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Landslide buries 20 boys at Malaysian orphanage

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A landslide buried 20 boys and four adults at a Malaysian orphanage Saturday where rescuers were digging by their hands in soil softened by the rains to find the missing, police said.
The bodies of five boys, ages 8 to 17, have been recovered. Six boys and a 30-year-old [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

Destroyed slum echoes Indian history, economic gap

NEW DELHI – Years later, long after their handmade shacks had been reduced to rubble, after fresh concrete had erased the scene of so many lifetimes, they look at the place that was once their neighborhood and see the ghosts of what is no longer there.
They can see Shanti Devi’s little white [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

Birthday boat sinks in southern Vietnam; 15 dead

BINH NHAM, Vietnam – A tour boat cruising a river to celebrate a 3-year-old’s birthday capsized during a violent storm in southern Vietnam, killing the boy, four other children and 10 adults, officials said Saturday.
Divers recovered the bodies from the Saigon River on Saturday afternoon, but one passenger remained missing, said [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

NKorea’s Kim said to be on 3rd China visit in year

CHANGCHUN, China – Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was said to have visited an industrial city in northeastern China on Saturday and appeared headed to Beijing by train on the second day of a mysterious trip to his country’s most important ally.
Kim hasn’t made any public appearances since his [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

China, SKorea leaders tour devastated Japan region

TOKYO – The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea gathered Saturday to demonstrate their shared desire for Japan’s earthquake and tsunami recovery and to smooth out differences over Japan’s handling of its nuclear crisis.
Ahead of a trilateral summit, the leaders met in the city of Fukushima, just 40 miles (60 [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

Exiled Tibetans discuss shifting Dalai Lama’s role

DHARMSALA, India – Exiled Tibetans are debating how to change their constitution to allow the Dalai Lama to leave political life.
The 75-year-old Dalai Lama says he remains the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader but it is time the political leader be elected. The change reverses centuries of Tibetan political tradition.
More than 400 delegates [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

China calls for attacking Somali pirate bases

BEIJING – A Chinese general’s call for land attacks on Somali pirate strongholds is being seen by analysts as another sign of the armed forces’ growing assertiveness, even if the proposal is unlikely to result in action.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Washington, Gen. Chen Bingde said he believes land [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

China alleges huge tax evasion by artist Ai Weiwei

BEIJING – A company that China says is controlled by artist Ai Weiwei was accused of massive tax evasion in the government’s clearest disclosure yet about its investigation of the activist detained for more than six weeks.
The investigation also found that Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd. had intentionally destroyed accounting [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

US envoy ends Myanmar mission with doubts

YANGON, Myanmar – A senior U.S. diplomat left Myanmar on Friday still concerned about the government’s human rights policies and its relations with North Korea, despite a recent change of leadership.
Joseph Yun’s visit was the first by a senior American official since a nominally civilian government took over from the ruling [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011

Pakistan minister: China providing 50 fighter jets

BEIJING – China has agreed to provide Pakistan with 50 more fighter jets in a deal clinched during Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s trip to Beijing, Pakistani defense officials said Friday.
Gilani’s four-day visit highlighted Pakistan’s warm ties with China at a time of heightened tensions with Washington over the killing of [...]

Read More » No commentMay 22, 2011