Asia Pacific Topics

Kim signals a familiar, familial policy

| Feb 15, 2013

Kim signals a familiar, familial policy

In power for barely more than a year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has adhered overwhelmingly to the policies of his father, using a familiar mix of internal repression and nuclear showmanship while all but dashing hopes he would emerge as a Deng ...

Military is key to emerging democracy

Feb 10, 2013

Military is key to emerging democracy

by Jeff Kingston

After five decades under military rule, Myanmar faces many challenges in building a robust democracy. The election of Aung San Suu Kyi and 41 other members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in parliamentary by-elections last April has stoked a degree of euphoria ...

Feb 5, 2013

Video shows U.S. city under attack

North Korea, poised to conduct a nuclear test any day now, has posted a video on YouTube depicting a U.S. city resembling New York engulfed in flames after an apparent missile attack. The footage was uploaded Saturday by the North’s official website, Uriminzokkiri, which ...

Malala releases first public statement

Feb 5, 2013

Malala releases first public statement

In her first public statement released Monday, Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ educational rights, said she is “getting better day by day.” The 15-year-old said she has been given a “second life” to ...

Feb 5, 2013

North Korea may detonate multiple nukes in test

President Lee Myung Bak believes North Korea could detonate multiple devices when it goes ahead with a nuclear test expected in the coming weeks or even days. In an interview published Tuesday in the Chosun Ilbo daily, the outgoing president also acknowledged the huge ...

Australia's Labor faces defeat: polls

Feb 4, 2013

Australia's Labor faces defeat: polls

Australia’s ruling Labor Party is heading for a huge defeat in elections this year, according to the first national polls Monday since Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a vote would be held in September. Labor ministers insisted a win was still possible as major ...

Gillard reshuffles Cabinet members

Feb 3, 2013

Gillard reshuffles Cabinet members

After the resignation of two of her most senior ministers prompted a Cabinet reshuffle ahead of a national election, Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Saturday denied that her government was in shambles. Saturday’s announcement that the two ministers had quit came only three days ...

Jan 31, 2013

Australia to hold election Sept. 14

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday broke with tradition and announced the nation would go to the polls Sept. 14, saying she wanted to give “shape and order” to the year. Australians usually know only weeks before when an election will be held, ...