All Asia Pacific
- In Debbie's wake, Australia begins to pick up the pieces
'Nature has flung her worst at the people of Queensland,' said Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 'There will be ... a lot of damage done now to recover, to clean up, to restore power, to make power lines safe.'
- First LookCyclone Debbie prompts thousands of evacuations in northeast Australia
Authorities have urged 30,000 people in coastal towns in Queensland to evacuate their homes, as forecasters predict tidal surges and winds of and winds of up to 185 miles per hour.
- First LookNorth Korea's latest missile launch failed. How often does that happen?
The results of North Korea's missile tests have been mixed. According to a recent investigation, the United States is partially responsible for the comparatively high failure rate.
- North Korea's nuclear threat: Where do the US and China go from here?
As tensions escalate on the Korean peninsula, China’s patience with the US is growing thin. But US Secretary of State Tillerson left his first official trip to Beijing without concrete steps on North Korea.
- Smoothly but warily, U.S. and China stick to script in Tillerson visit
No formal agreements were reached on the visit, but the Secretary of State, a novice diplomat, avoided several potential US-China landmines, including China's trade policy and its handling of North Korea.
- How is Japan readying itself against an unpredictable North Korea?
Under Article 9 of its constitution, Japan 'renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation.' But its notion of self-defense may be getting broader – and, increasingly, the rationale stems from North Korean threats.
- First LookNine years after disaster, Fukushima to host 2020 Olympic baseball games
Fukushima, evacuated after the March 2011 nuclear disaster, will welcome the world for baseball and softball matches in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Games.
- China embraces public activists – in battling pollution
As it moves to address the environmental toll of three decades of intense economic growth, the Chinese government is cautiously working with people who help expose polluters through social media and the release of real-time pollution data.
- First LookWhy a New Zealand river now has legal personhood
The new person status for the river is the result of a settlement between the government of New Zealand and the Māori people, whose culture has a deep connection with the body of water.
- First LookAppealing to public, Philippine lawmaker files Duterte's first impeachment complaint
Rep. Gary Alejano filed the impeachment complaint on Thursday, but it will be an uphill battle to secure enough support to take down Rodrigo Duterte.
- As Tillerson arrives in Asia, Japan's Abe emerges as effective global statesman
Prime Minister Abe has won plaudits at home and abroad for building good working relations with a diverse set of leaders, and for checking hawkish, nationalist inclinations.
- Bring a regime to justice? In Seoul, rights groups play long game on N. Korea.
The UN special rapporteur on the North called Monday for justice at the International Criminal Court. While hurdles are high, rights organizations say the drive for accountability is essential, citing Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia.
- FocusHow a protest movement swelled to oust South Korea’s president
Peaceful demonstrations that gathered momentum last fall show how far the young democracy has advanced since bloody protests in 1987 helped end military dictatorship. They became a source of inspiration to similar movements, and to Koreans like Joseph Kim.
- In President Park's dramatic ouster, a test of South Korea's young democracy
The Constitutional Court ruled unanimously to remove President Park Geun-hye from office, following parliament's impeachment vote over corruption charges in December. The scandal threw South Korea into political turmoil.
- First LookChinese media falls for phony phone foil story about Trump
Multiple Chinese outlets picked up a satirical story claiming a paranoid Trump ordered White House phones wrapped in tinfoil.
- First LookIs the man in the video really the son of slain Kim Jong-nam?
Kim Han-sol, whose father, Kim Jong-nam, was recently killed in a possible hit perpetrated by the North Korean government, appears to have released a video since going into hiding after the assassination.
- Having denounced N. Korea missile launch, China offers tougher words for US antimissile deployment
China criticized the North's recent firing of ballistic missiles. But US deployment of the THAAD system in the South this week prompted particularly harsh words from China, which sees it as destabilizing and a threat to China.
- Why North Korea wants a nuclear weapon
North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the waters off Japan, a dry run of nuclear attack against US military bases there. But experts say this exercise was defensive, not offensive.
- First LookOnce more, North Korea launches banned ballistic missiles into Japanese waters
Officials say that North Korea fired four banned ballistic missiles that flew about 620 miles, with three landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
- First LookCould the murder of Kim Jong-nam land North Korea back on a US terror list?
The United States is reportedly mulling placing the North back on this terror list. But some observers say the law isn't clear about whether an assassination constitutes an act of terrorism.