast and other islands around the peninsula, the Yonhap news agency reported.
China's air zone overlaps those of South Korea and Japan, and includes islands claimed by China and Japan.
South Korea has said it does not recognize the Chinese zone, and has flown aircraft through it, Yonhap reported.
The report said South Korea has consulted with friendly countries on its expansion.
The United States also has said it would not recognize the Chinese zone, and Vice President Joseph Biden protested it during talks with Chinese leaders.
ATHENS, Greece, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The Greek Parliament Sunday passed a national budget for next year that the prime minister said was based on a modest economic recovery.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told Parliament before the vote that next year "will be a year of recovery after six painful years of recession."
The spending plan, which had the support of a conservative and socialist coalition, passed on a vote of 153-142.
The Wall Street Journal reported the budget was based on a larger-than-expected government surplus, which should bolster Greece's position in upcoming negotiations with major European creditors. The plan, however, includes additional cuts to public health programs and increased property taxes.
The additional spending cuts and tax hikes, however, have yet to be approved by Parliament. Some lawmakers have warned that their support for the budget was intended to keep the government functioning and that public support for another round of austerity was wobbly, the New York Times reported.
A key leftist lawmaker recently accused creditors of pushing austerity to the point it was creating a humanitarian crisis in Greece; however, influential European leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel have urged the Athens government to stay the course despite the political headwinds, the Times said.
TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday he would have no problem meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Iran and Israel are not enemies, Peres said.
"I have no enemies. We do not see Iran as an enemy. 'Enemies' are not a personal matter; they are a matter of policy. There were days we did not want to meet with [the late Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat, but when he changed his policy we said, 'Why not?' We are for peace, and I believe that in the end the objective is to turn enemies into friends," Peres said at the Globes Israel Business Conference in Tel Aviv. At the same time, Peres stressed, the world must prevent Iran from achieving nuclear arms, Israel Radio reported.
Referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Peres said he believes it is possible to achieve a peace agreement within the allotted nine-month period. He said, however, that Jerusalem must receive necessary security guarantees in any peace agreement with the Palestinians.