All Asia Pacific
China urged to drop one-child policy. But will young couples opt for two?Last year, Beijing had expected two million extra babies after loosening its longstanding one-child limit per couple. But only 700,000 more babies were delivered.
In wake of hostage crisis, Australian Muslims say no backlash to faithAuthorities are investigating how an unstable Iranian migrant out on bail was able to seize hostages in a Sydney cafe.
In monarchist Thailand, does money now trump a royal title?Former Princess聽Srirasmi Suwadee became a commoner last weekend as part of her divorce from the heir to the Thai throne. For more minor royals, a title that once offered social capital and access is being edged out by the glamour and power of a monied elite.
Sydney hostage crisis spawns solidarity hashtag #IllRideWithYouThe alleged gunman, an Iranian, had seized a crowded cafe in Sydney before police stormed it early Tuesday morning. Australians have offered to travel in public with Muslims so as to defuse any anti-Islamic tensions. 聽
Hostage crisis ends in Sydney as armed police storm cafeThe gunman was identified as an Iranian who had recently converted to Sunni Islam. Australia had been on 'high' alert for terrorist attacks.聽
Nut rage and the entitlement of S. Korea's eliteCho Yang-ho, the owner and chairman of Korean Air, apologized for raising his daughter poorly after she forced a plane to turn back in anger over her macadamia nuts snack. He fired her from all her posts in the family conglomerate.
As Japan goes to the polls, it's not just 'the economy, stupid'Prime Minister Abe says he's seeking public backing for his plan to pull the world's third-largest economy out of its extended doldrums. But his agenda includes more controversial issues.
Top Chinese official jailed for life as Xi's purge shows its staying powerLiu Tienan was sentenced Wednesday for bribery. President Xi Jinping is going after low-level functionaries as well, with some 84,000 officials disciplined in the first half of 2014.
What China's Army-issue underwear revealsWhat lies beneath says something about the Chinese military's priorities.
Taking lessons from Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines moves fast on new stormTyphoon Hagupit looks set to make landfall this weekend amid two of the Philippines' poorest provinces. Residents have already begun to evacuate, remembering the damage from last year's storm, which left thousands dead and millions displaced.
Time to leave the nest? Japan's Abe pushes youths to head overseasNew scholarships for college and graduate students aim to reverse a sharp decline in the number of Japanese young people studying abroad. Concerns have grown about a younger generation that is too inwardly focused at a time of growing tensions in Asia.聽
Shakespeare in Shanghai? The Bard takes China by stormA sold-out tour of 鈥淎 Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream鈥� ended in Beijing last week. Meanwhile, a Chinese publishing house has nearly finished translating Shakespeare鈥檚 works into Mandarin 鈥撀燽oth signs of the聽English playwright's surging popularity in China. 聽
In Korean kingdom, there shall be no Kim Jong-uns but oneReverence toward the name of the young god-king in Pyongyang means that newborn babes and ordinary citizens must change their name, if shared with Kim.聽
Corruption index: Despite anti-graft campaign, China's ranking suffersTransparency International ranked China 100th out of 175 countries on its annual Corruption Perception Index, sliding it down from 80th place last year. The new rankings reflect poorly on President Xi Jinping's widespread efforts to clamp down on corruption.聽
Why is China feeling unloved? Look to Hong Kong and Taiwan.The ongoing student-led occupation of Hong Kong streets, and an electoral drubbing of the pro-China party in Taiwan on Nov. 29, are both about China keeping its distance.
Amid Hong Kong violence, moms make hot soup to woo offspring homeStudent protesters again defied police and surrounded official buildings to show it is the government and not the Hong Kong people they are targeting. Many parents are trying to get their kids off the front lines.
Taiwan election surprise: Voters reject China-friendly ruling KMT partySpurred by discontented youth, the island shifted from political 'blue' to 'green' as the Nationalists lost key mayor races in Taipei and Taichung. The聽election outcome may create more distance in Taiwan-China relations.
2,000 years and 23 dynasties later, China to end state monopoly on saltWhat Confucian scholars in 81 B.C. could not change, today's market forces may. But what to do with 10,000 jobs in the table salt monopoly?聽
Will Taiwan shift from 'blue' to 'green'? Taichung mayor is bellwether raceThe blue Nationalists have run Taiwan's No. 3 city for years. But Lin Chia-lung, a聽Yale-educated mayoral candidate for the green opposition Taiwan-first party, may change that after tomorrow's election. 聽
Taiwan election: Wild, wooly, and partly a referendum on ChinaThe Taipei mayor's race is the most watched, but there are 10,000 offices to fill on Nov. 29. The races are marked by mud-slinging and new debates over Chinese nationalism and Taiwanese identity.聽