TheRepublic.com - Asia News

India floods strand thousands; more than 100 dead

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:53:46 -0400

LUCKNOW, India - Days after floods killed more than 100 people - possibly many more - rescuers used helicopters and climbed through mountain paths to reach nearly 4,000 people trapped by landslides in a narrow valley near a Hindu shrine in the northern Himalayas, officials said Thursday.

Stampede over Beckham injures 7 in Shanghai

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:58:31 -0400

BEIJING - Fans eager to see soccer superstar David Beckham stormed a police cordon Thursday in a stampede at a Shanghai university that injured seven people including five security personnel.

AP Exclusive: Facebook broke Indonesia terror case

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:44:37 -0400

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Sefa Riano didn't try to hide his plans or his beliefs. A Facebook page that police traced to him is plastered with photos of bearded men in camouflage uniforms holding rifles and banners hailing "The Spirit of Jihad."

China astronauts float water blob in kids' lecture

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:25:15 -0400

BEIJING - Astronauts struck floating martial arts poses, twirled gyroscopes and manipulated wobbling globes of water during a lecture Thursday from China's orbiting space station that's part of efforts to popularize the space program among young people.

Kyrgyzstan votes to end US lease of airbase

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:22:13 -0400

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - Kyrgyzstan has voted to end the United States' lease on an airbase key to supplying military operations in nearby Afghanistan.

12 Indonesian soldiers on trial over prison attack

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:07:06 -0400

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia - A group of 12 soldiers from Indonesia's elite special forces went before a military court Thursday for allegedly storming a prison on the main Java island and killing four detainees to avenge the murder of a fellow soldier.

SKorean nuclear operator raided in cable probe

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 06:04:13 -0400

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's sole nuclear power plant operator said Thursday that investigators raided its offices, a sign that a probe into faulty nuclear plant cables is widening.

China sex tape official: I'm a lecher but no crook

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 05:23:56 -0400

BEIJING - Call me a lecher but don't call me a crook, an ex-city official at the heart of a sex tape scandal has said in his unusually spirited courtroom defense against corruption charges.

China, Vietnam talk amid South China Sea tensions

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 05:10:11 -0400

BEIJING - Vietnam's president was being feted by China's leaders on a visit through Friday as Beijing continues to shun another rival for South China Sea territory that has challenged its claims on legal grounds, the Philippines.

Singapore haze at worst yet, Malaysia schools shut

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 04:43:31 -0400

SINGAPORE - Singapore urged people to remain indoors amid unprecedented levels of air pollution Thursday as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia worsened dramatically. Nearby Malaysia closed 200 schools and banned open burning in some areas.

Medical care lags behind Afghan military growth

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:43:33 -0400

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHINWAR, Afghanistan - The young Afghan soldier lay in great pain on a cot at an army base, his uniform pants cut up to his thigh so medics could clean the wound in his right knee where he was shot fighting insurgents.

AP PHOTOS: Bangladesh collapse left many amputees

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:49:03 -0400

SAVAR, Bangladesh - It was the worst disaster in the history of the garment industry. When the Rana Plaza factory building crashed down in April, 1,129 people were killed. But many others had to sacrifice their limbs to survive.

SKorea adopts tougher penalties for sex offenders

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:19:54 -0400

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea says it's taking tougher action against sex offenders by allowing plaintiffs other than the direct targets of sexual violence to press charges of rape or sexual harassment.

Sony chief says time needed to study proposal

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:56:23 -0400

TOKYO - Sony Corp. needs more time to study a key proposal from a U.S. hedge fund to spin off a part of its entertainment unit as a way to propel its fledgling revival, the chief executive told shareholders Thursday.

Myanmar welcomes ILO decision to lift restrictions

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:46:05 -0400

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar hopes a decision by the International Labor Organization to lift all remaining restrictions on the formerly isolated nation will help accelerate trade and foreign investment.

Survey shows China manufacturing shrinks in June

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:13:14 -0400

HONG KONG - Manufacturing in China contracted this month at a faster pace as demand weakened, according to a private survey Thursday, adding to fears about a fragile recovery in the world's second-biggest economy.

China jails 11 for extremist crimes in Muslim west

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:07:08 -0400

BEIJING - Chinese courts have sentenced 11 people for inciting religious extremism and related crimes in the northwestern Muslim region of Xinjiang, just weeks ahead of the anniversary of bloody ethnic rioting that spread through the region four years ago.

China's Xi harks back to Mao in party 'cleanup'

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:14:51 -0400

BEIJING - China's new leader Xi Jinping is commanding wayward Communist Party cadres to purify themselves of corruption, and he's summed it up in a pithy slogan as Mao Zedong might have done: Look in the mirror, take a bath.

Dotcom 'in tears' after Megaupload files deleted

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:34:05 -0400

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom said Thursday he was "in tears" after a European company deleted all the data it was hosting from his shuttered file-sharing site.

Social network gaffes plague Japanese politicians

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:28:43 -0400

TOKYO - On the Internet, no one can save you from yourself. That is a lesson many Japanese politicians have learned recently in painful, awkward and at times costly fashion.