• South East Asia

    Hasina wins election: political conflict persists

    The Bangladesh Awami League (AL) president Sheikh Hasina has become the prime minister of the government again for the third time, as her party has achieved massive victory in the just-concluded parliament elections. The AL secured 232 seats in the 300-seat unicameral Jatiya Sangsad (parliament). Sheikh Hasina, who was sworn…

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  • South Asia

    Sushil Koirala elected Nepal’s new PM

    Septuagenarian Sushil Koirala was elected new Prime Minister of Nepal on February 2, 2014. Koirala, the president of Nepali Congress and its parliamentary party leader Sushil Koirala was elected to the new prime minister by mustering 73 per cent votes in the 601-member parliament cum Constituent Assembly. Nepali Congress is…

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  • South East Asia

    Thai protesters vow to annul Feb. 2 national election, step up rallies

      Thai protesters vowed Monday to stage larger rallies in central Bangkok and push ahead their efforts to nullify the results of elections that were expected to prolong a national political crisis. Despite fears of violence, voting proceeded peacefully in 90 percent of polling stations. The protesters forced polling booths…

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  • South East Asia

    Haiyan, the agony you left and heroes you brought!

    I have been to Tacloban City many times before, and have also visited other places in the provinces of Leyte and Samar. These are in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. These places are exceptionally beautiful, especially Tacloban City, the major trading and commercial hub in the region. This…

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  • East Asia

    Iranian President Rouhani urges closer economic ties with South Korea

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for closer economic ties with South Korea here on Monday, semi-official Fars news agency reported. “The South Korean private sector and companies should come closer to Iran’s private sector and expand the scope of their cooperation,” Rouhani said in a meeting with the visiting South…

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  • What N. Korea’s peace proposal means

    A train runs on the rail track, which the two Koreas hope to reconnect as part of an agreement reached in 2000, in the fog at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, South Korea, Saturday,…

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  • East Asia

    De-nuclearization way to prosperity

    Among other negative effects, World War II left the problem of a divided Korea. Despite the fact that it was completely divided into the North and South several years after the end of World War II, the current state of their relations are still a consequence. The situation on the…

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  • South East Asia

    Lessons from ASEAN engagement with Myanmar

    In the mass media, Korea is mentioned more often than not as a wholesome personality. It is when the headlines turn to “Tension in the Korean Peninsula” that its split personality becomes evident. Then we begin to see Korea described in diverse terms such as North and South as well…

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  • Politics

    [Asia Round-up] Asia accounts for two thirds of modern slavery

    The recently released Global Slavery Index conducted by Walk Free Foundation reveals that there are an estimated 29.8 million people enslaved worldwide. India, China, and Pakistan enslave the highest number of people while Mauritania has the highest prevalence. Out of 22 million people enslaved in the index’s top 10 countries,…

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  • East Asia

    N. Korea tries to project unity on anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death

    North Korea vowed to unite behind leader Kim Jong Un during carefully staged events Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of his father’s death, in an attempt to show it has returned to business as usual after the purge and execution of his once-powerful uncle last week. Kim sat silently…

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