Asia News

MANILA (AFP) - A Philippine politician ordered soldiers, police and other gunmen to kill at least 57 defenceless people in a horrifying slaughter that saw women shot in the genitals, the government alleged Friday. Full Story »

AMPATUAN, Philippines - A politician whose wife and relatives were among 57 people massacred in the southern Philippines in an apparent bid to stop him from running for governor filed his candidacy Friday for the election. Full Story »

PARIS (AFP) - Blessed by the privilege of wealth, birth or both, 24 teenage girls on Saturday descend on Paris' debutantes ball, an aristocratic tradition that survived France's guillotining of royalty over 200 years ago. Full Story »

SEOUL (AFP) - A tourist died on Friday from severe burns sustained in a blaze at an indoor shooting range in South Korea, becoming the ninth Japanese visitor killed in the fire, hospital authorities said. Full Story »

BEIJING - China has executed two men for abducting and selling 15 children, many of whom were taken as babies or toddlers and have not yet been reunited with their parents, state media said Friday. Full Story »

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese consumer price index excluding volatile food and energy prices slid in the year to October at the fastest rate since 2001 with increasing signs that weak demand is weighing on prices, while a tumbling dollar adds to price pressures. Full Story »

MANILA (AFP) - The alleged mastermind of an election-linked massacre of 57 people in the southern Philippines blamed Muslim rebels, in a dramatic interview from behind bars aired on local television on Friday. Full Story »

TOKYO (AFP) - The yen's sharp rise is harmful to Japan's export-led economy, the finance minister said Friday as the greenback traded around 85 yen, its lowest level since the mid-1990s. Full Story »

BEIJING (Reuters) - China executed two men who abducted and sold children, some of whom still cannot find their parents, the official news agency said, reflecting growing public anger over the grim trade. Full Story »

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent in October from 5.3 percent in September, improving for a third consecutive month, the government said Friday. Full Story »

MUMBAI, India - A grandfather visited the room where his grandson was orphaned. A young man returned to the hotel where he narrowly escaped death. Mumbai residents went in droves to donate blood at a train station overrun in the 60-hour siege of India's financial capital. Full Story »

BEIJING - China promised Thursday to slow its carbon emissions, saying it would nearly halve the ratio of pollution to GDP over the next decade — a major move by the world's largest emitter, whose cooperation is crucial to any deal as a global climate summit approaches. Full Story »

BARAKI-BARAK, Afghanistan - As daylight faded and the winter cold set in, soldiers huddled inside a crude wooden hut to tuck into Thanksgiving turkeys the unit itself had fattened and to give thanks for having survived a year of combat in Afghanistan. Full Story »

KABUL - A helicopter chartered by an international military contractor has disappeared in Afghanistan, officials said Thursday. Full Story »

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Police broke up a protest by the environmental group Greenpeace against deforestation on the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Thursday, arresting 12 foreign and six Indonesian demonstrators, an official and an activist said. Full Story »

ALICE SPRINGS, Australia - Australian authorities plan to corral about 6,000 wild camels with helicopters and gun them down after they overran a small Outback town in search of water, trampling fences, smashing tanks and contaminating supplies. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean soldiers and police executed nearly 5,000 citizens during the early months of the 1950-53 Korean War, fearing they could collaborate with invading North Korean troops, a government commission said Thursday. Full Story »

BEIJING - While President Barack Obama talked about Internet rights during his visit to China, the Internet here talked about a mystery woman in black. Full Story »