All Asia Pacific
A Tai Chi sweep? China bids for UNESCO cultural heritage status.In the birthplace of tai chi, hopes are high for later this year, when UNESCO will decide whether to add tai chi to its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity聽list. Advocates want to make sure that Japan or South Korea doesn't beat China out.聽
In Debbie's wake, Australia begins to pick up the pieces'Nature has flung her worst at the people of Queensland,' said Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 'There will be ... a lot of damage done now to recover, to clean up, to restore power, to make power lines safe.'
First LookCyclone Debbie prompts thousands of evacuations in northeast AustraliaAuthorities have urged 30,000 people in coastal towns in Queensland聽to evacuate their homes, as forecasters predict tidal surges and winds of and winds of up to 185 miles per hour.
First LookNorth Korea's latest missile launch failed. How often does that happen?The results of North Korea's missile tests have been mixed. According to a recent investigation, the United States is partially responsible for the comparatively high failure rate.
North Korea's nuclear threat: Where do the US and China go from here?As tensions escalate on the Korean peninsula, China鈥檚 patience with the US is growing thin. But US Secretary of State Tillerson left his first official trip to Beijing without concrete steps on North Korea.
Smoothly but warily, U.S. and China stick to script in Tillerson visitNo formal agreements were reached on the visit, but the Secretary of State, a novice diplomat, avoided several potential US-China landmines, including China's trade policy and its聽handling of North Korea.
How is Japan readying itself against an unpredictable North Korea?Under Article 9 of its constitution, Japan 'renounces聽war as a sovereign right of the nation.' But its notion of self-defense may be getting broader聽鈥� and, increasingly, the rationale stems from North Korean threats.
First LookNine years after disaster, Fukushima to host 2020 Olympic baseball gamesFukushima, evacuated after the March 2011 nuclear disaster, will welcome the world for baseball and softball matches聽in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Games.
China embraces public activists 鈥� in battling pollutionAs it moves to address the environmental toll of three decades of intense economic growth, the聽Chinese government is cautiously working with people who help expose polluters through social media and the release of real-time pollution data.聽
First LookWhy a New Zealand river now has legal personhoodThe new person status for the river is the result of a settlement between the government of New Zealand and the M膩ori people, whose culture has a deep connection with the body of water.
First LookAppealing to public, Philippine lawmaker files Duterte's first impeachment complaintRep. Gary Alejano filed the impeachment complaint on Thursday, but it will be an uphill battle to secure enough support to take down Rodrigo Duterte.
As Tillerson arrives in Asia, Japan's Abe emerges as effective global statesmanPrime Minister Abe聽has won plaudits at home and abroad for building good working relations with a diverse set of leaders, and for checking hawkish, nationalist inclinations.
Bring a regime to justice? In Seoul, rights groups play long game on N. Korea.The UN special rapporteur on the North called Monday for justice at the International Criminal Court. While hurdles are high, rights organizations say the drive for accountability is essential, citing Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia.
FocusHow a protest movement swelled to oust South Korea鈥檚 presidentPeaceful demonstrations that gathered momentum last fall show how far the young democracy has advanced since bloody protests in 1987 helped end military dictatorship. They became a source of inspiration to similar movements, and to Koreans like Joseph Kim.
In President Park's dramatic ouster, a test of South Korea's young democracyThe Constitutional Court ruled unanimously to remove President Park Geun-hye from office, following parliament's impeachment vote over corruption charges in December. The scandal threw South Korea into political turmoil.聽
First LookChinese media falls for phony phone foil story about TrumpMultiple Chinese outlets picked up a satirical story claiming a paranoid Trump ordered White House phones wrapped in tinfoil.聽
First LookIs the man in the video really the son of slain Kim Jong-nam?Kim Han-sol, whose father, Kim Jong-nam, was recently killed in a possible hit perpetrated by the North Korean government, appears to have released a video since going into hiding after the assassination.
Having denounced N. Korea missile launch, China offers tougher words for US antimissile deploymentChina criticized the North's recent firing of ballistic missiles. But US deployment of the THAAD system in the South this week prompted particularly harsh words from China, which sees it as destabilizing and a threat to China.
Why North Korea wants a nuclear weaponNorth Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the waters off Japan, a dry run of nuclear attack against US military bases there. But experts say this exercise was defensive, not offensive. 聽
First LookOnce more, North Korea launches banned ballistic missiles into Japanese watersOfficials say that North Korea fired four banned ballistic missiles that flew about 620 miles, with three landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
