Asia

How Bin Laden 'planned to give al-Qa'ida an image makeover'

Saturday, 25 June 2011

Osama bin Laden, holed-up in his Pakistan hideaway, contemplated changing the name of al-Qa’ida in order to rebrand the organisation and make it more attractive to potential recruits, according to documents recovered from his compound.

Tropical storm leaves 15 missing in Philippines

Saturday, 25 June 2011

The storm flooded a wide swath of metropolitan Manila and forced more than 75,000 from their homes.

Man sees best friend's frozen body on Everest

Saturday, 25 June 2011

A British mountain climber tackling Everest came across the body of his best friend frozen in the ice months after he died having reached the summit.

Compound haul reveals links to security service

Saturday, 25 June 2011

US investigators say that they are closer to uncovering the mystery of how Osama bin Laden was able to hide in plain view in a Pakistani garrison town after phone records belonging to the al-Qa’ida leader’s courier revealed a link to a banned local terrorist group.

India’s modern and contemporary art market wobbles

Friday, 24 June 2011

It looks as if the top end of the Indian modern and contemporary art market is wobbling as recent auctions in London and online have shown mixed results

Thailand's former PM under scrutiny in new leak of US cables

Friday, 24 June 2011

Thaksin Shinawatra reduced free speech, made immense personal profits and dominated politics 'in a way never before seen', claimed secret US diplomatic cables now revealed.

Ai Weiwei's cousin freed but associates still missing

Friday, 24 June 2011

Clifford Coonan: Chinese artist 'happy to be home', but 'not supposed to talk about anything.'

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Dissident bailed after 'confessing crimes'

Thursday, 23 June 2011

Clifford Coonan: Artist Ai Weiwei released after global outcry allows China's regime to save face.

Tensions that threaten new turmoil in Thailand

Thursday, 23 June 2011

A controversial report suggests members of the royal family are vying for power before election.

More Pakistani officers held over Islamist links

Thursday, 23 June 2011

Four majors serving in the Pakistan army are being questioned over links to the banned Islamist group, Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

Andrew Buncombe: Is there a ban on reporting bad news from India?

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

It was the writer and activist Arundhati Roy who set foreign journalists in India busily chattering recently.

Chinese fountain that's not just for show

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

While heavy rains have put more than 660 reservoirs in China at risk of overflowing, in the lower reaches of the Yellow River authorities are discharging water from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir to clear sediment.

How capitalism caught up with the legend of Mao

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

Clifford Coonan: Just to make sure there is no mistake, the camera lingers on the Omega watch worn by the girlfriend of Chairman Mao.

Pakistani army brigadier arrested over suspected links with Islamist radicals

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

Fears of Islamist infiltration of the Pakistan army's ranks have been heightened after it was revealed yesterday that a senior officer is being held on suspicions of links with a banned extremist group.

Andrew Buncombe: Is there a ban on bad news from India?

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

It was the writer and activist Arundhati Roy who set foreign journalists in India busily chattering recently.  In an interview with Stephen Moss in the Guardian, Ms Roy was discussing the Maoist and A ...

Obama set to unveil plans to bring 30,000 troops home

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

David Usborne: President ponders details of phased withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan.

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Technology revolution is key to fight for democracy, says Aung San Suu Kyi

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

The Nobel peace laureate and human rights campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi spoke yesterday in a BBC lecture of the vital role played by communications technology in modern democratic uprisings and said she was not morally opposed to the use of violence in exceptional circumstances.

Taliban: A law unto themselves

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Patrick Cockburn: We like to think of the Taliban as brainwashed fanatics, but do not dismiss their wit and guile.

Rare-earth metal prices spike as China stockpiles supplies

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Prices for rare-earth metals, which are used in everything from iPods to flat-screen TVs to missiles, are rising sharply as China builds up a stockpile and cuts quotas, so much so that some industries fear global supplies may be in serious jeopardy.

Picture of the Day: Ruins of lost kingdom threatened from below

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

The ruined city of Hampi, a Unesco world heritage site and one of the most important archaeological locations in southern India, is under severe threat, experts have warned. Illegal quarrying and blasting have severely damaged some of the remains and pushed others to the verge of collapse.

Record floods put 20,000 at risk

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

More than 40 miles of dykes are in danger of being breached in an eastern Chinese province where floods have caused $1.2bn in losses, authorities said yesterday, as the country neared a critical point in battling seasonal rains.

Child 'forced to wear suicide vest'

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

An eight-year-old Pakistani girl was kidnapped by Islamist militants who forced her to wear a suicide vest to attack security forces, police said yesterday.

Hindu rites for lesbian wedding

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

A lawyer and a university professor from the United States celebrated Nepal's first public lesbian wedding ceremony yesterday, after the Himalayan nation began recognising gay rights and drafting laws to end sexual discrimination.

Video: '100 killed' as China floods continue

Monday, 20 June 2011

Severe floods are continuing to inundate southern and eastern China - reports suggest more than 100 people have been killed.

US gives Karzai a rare dressing down over 'occupation' rhetoric

Monday, 20 June 2011

Straying beyond the normal boundaries of diplomatic nicety, the American Ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, delivered a sharp verbal slap to President Hamid Karzai yesterday for his criticism of Nato's operations in his country implying that the US was becoming weary of it.