• Seoul seeks to freeze NK accounts

    Seoul is working with international powers to identify North Korean financial accounts to freeze as a possible measure if Pyongyang follows through with a long-range rocket launch later this month. Government officials said the Lee administration was working with the international community to identify bank accounts abroad that hold money…

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  • South Korea falls to 45th in global corruption awareness ranking

    South Korea dropped two notches in a global corruption awareness ranking to place 45th among 176 nations in 2012, an international watchdog said in its annual report on Wednesday. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2012 issued by the non-governmental agency Transparency International (TI), South Korea scored 56 out…

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  • South East Asia

    [Indonesia Report] Gov’t efforts to curb deforestation paid off

    Following a moratorium on new logging concessions last year, Indonesia has allocated 45 percent of Kalimantan, the country’s part of Borneo Island, to remain as conservation and forested areas and serve as “the lungs of the world,” said the Center of International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in its website. Indonesian Minister of Forestry,…

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  • West Asia

    Street Newsstands In Cairo Filled With Only State-Owned Newspapers

    An Egyptian walks past a stand displaying state-owned newspapers in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012. Most independent Egyptian newspapers suspended publication of Tuesday’s edition in protest over the hurried drafting of the country’s new constitution adopted by an Islamist-led panel. The media protest involved at least eight influential dailies…

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  • Allies may sanction N. Korea

    North Korea notified nearby countries and an international agency of the trajectory of its planned long-range rocket launch this month, Tuesday, as South Korea sought consultations on how best to handle its neighbor’s actions. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said that Pyongyang stated that the launch slated from Dec. 10…

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  • East Asia

    Seoul to ditch US missile purchase

    Seoul is considering eliminating a U.S. defense giant from its possible bidders for the purchase of 177 long-range air-to-surface cruise missiles due to Washington’s continued delay in issuing an export license, multiple sources said Tuesday. Korea has repeatedly expressed interest in the purchase of the Lockheed Martin’s the Joint Air-to-Surface…

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  • East Asia

    Rotten Vegetable Leaves Turned Into Food For Insects In China

    Workers sort mealworms at a feedlot breeding insects in Lijiazhuang Village, Yuzhong County of northwest China’s Gansu Province, Dec. 4, 2012. A worker tries dried mealworms at a feedlot breeding insects in Lijiazhuang Village, Yuzhong County of northwest China’s Gansu Province, Dec. 4, 2012. The feedlot was set up in…

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  • East Asia

    Candidates aim to win ‘midfield’ battle

    Conservative Park continues to lead, but Moon hangs within striking distance Let’s get one thing out of the way: Korea probably won’t see its version of Nate Silver in this presidential election and maybe not in the next. The idea of a poker player-turned-political forecaster winning fame after predicting the…

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  • West Asia

    People Stand In Line For Bread Amid Fierce Fighting In Aleppo, Syria

    A man makes bread as residents, background, stand in line in front of a bakery during heavy fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and government forces in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012. A girl looks outside the window of her home during heavy fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters…

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  • West Asia

    Worsening Air Pollution In Tehran Forces Gov’t To Close Schools For Two Days

    An Iranian woman wearing a protective mask walks on a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 4, 2012. Iran’s government has announced that all government offices, universities and schools of Tehran closed for two days, Dec. 4 and 5, due to the alarming high air pollution in the city.…

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