Cannes rolls out red carpet for Indian movies

CANNES, France (AP) — Indian cinema is being feted in Cannes on its 100th birthday.......

Malaysia: An irreconcilable divide?

The outlook isn’t that good, writes Asia Sentinel’s Sunil Kukreja Never before have Malaysians ventured into......

Obama vows US support as Burma leader visits

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Barack Obama told Burma’s president during a long-awaited White House......

Natural disasters: Asia leads the world in displaced people

Humanitarian crises due to extreme weather and other natural disasters are on the increase. Though......

Opinion: Obama must maintain pressure on Burma

The White House welcomed ex-general Thein Sein on Monday as the first president of Burma......

China sex worker crackdowns hamper progress on HIV prevention

Prostitution in the People’s Republic of China has been growing since the opening up of......

Latest NewsAsia News & Opinion

Chinese fishing boat, crew released by North Korea

By Tue, May 21, 2013 11:16AM UTC

BEIJING (AP) — The owner of a Chinese fishing boat seized for ransom by unidentified North Koreans says the boat and its 16 crew members have been released. Yu Xuejun wrote on a verified microblog Tuesday that his captain called him at 3:50 a.m. Tuesday to say that the North Koreans had released them. He...

Rights group criticizes Sri Lanka’s post-war record

By Tue, May 21, 2013 9:15AM UTC

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — An international human rights group said Monday that respect for basic rights and liberties has declined in Sri Lanka in the four years since the government defeated separatist Tamil rebels to end a civil war. Human Rights Watch said the Sri Lankan government has yet to follow through on its...

Seoul: Day 3 of NKorea tests of short-range weapon

By Tue, May 21, 2013 9:08AM UTC

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea continued firing short-range weapons over its own eastern waters Monday after a weekend of what it called “rocket launching tests” intended to bolster deterrence against enemy attack. South Korean officials were investigating exactly what it was that the North was testing. North Korea regularly conducts short-range missile tests....

WATCH: Jon Stewart – the new Voice of America in China?

By Mon, May 20, 2013 6:52PM UTC

They don’t get much of it at home, so young Chinese thirsty for politically-charged satire are turning to American comedian Jon Stewart for their fix....

Chinese police detain gay pride march organizer

By Mon, May 20, 2013 6:34PM UTC

BEIJING (AP) — Police in central China have detained the 18-year-old organizer of a gay pride march in a sign of the government’s nervousness over a growing civil society and demands for stronger individual rights. Police and newspaper reports Monday said the man had been detained following the Friday event and ordered to serve 12...

Cambodian ceremony honors victims of Khmer Rouge

By Mon, May 20, 2013 4:59PM UTC

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — More than 1,000 Cambodians have turned out for the official annual ceremony honoring victims of the 1970s communist Khmer Rouge regime, blamed for the deaths of about 1.7 million Cambodians. Hundreds of Buddhist monks were among those marking the so-called “Day of Anger” on Monday at Choeung Ek, a former...

Second Vietnamese TV provider drops CNN and BBC

By Mon, May 20, 2013 10:14AM UTC

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A popular Vietnamese cable television provider has stopped providing CNN and BBC, saying the channels don’t have the licenses needed under a law stipulating that much content on foreign channels must be translated into Vietnamese. Foreign governments and a leading pay TV trade group have urged the Vietnamese government to modify...

Malaysia: An irreconcilable divide?

By Tue, May 21, 2013 9:36AM UTC View Comments

The outlook isn’t that good, writes Asia Sentinel’s Sunil Kukreja Never before have Malaysians ventured into such unchartered waters. The outcome of the May 5 general elections has revealed just how split and intensely divided the electorate in the country currently is, and it has set in motion a political and social scenario that is tantamount...

Natural disasters: Asia leads the world in displaced people

By Mon, May 20, 2013 8:07PM UTC View Comments

Humanitarian crises due to extreme weather and other natural disasters are on the increase. Though these disasters affect people of all socioeconomic backgrounds in different countries, a disproportionate number of victims are poor. Worldwide, 32.4 million people were displaced by natural disasters in 2012, according to a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC)....

Analysis: Foreign investment a blessing and a curse for Burma

By Mon, May 20, 2013 11:26AM UTC View Comments

Burma will further open its doors to inward investment when President Thein Sein meets U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House later today. Whether that investment will benefit the people of Burma remains very much in doubt… It’s been a red letter year so far for Burma President Thein Sein, at least in some...

Was it clear that the Thai Rath cartoonist was referring to Yingluck?

By Mon, May 20, 2013 10:00AM UTC View Comments

BP has already blogged on Yingluck’s speech in Mongolia and the insult directed at her by the Thai Rath cartoonist who stated that Yingluck is an evil woman who sells the country, but also implied she is worse than a whore. However, on social media, in some online forums, and in some news articles it has been...

Leading English language programs for Asian students

By Thu, May 16, 2013 10:03PM UTC View Comments

There is no questioning the English language’s role as an international communications tool. Being proficient can revolutionize a person’s professional status. For example, research commissioned by the British Council found that people in the Middle East and North Africa who speak English can earn up to three times more than their non-English-speaking colleagues. Furthermore, some...

Stranded in Dubai: Tamil refugees live in ‘constant fear’ of deportation

By Thu, May 16, 2013 7:18PM UTC View Comments

After surviving the brutality of the Sri Lankan civil war and its aftermath, 15 refugees face an uncertain future SO desperate for clothing, they fashioned dresses from bed sheets, pulling out individual threads to use as cotton and improvising a needle from pins nailed to wooden crates. Men, women and children live in the searing...

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