Asia News

An wounded Afghan man lies on a bed at a hospital in Zaranj city of Nimroz province. A Taliban suicide bomber dressed as a beggar blew up an Afghan government building Saturday, killing six people, as two NATO soldiers and a dozen other people died in more unrest, officials said.(AFP/Reza Shirmohammadi)

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 513

AP - 39 minutes ago

As of Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008, at least 513 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

  • Men hold candles during a ceremony at the memorial commemorating the Armenians who died in 1915, in Yerevan September 6, 2008. Turkish President Abdullah Gul flew into neighbouring Armenia on Saturday to attend a soccer match he said could help end almost a century of mutual hostility and aid security in the broader Caucasus region. (Nazik Armenakian/Reuters)
    Soccer diplomacy brings Turkey's Gul to Armenia Reuters - 1 hour, 11 minutes ago

    YEREVAN (Reuters) - President Abdullah Gul, making the first visit to Armenia by a Turkish leader, joined Armenia's president on Saturday at a soccer match which both men said could help end almost a century of hostility.

  • Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani (R) greets President-elect Asif Ali Zardari the widower of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, after his election in Islamabad September 6, 2008. Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, swept to victory in a presidential election on Saturday, as a suicide bomber killed at least 10 people in the northwest. (Pakistan Peoples Party/Handout/Reuters)
    Zardari wins Pakistan election Reuters - 1 hour, 16 minutes ago

    ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, swept to victory in a presidential election on Saturday.

  • Pakistani President elect Asif Ali Zardari, center, head of the ruling Pakistan People's Party and widower of two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is congratulated by party members during a celebration dinner at the Prime Minister residence in Islamabad, Pakistan on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. The widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto became Pakistan's new president Saturday after winning a landslide election victory that makes him a critical partner of the West against international terrorism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
    Bhutto widower elected Pakistani president AP - 1 hour, 22 minutes ago

    ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Benazir Bhutto's widower swept Pakistan's presidential election on Saturday, offering hope for stability to a nuclear-armed country feeling intense U.S. pressure to crack down on Islamic militants.

  • Japan's Daisuke Matsui (2ndR) challenges Bahrain's Mahmud Abdul Rahman (2ndL) during their group one Asian qualifier for the 2010 World Cup at Bahrain's national staduim in Manama. Japan beat Bahrain 3-2 in a pulsating opening match of the fourth and final Asian qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup here on Saturday.(AFP/Adam Jan)
    Japan edge Bahrain in Gulf thriller AFP - 1 hour, 59 minutes ago

    MANAMA (AFP) - Japan beat Bahrain 3-2 in a pulsating opening match of the fourth and final Asian qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup here on Saturday.

  • Protests greet Turkish president in Armenia AP - 2 hours, 32 minutes ago

    YEREVAN, Armenia - Thousands of Armenians lined the streets of the capital Saturday to protest the first-ever visit by a Turkish leader and to demand that Turkey acknowledge the World War I massacres of Armenian civilians as genocide.

  • Chinese athlete Zhang Hongwei (L) hands the torch to power lifter Zhang Haidong in the National Stadium at the opening ceremony for the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. China once again dazzled the world with a glittering ceremony as the Paralympics opened Saturday in the iconic "Bird's Nest" National Stadium with the message that all life has value and dignity.(AFP/Peter Parks)
    China dazzles the world with Paralympics opening ceremony AFP - Sat Sep 6, 4:37 PM ET

    BEIJING (AFP) - China once again dazzled the world with a glittering ceremony as the Paralympics opened Saturday in the iconic "Bird's Nest" National Stadium with the message that all life has value and dignity.

  • Tsai Chi-huang of Taiwan hits his chip shot on the 17th hole during the Luxehills Golf Championship at the Luxehills International Country Club in Chengdu. Tsai shot a six-under-par 66 and Chinese amateur Zhang Xinjun posted a 69 to share the lead going into Sunday's final round of the Luxehills Golf Championship here.(AFP/HO/David Paul Morris)
    Zhang, Tsai face fourth and final showdown at Luxehills AFP - Sat Sep 6, 3:43 PM ET

    CHENGDU, China (AFP) - Taiwan's Tsai Chi-huang shot a six-under-par 66 and Chinese amateur Zhang Xinjun posted a 69 to share the lead going into Sunday's final round of the Luxehills Golf Championship here.

  • Pakistan's president-elect Asif Ali Zardari (L) shakes hands with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani shortly after his election in Islamabad. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Zardari on his victory in Pakistan's presidential poll Saturday and said he hoped ties between the two countries would expand.(AFP/PPP-HO)
    Iranian president congratulates Zardari on Pakistan win AFP - Sat Sep 6, 2:44 PM ET

    TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Asif Ali Zardari on his victory in Pakistan's presidential poll Saturday and said he hoped ties between the two countries would expand.

  • Posters of presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari, widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, in Islamabad. Zardari secured a large win in Pakistan's presidential elections on Saturday, capping a remarkable rise from jail, exile and his wife's assassination just nine months ago.(AFP/Aamir Qureshi)
    Bhutto widower sweeps Pakistan presidential polls AFP - Sat Sep 6, 2:23 PM ET

    ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Asif Ali Zardari secured a large win in Pakistan's presidential elections on Saturday, capping a remarkable rise from jail, exile and his wife Benazir Bhutto's assassination just nine months ago.

  • Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee proceeds to his office after a press conference at the foreign ministry in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. Nations that supply nuclear material and technology overcame fierce obstacles Saturday and approved a landmark U.S. plan to engage in atomic trade with India, a deal that reverses more than three decades of American policy. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)
    45-nation group OKs landmark US-India nuke deal AP - Sat Sep 6, 1:46 PM ET

    VIENNA, Austria - The U.S. gained key international backing Saturday for a bitterly contested plan to sell peaceful nuclear technology to India — a South Asia powerhouse that has tested atomic weapons but has refused to sign global nonproliferation accords.

  • Challenges that Pakistan's new president will face AP - Sat Sep 6, 1:39 PM ET

    The following are some of the major challenges facing Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was elected Pakistan's president by lawmakers Saturday.

  • A Pakistani injured man arrives at a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. An explosives-laden car rammed into a security checkpoint in Pakistan's volatile northwest Saturday, setting off a massive blast that killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens more, police said. The suicide attack occurred on the outskirts of Peshawar on the day Pakistani lawmakers voted for a new president, underscoring the challenges facing the leaders of the U.S.-allied country. (AP Photo/Muhammad Iqbal)
    Blast, clashes in northwest Pakistan kills 54 AP - Sat Sep 6, 1:03 PM ET

    PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A pickup truck packed with explosives blew up a police security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan Saturday, killing at least 30 people and injuring dozens more, the day after a foiled militant kidnap attempt led to another 24 deaths in the volatile region.

  • The faithful gather in Hanoi, Vietnam, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008, to demand the return of the Catholic church's land that they say was taken by Vietnam's communist government in the early 1960s. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)
    Catholics assert themselves in Hanoi land dispute AP - Sat Sep 6, 11:41 AM ET

    HANOI, Vietnam - At a vacant lot in downtown Hanoi, Catholics have gathered to worship the Virgin Mary — and pressure the communist authorities.

  • An Indonesian worker makes tofu at a home factory in Jakarta, Indonesia,on April 15, 2008. The skyrocketing prices for staples like rice, flour and tofu along with the rising cost of fuel has sparked unrest in as many as 30 countries, according to the World Bank, and threatens to send 100 million people into extreme poverty. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
    Price increases push US soy beyond reach of poor AP - Sat Sep 6, 10:05 AM ET

    SURABAYA, Indonesia - With the dollar a day he earns scrounging for scrap metal and paper, Jumadi can't buy his family beef or even chicken. But until now, the rail-thin scavenger could at least afford soy.

  • Woman's body found in suitcase in Tokyo hotel AP - Sat Sep 6, 8:52 AM ET

    TOKYO - The dead body of an unidentified woman was found curled up in a suitcase in a Tokyo hotel room, a day after the foul smell of her body prompted the evacuation of dozens of guests, police said Saturday.

  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, greets Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008 in Beijing, China. China welcomed world leaders for the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on Saturday, eager for another chance to cement its role as a global player to an international audience. The guest list included Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, German President Horst Koehler and South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo. (AP Photo/Guang Niu, Pool)
    China, Iran discuss nuclear issue AP - Sat Sep 6, 8:42 AM ET

    BEIJING - Chinese President Hu Jintao urged flexibility and a peaceful resolution of Iran's nuclear ambitions in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart on Saturday, days after Tehran announced it has increased its number of operating centrifuges.

  • Map locates areas in Afghanistan where Taliban militants have recently attacked;
    15 killed in Afghan suicide blast, shoot-out AP - Sat Sep 6, 8:23 AM ET

    KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bomb attack by a fake beggar inside a regional prosecutor's office and a shoot-out between police and Taliban militants killed 15 people in Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said.

  • Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard outside closed market area during a general strike in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. Shops, businesses and schools are shut and almost all vehicles are staying off the roads in most parts of Indian Kashmir in response to a strike called by separatist groups to continue to protest against Indian rule in the region. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
    Troops, protesters clash in Indian Kashmir; 1 dead AP - Sat Sep 6, 8:06 AM ET

    SRINAGAR, India - Thousands of angry people took to the streets in Indian Kashmir to denounce the killing Saturday of a protester by government troops who fired rubber bullets and tear gas shells at Muslim demonstrators chanting anti-India slogans, an official said.

  • An anti-government demonstrator listens to speeches early Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008, at Government House in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has refused to negotiate with protesters who have occupied his office in a bid to oust him, but a new mediation effort by Parliament has raised a glimmer of hope for ending the country's political crisis. The standoff stems from a campaign by the People's Alliance for Democracy - a loose-knit group of royalists, wealthy and middle-class urban residents, and union activists - to oust Samak and his government, accusing it of corruption and violating the constitution. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)
    Living conditions bad but Thai protesters stay put AP - Sat Sep 6, 7:21 AM ET

    BANGKOK, Thailand - Living conditions at a 12-day-old protest at Thailand's Government House were worsening, with thousands camped in mud enveloped by the stench of urine, but organizers said Saturday they will not leave until the prime minister resigns.

  • Residents of Kimbulla Ela, a poor Colombo neighborhood also known as a hotbed of drug crime play cricket in one of the narrow streets in Colombo, Sri Lanka in this July 16, 2008 photograph. Members of the minority Tamil community say police raids, harassment, arbitrary detentions and even abductions have become routine during the recent escalation in the 25-year civil war between the government, dominated by the Sinhalese majority, and the Tamil Tiger separatists (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
    Sri Lanka says 24 rebels killed in new fighting AP - Sat Sep 6, 5:06 AM ET

    COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan soldiers captured three Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers and killed 24 guerrillas in fighting across the island's restive north, the military said Saturday.

  • Red Cross fears for civilians in south Philippines AP - Sat Sep 6, 4:23 AM ET

    MANILA, Philippines - A Red Cross official appealed Saturday to government troops and Muslim separatist rebels not to harm civilians as they battle each other in the worst fighting in the southern Philippines in five years.

  • South Korea's top nuclear envoy Kim Sook speaks before leaving for Beijing at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. Top nuclear envoys from South Korea, the United States and Japan were to converge in Beijing on Friday to discuss the worsening impasse over North Korea's nuclear programs as Pyongyang took steps seen as reversing its promised disarmament.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
    US nuclear envoy meets China in N. Korea impasse AP - Sat Sep 6, 3:22 AM ET

    BEIJING - The top U.S. nuclear envoy met with his Chinese counterpart Saturday as part of the latest round of talks aimed at breaking a deadlock over verification of North Korea's nuclear programs.

  • Malaysia's leader vows to foil opposition takeover AP - Sat Sep 6, 1:11 AM ET

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's prime minister has vowed to foil opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's plan to seize power, but denied trying to send government lawmakers on an overseas trip to hamper them from defecting to the opposition.

  • In this Aug. 23, 2008 file photo, an Afghan woman shouts anti-U.S. slogans in front of her destroyed home in Azizabad, the village in Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan. Disillusionment is widespread in Afghanistan, feeding an insurgency that has killed 195 foreign soldiers so far this year, 105 of them Americans. Afghans are deeply bitter about American and NATO forces because of errant bombs, heavy-handed searches and seizures and a sense that the foreigners do not understand their culture. (AP Photo/Fraidoon Pooyaa, File)
    AP IMPACT: Afghans fed up with government, US AP - Fri Sep 5, 7:10 PM ET

    GHANI KHIEL, Afghanistan - The bearded, turbaned men gather beneath a large, leafy tree in rural eastern Nangarhar province. When Malik Mohammed speaks on their behalf, his voice is soft but his words are harsh. Mohammed makes it clear that the tribal chiefs have lost all faith in both their own government and the foreign soldiers in their country.

  • Writer arrested on charge of insulting Thai king AP - Fri Sep 5, 3:03 PM ET

    BANGKOK, Thailand - An Australian writer accused of defaming Thailand's royal family in his 2005 novel was arrested at Bangkok's international airport as he was about to board a flight home, a press freedom organization said Friday.

  • Asif Zardari, back, widower of Pakistan's slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto who is running for Pakistan's presidentship, prays with his foe and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Feb 27, 2008 in Islamabad, Pakistan. The favorite to become Pakistan's next president is a polo-loving aristocrat and political rookie who was catapulted into an unlikely position of power by his marriage to Benazir Bhutto.(AP Photo/B.K.Bangash)
    Pakistan's Zardari marked by corruption, tragedy AP - Fri Sep 5, 2:22 PM ET

    ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The likely next president of unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan following Saturday's election is a horse-loving aristocrat who has spent more years in prison than in politics — a novice leader lifted to prominence by his marriage to Benazir Bhutto and propelled into power by her murder.

  • A poster showing Asif Ali Zardari, head of the ruling Pakistan People's Party and widower of two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is blown by strong wind before a storm in Lahore, Pakistan on Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. Zardari will face off against two lightly regarded opponents when legislators meet Saturday to choose a president to fill the gap created when former military strongman Pervez Musharraf resigned under pressure last month. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
    Pakistan restores 3 judges ousted by Musharraf AP - Fri Sep 5, 12:12 PM ET

    ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday reinstated three judges ousted by Pervez Musharraf, cementing political divisions in the country a day before it elects a new president.

  • Thai volunteers take a rest outside Government House in Bangkok Friday, Sept. 5, 2008. Thailand's prime minister refused again on Thursday to cede to protesters determined to oust him, but offered an unconventional compromise, a referendum on his fate aimed at ending the political crisis that has paralyzed the government and raised fears of economic chaos. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
    Thai protesters enjoy free food, $3 massage AP - Fri Sep 5, 11:56 AM ET

    BANGKOK, Thailand - Once open only to the ruling elite, Thailand's stately Government House has turned into a cross between a refugee camp and a village fairground.

  • Afghanistan's Paralympic team flag-bearer Mohammad Fahim Rahimi walks during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Stadium, September 6, 2008. The stadium is also known as the Bird's Nest. REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA)
    6 militants, 2 civilians killed in Afghan raid AP - Fri Sep 5, 10:18 AM ET

    KABUL, Afghanistan - An overnight raid early Friday killed six militants and two civilians in western Afghanistan, the U.S. coalition said.

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