• Deadly rains affect 200000 in China

  Continuous rainfall has claimed one life and affecting some 200,000 people in southwest China, authorities said Sunday. The rains started Thursday and had battered 14 counties in Guangxi region, Xinhua reported. The downpour damaged or destroyed 561 houses and ruined 12,120 hectares of crops, resulting in direct economic losses of about $24 ...

• Japan clarifies report on North Korean missile launches

  While confirming North Korea's missile launches Saturday, the Japanese government clarified none of the missiles landed in its territorial waters, Xinhua reported. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, citing its country's defence ministry, had reported that North Korea launched three short-range guided missiles into the Sea of Japan. The ministry had detected two missiles being launched in the ...

• Sectarian Violence Kills 11 in Iraq

  It was a violent day in Iraq Saturday with at least 11 people killed and 10 policemen kidnapped as hatred simmers between the ruling Shi'ite majority and the Sunni minority. Gunmen broke into the home of an anti-terrorism policeman in the Baghdad suburb of Rasheed, killing him, his wife, and two children. Another security officer was killed elsewhere in Rasheed. Police say gunmen killed ...

• Pope Church Must Help Poorest Not Dissect Theology

  VATICAN CITY Pope Francis shared personal moments with 200,000 people on Saturday, telling them he sometimes nods off while praying at the end of a long day and that it "breaks my heartrdquo; that the death of a homeless person is not news. Francis, who has made straight talk and simplicity a hallmark of his papacy, made his unscripted comments in answers to questions by four people at ...

• Top Pakistani Politician Gunned Down in Karachi

  A top Pakistani politician has been shot and killed in Karachi. Police say Zahra Shahid Hussain was shot twice in the head Saturday during an attempted street robbery outside her home. She died on the way to the hospital. A spokesman for Hussain's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, calls her killing an act of terrorism. Hussain was a senior vice president of PTI, which ...

• Cricket Australia investigating Warners twitter rant

  Cricket Australia (CA) is investigating a Twitter rant by cricketer David Warner, who launched a scathing attack on reputed Australian cricket writers Robert Craddock and Malcolm Conn. "CA is aware of comments made on David Warner's twitter account overnight. CA is attempting to contact Warner and will continue to investigate the matter. CA will make further comment once it has conducted a ...

• India should ask China to stay away from Arunachal border Takam Sanjoy

  Arunachal Pradesh Member of Parliament Takam Sanjoy on Saturday urged the Indian Government to be assertive in asking China to stay away from his state. "We are optimistic that the Indian Government will be very assertive on various issues affecting the two nations. All that we would ask from the Indian Government is that talks are held on the border issue. India should be assertive in placing ...

• Manmohan Singh to visit Japan and Thailand

  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is slated to pay official visit to Japan from May 27 to 29 and to the Kingdom of Thailand on May 30 and 31. The visit to Japan is at the invitation of Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr. Shinzo Abe. The Annual Summit between the Prime Ministers of India and Japan is expected to enhance and strengthen the Strategic and Global Partnership between the two countries. ...

• North Korea launches three missiles

  North Korea Saturday launched three short-range guided missiles into the Sea of Japan, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing South Korea's defence ministry. It was reported that the defence ministry detected two missiles launched in the morning and the last one was in the afternoon. The defence ministry said the launching might be a training or a test launch, according to their observation, and ...

• Karachi Residents Re-Do Last Weeks Election

  Pakistani politician and former cricket star Imran Kahn has blamed the killing of a top member of his political party on a rival party, as voters in Karachi re-vote a parliamentary election originally held last ...

• Video China turns to age-old solution for rural elderly

  A new scheme rolling out in Chinese villages enlists 'young elderly' people to care for the very elderly left behind as young workers rush to the big cities. Max Duncan ...

• Aussie trio solid in Japan

  Brendan Jones, Paul Sheehan and Scott Strange have recorded top-15 finishes at the PGA Championship Nissin Cupnoodles Cup on Sunday.The trio finished tied for 15th at two over at the Sobu Country Club Sohbu Course near Tokyo, with Jones and Strange the best of the group on the final day with even-par 71s while Sheehan shot two over.South Korea's Kim Hyung-Sung claimed the Japan Golf Tour ...

• North Korea fires projectile into eastern waters

  SEOUL, South Korea -; South Korea says North Korea has fired a projectile into waters off its eastern coast a day after launching three short-range missiles in the same ...

• Closer ties between China India to add extra glamour to BRICS

  Only weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping had a much-publicized meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Durban on the sidelines of a BRICS summit, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is heading for New Delhi on Sunday on the first leg of his maiden tour abroad. Such a short time interval in top-level contacts between the two Asian giants gives the impression the Chinese dragon and the ...

• North Korea test-fires another short-range missile Report

  SEOU: North Korea on Sunday test-fired a short-range missile off its east coast, its fourth in two days, a Seoul official said. The guided missile was fired into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Sunday afternoon, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP without elaborating. On Saturday the communist state fired three short-range missiles off the east coast, apparently as part of a military drill, at ...

• Cannes QED China’s Huayi Brothers Form Co-Production Partnership

  CANNES, France – Chinese film studio Huayi Brothers has signed a strategic co-production and distribution agreement with QED International. The new partners will first work together on the release ...

• China growth to halve

  Beijing-based economist Michael Pettis has carved out through his "China Financial Markets" blog a distinct position with his commentaries on the Chinese economy, notably with his consideration of the difficulties it faces with its necessary rebalancing towards a more consumption-based model. Asia Times Online here draws the attention of Pettis' latest insightful analysis to a ...

• UN Calls On North Korea to Stop Missile Launches

  The United Nations chief has voiced hope that North Korea will abandon its missile tests, after the Stalinist state fired three short-range missiles into the sea on ...

• Oxbow Wins Preakness Orb Finishes 4th

  Oxbow, ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens and trained by veteran trainer Wayne Lukas, Saturday led the Preakness in Baltimore, Maryland from start to finish. Oxbow was the surprise winner with 15-to-1 odds. Itsmyluckyday finished second and Mylute was third. Kentucky Derby champion and favorite Orb finished fourth in the Preakness -- the second jewel in horse racing's Triple ...

• One Winning Ticket in Largest US Powerball Drawing Ever

  Millions of people across the U.S. have been waiting anxiously to hear the results of a record U.S. Powerball lottery drawing late Saturday worth $590.5 ...

• UN concerned over North Korea missile test

  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has voiced concern over North Korea's launch of short-range missiles. He urged North Korea to refrain from further launches and return to stalled nuclear talks with world powers. Mr Ban, who spoke to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti during a visit to Moscow, called North Korea's launch of three short-range missiles from its east coast yesterday a ...

• Support rate for Japans Abe down to 70.9 pct

  Support rate for the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has edged down almost 2 percent to 70.9 percent, compared with 72.1 percent in the previous poll last month, according to a Kyodo News survey showed on Sunday.It was the fourth time that the Cabinet approval rating has surpassed 70 percent in the monthly surveys since Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) took power in ...

• Analysis of DPRKs missile launch

  Although the DPRK has not launched the mid-range Musudan missile, which was believed to be capable of reaching Guam, the three short-range guided missiles still shocked many. As the tension in the Korean peninsula has eased recently, the timing of the DPRK's launch provoked heated discussion. One South Korean national defense expert said the DPRK was staging a low-level protest against the ...

• Belgium probes into counterfeit euros originating in China

  Belgian authorities have launched an investigation after the seizure of tons of fake euro coins which came from China. Customs at Brussels airport have been confiscating the counterfeit coins over the past few months. Germany’s Bundesbank mistakenly accepted fake money from China worth six million euros in ...

• China investigates N Korea boat hijack

  CHINESE authorities are investigating claims that unidentified North Koreans hijacked a Chinese fishing boat, kidnapping 16 sailors and demanding a ransom, local media and an official says. Armed North Koreans on May 6 hijacked the boat and escorted it towards North Korea while it was sailing in waters around 70 kilometres from North Korea's western coast, reports and the boat's owner Yu ...

• North Korea missiles provocative South

  SOUTH Korea has condemned North Korea's latest short-range missile launches as "provocative" and again urged it to hold talks about a suspended jointly-run industrial park. The North on Saturday launched three short-range guided missiles off its east coast, apparently as part of a military drill, at a time when cross-border relations remain icy after months of simmering tension. The ...

• Cooper overlooked for Australia

  Code-hopper Israel Folau was one of three uncapped players named in Australia's preliminary 25-man squad to face the British and Irish Lions, with in-form Reds playmaker Quade Cooper the most notable omission. Folau's selection caps a remarkable rise for the former rugby league international after just 12 Super 15 appearances for the Waratahs since switching from AFL at the start of ...

• Filipinos in Taiwan told to limit movement

  Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – As violence against Filipinos escalated, Philippine officials have advised the thousands of workers to ';limit their movement'' in Taiwan amid the backlash over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard in Philippine waters. Antonio Basilio, resident representative ...

• China Tourism Day and 3rd Western China Tourism Industry Expo open in Chongqing

  Dancers perform for the opening of the China Tourism Day and the 3rd Western China Tourism Industry Expo, in Chongqing, Southwest China, May 19, 2013. Chongqing is the main venue for the 2013 China Tourism Day. (Xinhua/Li ...

• Japans elderly not acting their age

  SAITAMA, Japan: When amateur actress Etsuko Shigemoto walks out in front of a Paris audience in an all-Japanese production this month she will forget about being 87 years old."I have weak hearing and poor sight. I have problems all over my body," she said. "But I am still young in spirit."Shigemoto is one of a troupe of elderly actors -- average age 74 -- under the tutelage ...

• 29 killed in South Sudan cattle raid Report

  JUBA: At least 29 people were killed when cattle raiders from a South Sudanese minority group opened fire on members of another minority in a village in Upper Nile state, a local official said Sunday. The gunmen crept into Tolleri village in Ulang county in the early hours of Saturday morning and sprayed it with bullets, killing 23 people instantly, said Dak Tap Chuol, commissioner for the ...

• Philippines waiting for Taiwan anger to cool

  Amadeo Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Center) AFP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is waiting for tempers in Taiwan to cool before settling the dispute over a shot Taiwanese fisherman, the head of an office in charge of relations said Sunday. Issues like Manila’s ';one-China'; policy and comments by Taiwanese investigators ...

• China police billions spell profit opportunity

  View Photo Two Chinese paramilitary police test a telescopic sight fitted on a gun model at the China International Exhibition and Symposium on Police Equipment and Anti-Terrorism Technology and Equipment in Beijing on May 15, ...

• Imran Khan blames MQM for his party leaders killing

  Imran Khan has held the chief of Mutthaida Qaumi Movement (MQM) directly responsible for the killing of a senior leader of his party in the city. "I ...

• Take gradual initiatives Kayani tells Nawaz on ties with India

  The report said Kayani called on Sharif to congratulate him on the PML-N's success in the general election and informally talked "about all national security ...

• JK Rowlings personal copy of Harry Potter to go on sale

  Harry Potter book , complete with handwritten notes which reveal the author invented the fictional sport of Quidditch after a row with her then-boyfriend, is going up for sale. Rowling will auction a hand signed, annotated ...

• Japanese ministers criticize Hashimoto for remarks on comfort women

  Japanese ministers denounced Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto on Tuesday, a day after he said sexual servitude by women was "necessary" for Japan's soldiers during World War II to maintain discipline in the military, Kyodo News reports. But Shintaro Ishihara, an opposition lawmaker who co-heads the Japan Restoration Party with Hashimoto, defended the outspoken mayor, saying that ...

• Japan pulls back on denials of WWII sex slaves

  Japan has acknowledged that it conducted only a limited investigation before claiming there was no official evidence that its troops coerced Asian women into sexual slavery before and during World War II. A parliamentary statement signed Tuesday by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged the government had a set of documents produced by a postwar international military tribunal containing ...

• Japan protests to China over Okinawa claim

  Japan has lodged a diplomatic protest with China over an article in a state-run publication that challenged the ownership of Okinawa, home to major US bases, officials said Thursday. The People's Daily on Wednesday published a call for a review of Japan's sovereignty over Okinawa, suggesting that Beijing may be the rightful owner. The call came as the two countries are already at ...

• Japan defends PM aides surprise N.Korea trip

  TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese minister on Sunday defended a surprise visit to North Korea by one of the prime minister's aides which Washington and Seoul said could not help efforts to forge a united front against Pyongyang.Akira Amari, state minister of economic revitalisation, said the four-day trip by Isao Iijima reflected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's resolve to have North Korea come ...

• Fijian leader looks to Russia and China

  FIJI'S military ruler says he will meet Beijing's leaders in China this month, a week after unveiling an official trip to Russia, as he looks beyond strained regional ties in the South Pacific. Frank Bainimarama has been banned from Australia and New Zealand since seizing control in a 2006 coup. His announcement that he would hold talks with Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping ...

• 5 policemen wounded in clash with leftist rebels in S. Philippines

  Five Philippine policemen were wounded following a clash with leftist rebels in southern Philippines on Saturday, officials said on Sunday.Police commandos from the 11th Special Action Force were conducting combat patrol in Sta. Cruz village, Tagbina town, in Mindanao's Surigao del Sur province when they encountered some 30 New People's Army guerrillas at 10:30 a.m., according to ...

• S. Korea holds press conference on DPRKs missile launch

  South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-suk speaks during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, May 18, 2013. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday launched three short-range guided missiles into the Sea of Japan, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing South Korea's defense ministry. ...

• Blooming azalea attracts visitors in NE China

  A visitor takes photo of azalea in a national forest park in Huinan County, Northeast China's Jilin Province, May 18, 2013. The blooming azalea in the park attracted many visitors and photographers. (Xinhua/Zhang ...

• Courtyards under protective reconstruction in C China

  Photo taken on May 18, 2013 shows a renovated sunken courtyard in Qucun Village of Zhangbian Township in Shaanxian County, Central China's Henan Province. The sunken courtyard, a kind of traditional residential construction in west Henan, has a high value in the study of local histroy, architecture, geology and sociology. The Qucun Village has 115 sunken courtyards, most of which are under ...

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