Asia

After designing a soy sauce bottle for Kikkoman in 1961, Kenji Ekuan went on to design everything from motorcycles to a bullet train.

From Soy Sauce To Bullet Trains: Famed Japanese Designer Dies At 85

11:24am February 09, 2015

by Bill Chappell

Decades after Kenji Ekuan created Kikkoman's iconic soy sauce bottles with their red caps, he designed Japan's bullet train, in a career driven by a desire to make good design accessible to everyone.

Some DVD vendors in Shanghai still sell on the street, but a government crackdown forced most out of business or into storefronts.

World News

The Oscar Nominees Are In; The Shanghai DVD Sellers Are Stocking Up

11:40pm February 08, 2015

by Frank Langfitt

The Academy Awards are coming this month, and if you're still trying to see all the nominated films, it may be easier to find them in China than in the U.S. — if you don't mind the pirated versions.

Queue Listen Now

Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man's Party, leader Arvind Kejriwal gestures as he comes out of a polling station after casting his vote in New Delhi, India, on Saturday.

World News

India's Ruling Party Looks Headed For Defeat In Delhi Elections

5:04pm February 07, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Exit polls show Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP will likely come in second behind an upstart anti-corruption party.

Rolls of toilet paper and packages of tissue paper printed with images of pro-Beijing Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying are shown Democratic Party Vice Chairman Lo Kin-hei in Hong Kong on Saturday.

World News

China Seizes Toilet Tissue Featuring Likeness Of Hong Kong Leader

11:17am February 07, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The approximately 8,000 rolls, with images of the territory's unpopular Beijing-appointed chief executive, were confiscated from a factory on the mainland.

Protesters burn tires to demonstrate against the inter-oceanic canal in Rivas, Nicaragua, on Dec. 22, 2014. HKND Group, a Chinese company, began work on a $50 billion canal, an ambitious rival to the Panama Canal.

World News

Nicaraguan Canal Project Unearths Ancient Relics, Animosities

3:38pm February 06, 2015

by Jasmine Garsd

The Chinese company building the shipping route has handed over more than 15,000 pre-Columbian relics to the Nicaraguan government. It's one of the least controversial stories related to the project.

China's Defense Minister Chang Wanquan, left, and Thailand's Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan walk during a ceremony at the Ministry of Defense in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday.

Thailand's Military Moves Closer To China

12:57pm February 06, 2015

by Scott Neuman

An agreement for stronger ties with Beijing comes after last year's coup in Thailand soured relations between Bangkok and Washington.

Rescuers pray near the bodies of victims from the TransAsia plane crash Friday. The turboprop crashed shortly after take-off from Songshan Airport in Taipei, hitting an elevated roadway as it banked steeply away from buildings and into the Keelung River.

World News

Pilots Of Doomed Taipei Flight Faced Problems With Both Engines

10:26am February 06, 2015

by Bill Chappell

Investigators say the turboprop plane's right engine lost thrust 37 seconds into the flight, and that the left one failed to restart not long afterwards.

President Obama bows his head towards the Dalai Lama as he was recognized during the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, on Thursday.

Obama Condemns 'Horrific Acts' In The Name Of Religion

4:56pm February 05, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The president said that God never justifies the killing of innocent people. He also referred to the Dalai Lama, who attended the National Prayer Breakfast for the first time, as his "good friend."

Dude, Why Is There A Cow In The Back Of Your Cab?

12:44pm February 05, 2015

by Linda Poon

Author Chris Guillebeau has visited every U.N.-recognized country in the world. He's seen taxi-riding cows, a Mongolian version of Uber and a strong entrepreneurial spirit in the poorest of places.

World News

Toll In Taiwan Crash Rises To 31; Pilot Called In 'Engine Flameout'

12:10pm February 05, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

TransAsia Flight 235 was carrying 58 people, 31 of them from China, when it crashed into the shallow Keelung River in Taipei shortly after takeoff on Wednesday.