Asia News

The detailed itinerary of the US President Barack Obama?s first-ever visit to China, starting Sunday, is well guarded. But it?s clear that behind the scenes of his global rather than bilateral agenda in Beijing lies relevance for India?s changing ties with the two powers.

The United Communist Party of Nepal Maoists (UCPN-M) brought Singha Durbar — the secretariat that houses the Prime Minister's office and important ministries — to a halt as they began their two-day secretariat gherao rally aimed at restoring 'civilian supremacy'.

Thousands of Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist cadres on Thursday blocked entry points to Singha Durbar, the official seat of Nepal government, as part of a two-day protest to restore what they term ?civilian supremacy?.

The shadowy and reclusive ruler of the military junta in Myanmar general Than Shwe is beginning a three-day visit to Sri Lanka from Thursday. Than Shwe is likely to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Kandy in central Sri Lanka where he would be flown after landing at the international airport in Colombo on Thursday noon.

Japan, the only country to declare strong emission cut targets this year, stepped up the pressure on developing countries to commit to quantifiable emission cuts.

A Chinese gold mining company is being investigated for causing serious damage to one of the oldest sections of the Great Wall of China.

After a nine-month delay, the tallest building in the world — the 818-metre Burj Tower in Dubai — will open in January 2010 to mark the fourth anniversary of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice-President and Prime Minister, taking over as Ruler of Dubai.

Stopping well short of triumphalism and choosing to introspect instead on how to build on the lessons of the past, Berlin led the world in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. The two-and-a-half-hour spectacle was suffused as much with a sense of history as with hope for the future.

General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka?s chief of defence staff (CDS) and an architect of the military victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), may resign by the month-end.

General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka?s chief of defence staff (CDS) and an architect of the military victory against the LTTE, is likely to resign by the end of this month. The resignation could clear the way for Fonseka to contest in the upcoming Presidential election against incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa.

It seems to be a season of records in South Asia. After the Maldives cabinet made one in October by holding a meeting under sea, the Nepal cabinet is planning one at a Mount Everest base camp this month.

Former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress president G P Koirala is 'seriously' ill and now under treatment in Gangalal Heart Institute here.

The situation of a group of emaciated Tamil men, women and children floating on an Australian ship in Indonesian waters has raised queasy questions. They are the latest among the "boat people" ? or asylum seekers who try to cross the seas on thin boats for foreign shores ? to have triggered international headlines and headaches.

Kathmandu, Nov. 9 -- India's animal rights activist and politician Maneka Gandhi's protest and Nepal's 'Budhha Boy' Ram Bahadur Bomjan's appeal won't be able to prevent the sacrifice of nearly half-a-million animals at this month's Gadhimai Mela in this Himalayan nation.

Kathmandu, Nov. 8 -- India and Nepal reiterated their commitment not to allow their territories for cross-border terrorism.

The UN has said that while the pace of Tamil refugees returning to their homes has accelerated in Sri Lanka, the condition of the temporary camps in which the remaining continue to be is deteriorating.

Chairman Mao custard very like. And potato pie.? We?re talking to Liu Jian, a Chinese restaurateur who introduces himself as Kevin and is unusually fond of sandwiches. If you walk in on his grandfather Cheng Ruming (83) who spent 22 years as personal chef of Mao Zedong, the controversial founder of the Chinese Republic, you may find him fixing an unlikely lunch too ? a sandwich.

Beijing, Nov. 7 -- This month, China's air force will exhibit warplanes to mark its 60th anniversary.

The UN has said that while the pace of Tamil refugees returning to their homes has accelerated in Sri Lanka, the condition of the temporary camps in which the remaining continue to be is deteriorating.

Beneath an autumn sky not so much grey as bleached of colour, in temperatures close to freezing, thousands of people, from the elderly and the ill to babies in strollers, gathered on Sunday at the Brandenburg Gate ? the structure that stands at the border of what used to be east and west Berlin.