Asia News

In this Jan. 31, 2010 file photo, an unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan, on a moon-lit night.

1, 2012 file photo, feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia.

Gunmen kidnapped the father of Afghanistan's national cricket team captain near his home in an eastern city, officials said Thursday.

The defects and errors that led to the world's deadliest garment-industry accident extend from the swampy ground the doomed Rana Plaza was built on, to "extremely poor quality" construction materials, to the massive, vibrating equipment operating when the eight-story building collapsed, a committee appointed by Bangladesh's government concluded.

The FBI has arrested a suspect in a case involving the discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin and says investigators are working "around the clock" to address any remaining risks.

European aid groups said their banks in Europe had stopped sending money to North Korea in the wake of U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang's main foreign exchange bank, leaving them scrambling for a solution short of hand-carrying cash into the impoverished country.

Habibullah Khan was killed along with two bodyguards and a civilian bystander in the afternoon attack in Ghazni province's Moqur district, police said.

China's premier began a two-day visit to Pakistan on Wednesday by signing economic agreements and praising Islamabad in glowing terms that underscored the importance of the longstanding alliance to the two Asian powers.

More than a year after it took effect, a highly touted trade deal with South Korea has failed to produce as expected for the U.S.: Exports are down, imports are up and the trade deficit with the Asian economic powerhouse has ballooned.

Gaining confidence as he nailed questions about obscure island chains, bodies of water, global trade and culture, 12-year-old Sathwik Karnik cruised to victory Wednesday in the 2013 National Geographic Bee.

A key North Korean military official arrived in Beijing on Wednesday as a "special envoy" of leader Kim Jong Un, state-run media reported.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday he had given a "wish list" of military equipment to India during a visit this week, presenting a conundrum for New Delhi as it weighs whether arming the Afghan army is in its interests.

Hard-line Islamist students protested Wednesday in the Afghan capital demanding the repeal of a presidential decree for women's rights that they say is un-Islamic. It was the latest sign of a backlash against the legal protections passed in the 12 years since the toppling of the Taliban regime known for its harsh treatment of women.

"What separates me from someone in the streets of Kabul is such a thin line," says the Afghan-American author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns." "What I have is, in many ways, an undeserved gift." His amazing run continued Tuesday night as he appeared before an overflow crowd at the Barnes & Noble on Manhattan's Union Square.

A blast at an explosives plant in China has left 13 people dead and another 20 missing, state media said on Tuesday, compounding the country's poor industrial safety record.

A powerful roadside bomb has killed seven policemen in western Afghanistan as forces were engaged in a deadly battle with large groups of Taliban fighters who attacked police checkpoints in the south, officials have said.

Former Georgian prime minister Ivane Merabishvili was arrested on corruption charges on Tuesday in what the opposition said was a witch-hunt against members of the ousted administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The leaders of India and China played down their recent border dispute and other tensions Monday, pledging to work together for regional stability and the economic growth of the world's two most populous nations.

The challenge is to transform such waste into food of higher functionality and added value.

A Chinese boat and 16 fishermen seized for ransom by armed North Koreans two weeks ago were released Tuesday, easing the latest irritant in relations between the neighboring allies.