Asia News

JAKARTA, Indonesia - An alleged Islamic militant went on trial Wednesday on charges of harboring terrorists behind twin suicide hotel bombings in Jakarta that killed seven and injured more than 50 in Indonesia. Full Story »

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea's severe food shortages are expected to worsen this year after a poor grain harvest in 2009, South Korean officials said Wednesday. Full Story »

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese automaker Honda on Wednesday recalled more than 430,000 vehicles worldwide, mostly in North America, to fix defective airbags that can blow up and injure or kill occupants. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - A senior U.N. envoy pressed ahead Wednesday with international efforts to get North Korea back into nuclear disarmament talks, during the world body's first high-level visit to the reclusive state in nearly six years. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States pressed China, India and other emerging powers to make clearer commitments to fighting climate change, warning that last year's Copenhagen accord risked being "stillborn." Full Story »

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Wednesday he will appoint a member of a waste-cutting task force as administrative reform minister, in a bid to boost flagging support ahead of a mid-year election. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - London has defended the use of more than 100 pigs in military explosives tests in the past five years, saying the experiments had saved lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US commanders are weighing plans to send more American troops to northern Afghanistan, a region under the command of German forces, a US official said on Tuesday. Full Story »

NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan - U.S. and Afghan forces pushed Tuesday to the edge of the southern Afghan town of Marjah, poised to seize the major Taliban supply and drug-smuggling stronghold in hopes of building public support by providing aid and services once the insurgents are gone. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - Toyota said it will begin repairs to more than 180,000 cars in Britain on Wednesday as the Japanese automaker struggled to pull its reputation from the scrapheap amid a growing recall crisis. Full Story »

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's president dissolved parliament Tuesday to make way for spring elections a day after authorities arrested a key opposition leader, crippling the only serious threat to the ruling party's stifling grip on power. Full Story »

KABUL - A series of avalanches engulfed a mountain pass in Afghanistan, trapping hundreds of people in their buried cars and killing as many as 64 people so far, authorities said Tuesday. Full Story »

BEIJING - A Chinese activist who investigated the deaths of thousands of children crushed in their schools during the Sichuan earthquake was sentenced Tuesday to five years, underscoring the government's determination to suppress questions about why the buildings fell. Full Story »

BEIJING - It was like getting a cat out of a tree — Sichuan style. Full Story »

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesian police say eight people have died after drinking liquor laced with methanol on the country's main island of Java. Full Story »

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against the head of a powerful clan and 195 others in the biggest and deadliest murder case since the country's World War II war crimes trials. Full Story »

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's opposition called Tuesday for countrywide protests after its defeated presidential candidate was arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government while serving as army commander. Full Story »

ADELAIDE, Australia - Activists vowing to stop the killing of whales exchanged water-cannon fire with a Japanese whaling fleet they are tailing in the Antarctic Ocean, as sea confrontations that have led to collisions and a sunken vessel continue. Full Story »