All Asia Pacific
- First LookIndonesia's Widodo eyes election victory, despite objectionsIndonesian President Joko Widodo is likely headed to a second term, according to initial results Wednesday. The moderate Muslim survived a campaign marked by the growing influence of conservative Islam in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.
- Beijing club promises parents it will make their boys into menThe boot camps and sports-heavy classes at the Beijing True Boys’ Club are unique. But the concerns that prompt parents to send their sons here are common, amid widespread debates about Chinese masculinity.Â
- First LookMilitary-backed party appears to lead Thailand's first election since coupUnofficial results show that junta leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is in a strong position to stay in office, following Thailand's first election since the 2014 coup. Analysts say the next government is likely to be unstable and short-lived, whichever party leads it.
- Christchurch brings global white supremacist threat into sharp reliefWhite supremacist terrorism is on the rise around the world. The attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, has brought new awareness of the long-underestimated threat.
- First LookA look at New Zealand's weapons banWithin a week of the shooting in Christchurch, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has banned semi-automatic weapons. Unlike in the United States, where owning guns is considered a right, New Zealanders have been swift to support the ban.
- After Christchurch, Muslims ask: Are we safe in the West?The Christchurch attack has shaken Muslims around the world. It was preceded by increasingly Islamophobic rhetoric and hate crimes.
- First LookNZ leader vows to deny notoriety to mosque gunmanNew Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern wants the gunman forgotten. She refuses to say his name and has clamped down on the distribution of his video. She has urged the public to avoid giving the shooter the fame he seeks from his horrific act.
- After New Zealand terror, the faithful grapple with big question: Why?In recent years white supremacist gunmen have targeted worshippers as they gathered, from Charleston, South Carolina, to Christchurch, New Zealand.
- First LookMass shooting shifts New Zealand's attitudes on gun reformIn the wake of a shooting that killed 49 people and injured dozens more, the New Zealand government has promised to tighten the country’s gun laws. Previous attempts to pass gun reform legislation has failed, but last week's shooting has swiftly altered public opinion.
- First LookUS threw away 'golden opportunity,' says North KoreaAfter the failed nuclear summit talks in Hanoi, Pyongyang says the onus is on the United States if diplomatic talks are to continue. A senior official spoke to reporters for an hour on Friday, saying Kim Jong Un will decide very soon whether to resume nuclear testing.Â
- First LookTargeted attacks at New Zealand mosques kill dozensOne man has been charged with murder after at least 49 people were killed and 48 people were injured at New Zealand mosques Friday. It is the deadliest shooting in the country's history and appears to be part of a carefully orchestrated plan, with the gunman livestreaming.Â
- First LookChina says Muslim 'training' camps will slowly disappearAn estimated 1 million people from the Uyghur and Kazakh ethnic groups are detained in China's Xinjiang region. China previously denied the existence of the internment camps, which the state calls "vocational training centers."
- First LookIndonesian woman freed 2 years after killing of Kim Jong Un's half brotherThe murder charge against Siti Aisyah has been dropped. Her lawyers have argued she was trapped as a pawn in a political assassination against a man seen as a threat to the North Korean regime.Â
- First LookAfter nuclear summit fails, N. Korea reportedly rebuilds rocket siteNorth Korea is restoring facilities at a long-range rocket launch site, according to a South Korean intelligence report. North Korea could be preparing itself if diplomacy completely collapses, or it may rebuilding the site only to destroy it as a sign of disarmament compliance.
- First LookThousands rally for constitutional reform in MyanmarTension has been rising between the ruling party and the military after party leader Aung San Suu Kyi launched a bid in January to change the constitution that enshrines the Army’s role in politics. It's the Nobel Laureate's biggest challenge to the Army's power in three years.
- First LookKindergarten diplomacy: children in Hanoi prepare to greet KimWhile the communist state of Vietnam has embraced trades and investment from South Korea, a kindergarten in Hanoi gifted by North Korea, is excited by Kim Jong-un's visit to the capital this week for the summit meeting with President Trump.
- First LookWorry about US alliance with South Korea grows before Trump-Kim summitAs the second meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un draws near, uncertainty clouds the future of a decades-long military alliance between the US and South Korea, say security analysts.Â
- First LookChina bars millions from travel over 'social credit' offensesThe ruling Communist Party uses a "social credit" system it says will improve civic behavior. Slated for a nationwide roll-out by 2020, the system marks another example of China's controversial use of technology to control and penalize its citizens.Â
- First LookJournalist and Duterte critic freed on bail after libel arrestAward-winning journalist Maria Ressa has aggressively covered President Rodrigo Duterte's administration. Media watch dogs decried her arrest as the government's latest attempt to muzzle press freedom.Â
- First LookAustralia to reopen detention camp after refugees allowed medical accessFollowing a defeat for the Australian government in Parliament, where it passed a bill to grant easier hospital access to asylum seekers, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative government announced the decision to reopen an island detention camp.