Asia News Headlines

The Obama administration on Saturday declared Afghanistan the United States' newest "major non-NATO ally," an action designed to facilitate close defense cooperation after U.S. combat troops withdraw from the country in 2014 and as a political statement of support for Afghanistan's long-term stability.

East Timor's voters went to the polls on Saturday in parliamentary elections seen as a key test for the young and fragile democracy and likely to determine if UN peacekeepers can leave by the end of the year.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Kabul on an unannounced visit on Saturday on the eve of a major conference in Tokyo in which Afghanistan is set to seek billions of dollars in civilian aid.

Japan, Norway and their allies blocked a bid Friday to give the United Nations a greater role in protecting whales, as sought by conservationists frustrated by deep polarization over whaling.

Japan plans to buy a chain of uninhabited islands at the centre of a fierce territorial dispute with China and Taiwan back from its private owners, a local newspaper reported Saturday.

Unidentified gunmen in southwest Pakistan killed 18 people late Friday who were trying to illegally cross into neighboring Iran in three vehicles, officials said.

Ahead of the exit of foreign combat troops, Afghanistan faces pressure to tackle pervasive corruption as it seeks billions in new aid at an international conference in Tokyo on Sunday.

Two Japanese nationals have landed on a disputed island claimed by Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei, despite warnings from the coastguard to stay away, an official said Friday.

International leaders Friday urged the UN to ratchet up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by threatening tough sanctions, as the defection of a top general rocked his inner circle.

At least 20 student leaders were detained in Myanmar Saturday, ahead of a rally to commemorate a 1962 suppression of a student movement, an activist said, in the biggest crackdown of its kind since the dissolution of the junta.

Thai government proposals to deport pregnant migrant workers will heighten discrimination rather than boost the fight against human trafficking, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

A triple US drone attack on a militant compound in Pakistan's northwestern tribal area killed at least 15 insurgents late Friday, security officials said.

Laos has pledged to stall construction of a controversial multi-billion dollar dam on the Mekong river until all its neighbours' environmental concerns have been answered, state media said Friday.

Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted the final suspect to be captured over the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway, which killed 13 people and injured thousands.

China on Friday urged the United States to ensure trade disputes did not harm overall economic ties, after Washington filed a WTO complaint over Chinese duties on imported American cars.

Discrimination against homosexuals and people infected with HIV is contributing to the rapid rise of the incurable disease in the Philippines, officials and health activists said Friday.

Japan's $1.42 trillion public pension fund, the largest national retirement scheme in the world, said Friday it posted an annual return of 2.32 percent on the back of stronger equity markets.

The Philippines, which is now embroiled in a territorial dispute with China, is set to acquire new warplanes in two years to upgrade its poorly-equipped air force, the defence minister said Friday.

Shorter people now have a chance to rise to the highest positions in the Philippines armed forces after the country's top military academy lowered its height requirement on Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will make her first official visit to Indonesia next week for talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and business leaders, her spokesman said Friday.

Authorities in Karachi have seized dozens of precious antiquities dating from Pakistan's ancient Gandhara civilisation, illegally dug from the country's restive northwest, officials said Friday.

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Friday deferred ruling for a week on an incendiary charter amendment case that could lead to the dissolution of the ruling party.

Record-breaking Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Friday scotched speculation over his future in one-day cricket, saying he had no plans to retire as long as he was enjoying the game.