Asia

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S. Korea Blocks Trade With N. Korea

US backs South's new more aggressive stance

(Newser) - Tensions on the Korean peninsula were ratcheted up today when South Korea suspended trade with the North, closing its waters to North Korean ships. Showing a newly aggressive stance, President Lee Myung-bak also called on Pyongyang to apologize for the torpedo attack that sank a South Korean warship in March,...

Asia Stocks Plunge
 Asia Stocks Plunge 
May 21, 2010 3:42 AM CDT

Asia Stocks Plunge

Markets down on US unemployment, Europe debt

(Newser) - Following a dismal day on Wall Street, Asian markets fell sharply today on news of an unexpectedly high US unemployment rate and worries about the growing debt crisis in Europe. The MCSI Asia Pacific Index was down 1.6 percent at 111.79, a 9-month low. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock...

Shot Thai Protest Leader Dies
 Shot Thai Protest Leader Dies 

May 17, 2010 4:50 AM CDT

Shot Thai Protest Leader Dies

'Red commander' shooting boosts violence

(Newser) - A leader of the Thai anti-government Red Shirts who was shot in the head by a sniper last week in the middle of a media interview has died. Tensions in Bangkok escalated after Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol, known as Seh Daeng (Red Commander), was shot last week while talking to...

Mount Everest Is the New 'Brokeback'

Nepal wants to host your gay wedding— and honeymoon

(Newser) - Nepal—a country that that considered homosexuality a crime until 2007—now hopes to turn Mount Everest into gay wedding destination. The plan is part of a country-wide push to double the number of visitors in 2011. A typical itinerary might include sky-high nuptials and an elephant safari honeymoon, tourist...

Asian Billionaires Storm Forbes Richest List

China adds remarkable share of world's newly minted billionaires

(Newser) - Asian magnates are the huge scorers in the annual Forbes list of the world’s billionaires, with 234 making the cut this year, compared to 130 last year. That's 23% of the 1,011 people worldwide on the list, up from 16%. And Asia is minting new billionaires like mad:...

'Bile Farmers' Turn Bears' Lives Into Misery

Keepers extract bile from their gall bladders to sell

(Newser) - The moon bear is a threatened species in Vietnam and other South Asia nations, and a gruesome trend is making matters worse. Moon bear "farmers" keep thousands of the bears caged, then crudely extract bile from their gall bladders with a syringe to sell for reputed benefits in Chinese...

Obama Nudges China on Internet Freedom

Openness makes nations stronger, president tells students

(Newser) - China and the US don't have to be adversaries and can work out their differences, President Obama told students in Shanghai today. "More is gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide," Obama said. But the president also prodded for more freedoms in China, reports CNN , telling...

Obama to Myanmar: Free Suu Kyi

First direct appeal for pro-democracy leader's release

(Newser) - President Barack Obama today abandoned decades of Western avoidance and told Myanmar's prime minister to free opposition leader and fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a rare face-to-face meeting. The strong message, delivered during his summit with leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations, signals a further thawing in...

Obama Arrives in Japan to Shore Up Relations

President will be in Asia for a week

(Newser) - President Obama arrived in Japan today to open his weeklong summit in Asia. At a news conference with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Obama acknowledged that relations with Tokyo have been strained and agreed that it's time to modernize the nations' 50-year-old treaty. "Our effort will be focused on revitalizing...

10% of Babies Are Premature, Taxing World's Health System

Of 13 million preemies, 1 million die before surviving 1 month

(Newser) - Nearly 10% of babies born each year worldwide arrive prematurely, and the stress of caring for them "is exacting a huge toll emotionally, physically and financially on families, medical systems and economies," the March of Dimes said today. Some 13 million babies are preemies, and more than 1...

Palin to Make First Trip to Asia

Former gov will speak at Hong Kong investment conference

(Newser) - Once pilloried for her lack of foreign policy experience—except for Russia, which she said she could see from Alaska—Sarah Palin will make her first trip to Asia in September. The former Alaska governor will visit Hong Kong to address the CLSA Investors Forum, a prominent conference of global...

Hong Kong, Singapore Emerge From Recession

(Newser) - Hong Kong emerged from the recession with a bang last quarter, posting better-than-expected growth of 3.3% from April to June. The Chinese territory suffered four quarters of contraction but came out of the red thanks to a pickup in exports and increased private consumption. Singapore also blasted out of...

North Korea Blasts 'Funny Lady' Clinton

War of words after Clinton tells Pyongyang it has 'no friends'

(Newser) - If insults were nukes, the US and North Korea would have destroyed the world today. Hillary Clinton, on a visit to Asia, told reporters that the secretive regime "has no friends left" to block denuclearization, after earlier in the week comparing Kim Jong-Il's coterie to "small children and...

Americans Work Hard, But Their Kids Are Lazy

(Newser) - Americans may jaw about their grueling work weeks and meager vacations, but their kids? While European and Asian children are logging in long school days and pounding out homework, US students are taking time off, the Economist reports. With one of the world's shortest school weeks and longest summers—which...

Asia Unites Against Swine Flu Threat

Health ministers from 13 countries pledge increased cooperation

(Newser) - Health chiefs from 13 Asian countries met in Bangkok yesterday to hammer out a unified response to the H1N1 virus, Reuters reports. The ministers pledged to step up cross-border cooperation, establish joint response teams, and share essential supplies. A statement called for Asia to establish the capacity to produce vaccines,...

Sri Lanka Kills 1K Civilians in Raid: Rebels

Government denies claim, says noncombatants escaped from rebel areas

(Newser) - Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels said today that 1,000 civilians died in a government raid on their territory, an operation the military says freed thousands of noncombatants from the war zone. Government forces deny the accusation, and say they rescued thousands of civilians yesterday after they broke through a barrier...

In Asia, Clinton's on a Mission to Listen
 In Asia, Clinton's 
 on a Mission to Listen 
analysis
Feb 20, 2009 3:06 PM CST

In Asia, Clinton's on a Mission to Listen

Secretary of State right at home on 'world stage'

(Newser) - On her trip to China, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia, Hillary Clinton is making the most of long experience and enthusiastic crowds, the Washington Post reports. The secretary of state is on a listening tour, aiming to rehab the country's image. “There is a hunger for the United States...

Clinton Warns North Korea, Names Special Envoy

Special envoy for North Korea named

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton warned an increasingly belligerent North Korea to cease its "provocative and unhelpful" threats toward the South today, the AP reports. In a Seoul press conference, the secretary of state named former US ambassador to South Korea Stephen Bosworth as special envoy for North Korea and said he...

'Naive' Hillary Underestimates North Korea
'Naive' Hillary Underestimates North Korea
OPINION
Feb 18, 2009 8:54 AM CST

'Naive' Hillary Underestimates North Korea

Pyongyang can't be trusted with any nuclear program, says Bolton

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has embarked on an Asian tour armed with Bush-administration rhetoric and precious little understanding of the gravity of the North Korean situation, writes John R.  Bolton in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. The secretary of state is attempting to gain further support for American efforts to block...

Clinton in Jakarta, Eye on Muslim World

Students from Obama's school welcome secretary of state

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton arrived today in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, where the secretary of state is continuing the Obama administration's efforts to rehabilitate America's image abroad. In Jakarta, Clinton intends to announce plans to step up US engagement with Southeast Asia, stressing the growing importance of a region that...

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