BANGKOK - Tens of thousands of protesters are demonstrating in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, demanding the current government step down and call new elections.  The protesters have set a one day deadline for their demands to be met.
A sea of red clad protesters wave banners and cheer as a band plays music on stage.  The protesters […]

KABUL - The Afghan government says a NATO airstrike has killed at least 33 civilians in southern Afghanistan.
The Council of Ministers released a statement Monday condemning the incident as “unjustifiable.”
In a statement, NATO said its forces were targeting insurgents in Uruzgan province, and that an air strike accidentally killed and wounded civilians.  It did not […]

KABUL - NATO officials said Sunday the route clearance offensive by international forces is making progress in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, a Taliban outpost.
The alliance says Operation Moshtarak has improved freedom of movement in the area.  British, U.S. and Afghan forces began the ground offensive in the town of Marjah as part of an effort […]

ISLAMABAD - Afghan officials say authorities in Pakistan have arrested two senior Taliban commanders, who were acting as “shadow governors” in northern Afghanistan. The reported arrests come days after U.S. and Pakistani officials revealed they have been interrogating the Taliban’s top operational commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani, also known as Mullah Baradar. 
Afghan officials say authorities captured […]

KABUL - Afghan intelligence officials are requesting that a recently captured top Taliban commander be turned over to Afghan authorities.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s Intelligence Directorate told reporters Thursday that Pakistan or any other country holding Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar should hand him over to Afghanistan.
Pakistan and U.S. officials say the Afghan Taliban leader was arrested […]

SEOUL - North Korea is celebrating one of the country’s most important holidays.
Synchronized swimming displays, candy for children, and thousands of flower bouquets were reported to mark what North Koreans know as the “February Holiday” on Tuesday - the birthday of leader Kim Jong Il.
According to the North’s official records, Mr. Kim is now 68, […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. and Pakistani officials say intelligence forces captured the top Taliban military commander several days ago in a secret joint operation in Karachi.
Officials say the commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is in Pakistani custody.
Baradar, who is of Afghan descent, is described as ranking second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the founder […]

ISLAMABAD - U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan pressed forward Monday with a major offensive to clear Taliban militants out of their last major stronghold in the southern province of Helmand.
Some 15,000 U.S., British and Afghan troops are involved in operations centering on the town of Marjah, in the biggest joint-operation since the war began in 2001.
Efforts […]

ISLAMABAD - NATO commanders in Afghanistan say a planned military offensive in a southern Taliban stronghold is meant to defeat the militants and win the support of the population.
U.S and British troops are set to launch what has been described as one of the biggest anti-Taliban offensives of the eight-year-old war.
The assault will target the […]

WASHINGTON -  - U.S. and Afghan commanders say thousands of allied troops in Afghanistan’s south are planning a large offensive against a longtime Taliban stronghold.
Commanders say the joint, Afghan-led mission will target militants in Marjah, a Taliban-held district in Helmand province.  The offensive is said to be the largest since U.S. President Barack Obama ordered […]

WASHINGTON - China announced suspension of military exchanges, security talks with US, also threatened sanctions on US firms that sell arms to Taiwan.
The United States on Saturday defended its plan to sell military equipment to Taiwan, following China’s threats to retaliate.
Laura Tischler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, told reporters in Washington that such […]

WASHINGTON - China has reacted angrily to an Obama administration announcement that Washington intends to sell more than $6 billion worth of military equipment to Taiwan.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Friday it notified Congress of the possible sale, which includes 60 Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot missiles, radar sets and communications equipment.  However, the package […]

WASHINGTON - North Korea says it has arrested another U.S. citizen.  If confirmed, the man would be the second American taken into custody in the North in two months. North Korea also is continuing with maritime artillery drills.
North Korea’s official news agency issued a short report Thursday saying “an American was detained for trespassing” on […]

WASHINGTON - China’s ambassador to the United Nations says he will not support new sanctions against Iran because diplomatic negotiations on the issue need more “time and patience.”
Zhang Yesui told reporters in New York Tuesday that a peaceful settlement of the issue is the best option.  China holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security […]

WASHINGTON - A spill of up to 150,000 liters of diesel oil from a broken pipeline in northern China has reached the Yellow River, the drinking water source for millions of people.
State media say the spill in an upstream tributary reached the massive river Monday.  Thousands of people in northern China have been told to stop […]

ISLAMABAD - A suicide bomber set off an explosive-laden vehicle on a field during a volleyball match in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 88 people. Authorities say scores of others were wounding and children are among the victims.  Friday’s attack is the third major militant activity in the country within a week leaving more than […]

KABUL - The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide blast in eastern Afghanistan that killed eight Americans Wednesday.  Employees of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency are reported to be among the dead.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Thursday that the attack on a U.S. base in Khost province was carried out by an Afghan army […]

BEIJING - China has executed a British man with reported mental health problems for drug smuggling, despite last minute appeals by the British government and his relatives.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned Akmal Shaikh’s execution on Tuesday, saying he was “appalled and disappointed” that multiple requests for clemency were ignored.
Fifty-three-year-old Shaikh was arrested in China’s […]

KABUL - The large operation was launched in the Uzbin Valley, a Taliban stronghold, to give control back to Afghan security forces.
French military officials say more than 1,000 soldiers, including Afghan, U.S. and 800 French legionnaires, have launched a major offensive east of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Officials say some American soldiers were wounded and some […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials say President Barack Obama has sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as international efforts to get Pyongyang to return to talks on its nuclear program intensify.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, State Department officials said that the letter was delivered last week when the administation’s special envoy on […]

BANGKOK - Thailand will hold the crew of a cargo plane in prison while investigating their role in smuggling weapons from North Korea.  Regional experts say the seizure reflects the firmness of international sanctions against the North.
A Thai court on Monday denied bail for the five crew members of the plane that landed Friday in […]

NEW DELHI - India says it has successfully test fired a short range, nuclear-capable missile.
Officials fired the surface-to-surface Dhanush missile Sunday from a ship in the Bay of Bengal.  The missile can hit a target up to 350 kilometers away.
India last tested the Dhanush missile in 2007. 
India and neighboring Pakistan routinely test-fire missiles.  The two […]

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says the military operation targeting Taliban militants based in the South Waziristan tribal region is now over. 
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters Saturday that the anti-Taliban offensive in South Waziristan is over after nearly two months.
He says the military is now focusing on the nearby […]

WASHINGTON - After three days in Pyongyang, U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth says his high-level talks were positive, but yielded no new developments on the resumption of six-party nuclear negotiations.
Bosworth told reporters in Beijing Saturday his Pyongyang talks were “business like” and “forward looking.”
“In Pyongyang I had very constructive meetings with the first vice foreign […]