• Withdraw renomination

    Rights panel head is big disgrace to nation President Lee Myung-bak appears set not to retract his renomination of Hyun Byung-chul, the controversial head of the National Human Rights Commission. Lee’s decision will disappoint most if not all Koreans but astonish few. Had the President any intention to listen to…

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  • Vatican’s conflict with China

    Once again, the Roman Catholic Church is in conflict with the Communist Party of China, with the newly ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai having publicly repudiated the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which was established by the Chinese government to exercise supervision over the nation’s Catholics. Ironically, the consecration of the…

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  • Society

    Loudspeaker gospel: good news or street noise?

    Some forcefully call for repentance through loudspeakers. They yell: “You will go to hell, if you don’t believe in Jesus!” Others play the guitar and sing hymns. Then there are the quieter street evangelists who hand out leaflets, sometimes with packets of wet tissues. As well as on the streets,…

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  • Young NK leader assumes title of marshal

    North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been given the title of marshal, Pyongyang’s state media said Wednesday, the latest move to solidify his control over the country’s 1.2 million-strong army. Kim, thought to be in his late twenties, takes the post from his father, the late Kim Jong-il who was…

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  • Business

    ‘India is black swan’

    A noted global economist said Wednesday that India and Australia are the two nations most vulnerable if their economic bubbles burst, forecasting that the global economy, particularly emerging countries, will further decline in the future. Andy Xie, former chief economist at the Asia Pacific office of Morgan Stanley, pointed out…

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  • East Asia

    NK Soldiers Celebrate Kim’s Ascension To Marshal

    Officials and soliders of the Korean People’s Army attend a meeting to celebrate that top leader Kim Jong Un was awarded the title of Marshal of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang, DPRK, on July 18, 2012. Top leader Kim…

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  • East Asia

    Centennial Of Emperor Meiji’s Death Remembered

    Shinto priests pray as Japan’s Emperor Akihito, unseen, visits Meiji Shrine where his great-grandfather Emperor Mutsuhito’s spirit is dedicated, in Tokyo Wednesday, July 18, 2012. Akihito visited the Shinto shrine to mark the centennial of Mutsuhito’s death on July 30. <AP/NEWSis> news@theasian.asia

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  • East Asia

    Japan: TEPCO to be ordered to trim electricity rate hike to 8.47%

    Major news in <Kyodo News>: TEPCO to be ordered to trim electricity rate hike to 8.47% The government decided Thursday to order Tokyo Electric Power Co. to trim its electricity rate hike for households to an average 8.47 percent from the earlier planned 10.28 percent, having determined the utility can…

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  • South East Asia

    Singaporean Boy Cools Off At Fountain

    A boy plays in a water feature at the Marina Barrage, a reservoir in the heart of the city-state’s business district on Wednesday July 18, 2012 in Singapore. <AP/NEWSis> news@theasian.asia

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  • East Asia

    Training To Make Chinese Armed Police Tough

      Soldiers of the Chinese Armed Police Force attend a special training in Chuzhou, east China’s Anhui Province, July 18, 2012. <Xinhua> news@theasian.asia

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