Dear HE Muto Masatoshi, the Japanese Ambassador to Korea
Your Excellency, As the end of year approaches, everyone moves at a fast pace to wrap up the rest of the year. I would like to express my respect to you for putting much effort for developing amicable relations between Korea and Japan. I would like to ask you for your understanding for openly delivering […]
Storm Hits Philippines, Appx. 500 Dead
A car is stuck in an entrance hall of a house after the tropical storm Washi hit the place in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao Island in southern Philippines, Dec. 18, 2011. The death toll from tropical storm Washi (or local name Sendong) in the Philippines rose to 497, with 162 others still missing, the Philippine […]
Drilling Ship Overturned···Two Dead
A snapshot of a computer screen, taken on Dec. 18, 2011, shows the location of an overturned drilling platform, in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East. Two people were dead and 51 missing after a drilling platform with 67 people on board overturned in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East on […]
Carol with Santa Claus
A man dressed as Santa Claus sing Christmas songs with visiting children at a Christmas post office in the village of Himmelpfort (Heaven’s Gate) in Brandenburg, Germany, Dec. 17, 2011. The Christmas post office in Himmelpfort is open from mid-November to Christmas every year. Children can send their Christmas wish lists to Himmelpfort from around […]
Family Reunion after 23 Years Abduction
Cheng Chaoyang hugs his biological mother Lian Huazhen (L) during a family reunion at a police station in Liujiang County, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 30, 2011. Twenty-three years after he was abducted and sold to a Cheng family in central China’s Henan Province, Cheng Chaoyang, now 27, found his biological parents last […]
Egypt Protest Death Toll Risen to Eight
A protestor hurls stones during clashes with security forces in Egyptian capital Cairo on Dec. 17, 2011. The death toll from clashes between protestors and security forces on Friday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo has risen to eight, with 317 others injured, Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri told reporters on Saturday. <Photo: Xinhua/Nasser Nouri> […]
US Defense Secretary First Visits Libya
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (2nd R) lays a wreath during his visit to the American Cemetery in Tripoli, Libya, on Dec. 17, 2011. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Saturday for a brief visit of the North African country which has embarked on a road to reconstruction […]
UAE Holds Annual ‘Beauty Camel Contest’
Herdsmen milk a camel in the desert near Zayed City, the United Arab Emirates, Dec. 17, 2011. Some 20,000 camels from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries competed in a traditional “beauty contest” during the fifth Al Dhafra Camel Festival opening here on Saturday. <Photo: Xinhua> news@theasian.asia
Christmas Tree Illuminates Palestine
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (C Front) attends the Christmas tree lighting celebration in the West Bank town of Beit Shour, near Bethlehem, on Dec. 17, 2011. <Photo: Xinhua/Luay Sababa> news@theasian.asia
Jordanian Calls for Speeding Up Reform
Some three thousand Jordanians demonstrate in downtown Amman, Jordan, Dec. 16, 2011, calling for speeding up reforms and rooting out corruption. <Photo: Xinhua/Mohammad Abu Ghosh> news@theasian.asia