Asia

World News

U.S. Drone Strike Kills 2 Al-Qaida Hostages, Including An American

3:12pm April 24, 2015

by Philip Reeves

A U.S. drone strike in January killed an American being held hostage in Pakistan by al-Qaida, the White House announced Thursday. Warren Weinstein was killed along with another aid worker, from Italy.

Queue Listen Now

Catholicos Karekin II (R, front), the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin walk to attend a commemoration ceremony marking the centenary of the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in Yerevan, Armenia.

World News

Armenians Mark A Century Since World War I Massacre

12:51pm April 24, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Francois Hollande of France were among those who attended a ceremony in the Armenian capital. German lawmakers vote to call the event "genocide."

An artist's rendering of DNA double helix molecules and chromosomes.

Critics Lash Out At Chinese Scientists Who Edited DNA In Human Embryos

12:34pm April 24, 2015

by Rob Stein

By editing the genes in embryos in the lab, Chinese scientists showed that it's possible to change hereditary traits that cause a blood disorder. But the work also created unintended mutations.

Queue Listen Now

Safeena Husain says: "I educate girls." Her efforts have brought 80,000 Indian girls into school; last week she received a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (above).

She Got 80,000 Girls To Attend School And Won A $1.25 Million Prize

11:07am April 24, 2015

by Marc Silver

A harsh encounter in an Indian village inspired Safeena Husain to found a group called Educate Girls. And now she has been honored with a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

The grave of the 27-year-old Indian woman who died on Monday from head and spinal injuries.

A Young Mother's Death Raises Questions Without Answers

9:15am April 24, 2015

by Wilbur Sargunaraj

The official cause of death was an accident. Friends believe her husband had beaten her. Yet no one will speak up — part of the hush that descends over domestic abuse in India.

Armenians were massacred by forces of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. In this instance, the heads of the victims were placed on stakes.

World News

A Century After Atrocities Against Armenians, An Unresolved Wound

8:38am April 24, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

Some 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported in the violence unleashed by Ottoman Turks starting in 1915. Turkey and Armenia still disagree on how to define these terrible events.

A screenshot of a striptease act at a funeral in February in China's Hebei province.

World News

China's Latest Target: Funeral Strippers

5:32am April 24, 2015

by Frank Langfitt

In some parts of rural China and in Taiwan, hiring strippers to perform at the funeral of a loved one isn't considered absurd, but a good idea.

World News

Giovanni Lo Porto, Slain Italian Aid Worker, Loved Pakistan And Its People

5:42pm April 23, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

Lo Porto was kidnapped in January 2012 soon after he returned to work in Pakistan. President Obama announced Thursday that the Italian aid worker was inadvertently killed in January in a U.S. strike.

An Indian National Congress party worker on Thursday pays tribute to Gajendra Singh, a farmer who committed suicide during a candlelight vigil in New Delhi the previous day.

World News

Indian Farmer's Apparent Suicide Sparks Political Backlash

4:05pm April 23, 2015

by Julie McCarthy

Gajendra Singh was found hanging from a tree at a political rally in New Delhi earlier this week. His presumed suicide has become a cause célèbre for the country's disaffected farmers.

This image made from video released to reporters in Pakistan in 2013 shows Warren Weinstein, the U.S. aid worker who was kidnapped in Pakistan by al-Qaida in 2011. The White House says Weinstein and another hostage were inadvertently killed during U.S. co

Warren Weinstein, American Killed In U.S. Operation, Was Veteran Aid Worker

2:36pm April 23, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

The USAID contractor was kidnapped in 2011 from his home in Pakistan just days before he was scheduled to leave the country. He spent much of his career in some of the world's toughest places.