Hundreds of millions of children and adults in Asia's rapidly expanding cities are undernourished, and will remain so without "inclusive, sustainable and nutrition-sensitive" urban planning, United Nations officials said Friday. The Asia-Pacific region has the world's highest rate of urbanization and is home to more than half the world's 821 million ...
Bangladesh scraps bid to repatriate 700,000 Rohingya, says no one wants to go back to Myanmar
The head of Bangladesh's refugee commission said plans to begin the repatriation of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar on Thursday ...
In a community hall, a group of men sit cross-legged on mats, poring over documents and maps marked with forests, ...
'Massive confusion and fear': Rohingya flee Bangladesh camps fearing forcible return to Myanmar
Rohingya Muslims were fleeing Bangladeshi refugee camps to avoid being repatriated to Myanmar later this week, community leaders said Monday. Authorities plan to begin returning Rohingya refugees, who have fled what the UN has called ethnic cleansing, to the Buddhist majority country from Thursday. But the ...
Myanmar prepares for first Rohingya returnees but U.N. warns against rushing
Myanmar officials said on Sunday the country was ready to receive more than 2,000 Rohingya Muslims sheltering in Bangladesh on Nov. 15, the first group from 5,000 people to be moved under a deal between the neighbors struck last month. But more than 20 individuals ...
Rape victim details South Korean military crackdown during Chun's '79 coup
It is nearly four decades since South Korean protester Kim Sun-ok was raped by an army officer after a crackdown on democracy demonstrations, and she still cannot bear the sight of a green uniform. Kim was a fourth-year music education student in May 1980 when ...
Bangladesh rescues 50 Rohingya illegally heading for Malaysia, questions suspected traffickers
Police are interrogating six people suspected of human trafficking after Bangladeshi guards separately rescued nearly 50 Rohingya refugees from boats heading for Malaysia through the Bay of Bengal, an official said Thursday. Pradip Kumar Das, officer-in-charge at Teknaf, said they were questioning the suspects to ...
From 'cardboard nannies' to 'fruit money': fast-paced Hong Kong slow to adapt to its elderly
At the Tanner Hill apartments in Hong Kong, the residents — all aged 60-plus — are enjoying the ancient Chinese tile game of mahjong along with some bite-sized delicacies, dimsum, at one of the on-site restaurants. Each of the 588 units comes with wheelchair-height kitchen ...
Hundreds of thousands march for marriage equality in Taiwan amid referendum debate
Hundreds of thousands of people marched through Taiwan's capital on Saturday to press the government to deliver on its promise of marriage equality amid an increasingly heated debate over whether civil laws should recognize same-sex marriage. In Asia's first such ruling, Taiwan's Constitutional Court declared ...
Meghan Markle takes spotlight in Fiji to back female education
British royal Meghan Markle recounted her own struggles to afford university as she passionately promoted female education to Fijian students in her first speech of the Oceania royal tour Wednesday. The pregnant American-born wife of Britain's Prince Harry took center stage at the University of ...
Women live in fear as spycam epidemic takes hold in South Korea
South Korea is in the grip of a spycam epidemic, with covert footage of sex, nudity and urination posted online in what amounts to a "social death penalty" for thousands of women forced to live with a pornographic shadow. The footage may be taken surreptitiously ...
Tradition, and mobs, keep women of childbearing age out of Indian temple
At the Indian temple that is the focus of a battle over gender equality, Hindu hard-liners are in festive mood, successful — so far — in their bid to keep women out. A supreme court decision to end a ban on women of "menstruating age" ...
After slew of complaints from sexually harassed women, India looks to tighten abuse laws
India is considering tightening sexual harassment laws, government officials said Thursday, after an avalanche of allegations of abuse lodged by women in recent weeks thrust the issue to the forefront of politics. Changes to the laws are being considered as the government weighs different proposals ...
Exiled Vietnamese blogs from U.S.: I'm not alone advocating freedom
A prominent blogger freed from prison in Vietnam on condition that she live in exile in the United States says she is glad to be reunited with her family and that she knows she is not alone in advocating for freedom. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh ...
Forever young: China's 'dancing aunties' kick up their heels
In a sparkling white cap and oversized sunglasses, 55-year-old retiree Zhang Yongli and dozens of neighbors liven up a Shanghai park by doing the jitterbug, part of a public dance craze that has become China's national pastime. Every day, an estimated more than 100 million ...
