Asia Stories



 

Mar 14 2010 Protestors In Bangkok Demand New Elections

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 […]

 
 

Feb 22 2010 NATO Airstrike Kills Many Civilians

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 […]

 
 

Feb 21 2010 NATO: Operation Moshtarak Making Progress

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 […]

 
 

Feb 19 2010 Two Senior Taliban Commanders Arrested In Pakistan

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 […]

 
 

Feb 18 2010 Afghanistan Wants Custody Of Mullah Abdul Ghani

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 […]

 
 

Feb 17 2010 North Korea Celebrates Kim Jong Il Birthday

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, […]

 
 

Feb 16 2010 Taliban Military Commander Captured

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 […]

 
 

Feb 15 2010 US Forces Battle Taliban Militants In Helmand Province

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 […]

 
 

Feb 9 2010 NATO Offensive To Target Opium Stronghold

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 […]

 
 

Feb 4 2010 US, NATO Plans Large Offensive Against Taliban

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 […]

 
 

Jan 31 2010 China Suspends Security Talks With Obama Administration

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 […]

 
 

Jan 30 2010 China Outraged At Obama Over Taiwan Arms Sales

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 […]

 
 

Jan 28 2010 North Korea Arrests Yet Another American Citizen

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 […]

 
 

Jan 6 2010 China Unwilling To Support Sanctions Against Tehran

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 […]

 
 

Jan 4 2010 China Fails To Stop Oil Spill From Reaching Yellow River

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 […]

 
 

Jan 2 2010 Deadly Suicide Bomber Strikes Pakistan Volleyball Game

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 […]

 
 

Dec 31 2009 Deadly Blast In Afghanistan Kills Eight Americans

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 […]

 
 

Dec 29 2009 China Executes Mentally Ill British Citizen

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 […]

 
 

Dec 18 2009 Coalition Troops Launch Offensive In Afghanistan

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 […]

 
 

Dec 16 2009 Obama Letter To Kim Jong Il Follows Diplomatic Failure

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 […]

 
 

Dec 14 2009 North Korea Arms Cargo Seized In Thailand

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 […]

 
 

Dec 13 2009 India Tests Short Range Nuclear Capable Missile

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 […]

 
 

Dec 12 2009 Pakistan Ends Taliban Offensive In South Waziristan

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 […]

 
 

Dec 12 2009 Obama Administration Fails On North Korea Talks

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 […]

 
 

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