All Asia Pacific
Taiwan ex-President Chen Shui-bian out of prison. Why?Chen and his "green" Taiwan identity politics has been anathema to mainland China. But after the "blue" pro-China ruling Nationalist party lost big in local elections Nov. 29, they want to appear conciliatory and friendly ahead of next year's presidential vote.
As AirAsia debris found, Indonesia learns from Malaysia mistakesPresident Joko Widodo says recovery efforts will focus on passengers and crew as his administration faces its first international crisis. The new Indonesian administration wants to avoid the criticism aimed at Malaysian leader Najib Razak after MH370 disappeared last March.
Are Google and Gmail really the enemy of China?First China targeted Facebook and Twitter – now it's going after the world's largest e-mail service. The targeting of Gmail is part of a broader ideological struggle to separate the Middle Kingdom from the modes of the West.
Digging in: How Aceh's past tsunamis cast light on future seismic threatsA paleo-seismologist sifts sand and coral deposits for clues to tsunami patterns in Aceh, the epicenter of the Dec. 26, 2004 earthquake. Indonesians are marking the 10-year anniversary of the country's deadliest natural disaster.
Cover StoryTsunami 10 years after: How Indonesia built backTwo families show how Banda Aceh has defied a disaster, a decade later.
Could a tsunami disaster happen again?A comprehensive warning system has been set up to alert coastal countries in the Indian Ocean when earthquakes are judged likely to trigger tsunamis. However, when a real-life test came in 2012, many residents of Banda Aceh in Indonesia didn't go to the evacuation towers.
Taiwan ready to buy US missile frigates amid South China Sea spatsChina issues expected angry statements after Taiwan says it will buy two vessels. But purchase is the first since 2010 and has little effect on the mainland's naval advantage vis-à-vis the democratic island.
China gives the nod for a second giant Beijing airportDetails are sketchy, but the $13 billion Daxing facility will be south of the capital and sport four runways. Local farmers are not happy about the prospect of relocation to make way for the facility, which is being announced just six years after the completion of what was the largest terminal in the world.
China tops the world in jailing journalistsThe Committee to Protect Journalists reports that the number of detainees spiked in 2014, and is the longest it's been since CPJ started tracking numbers in 1990.
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 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.
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.
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.
