Asia

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China's Crackdown On Corruption Opens Door To Abuse

7:00pm March 09, 2014

by NPR Staff

A local official says he was detained and tortured by the Communist Party after being accused of taking bribes. The Associated Press reports these investigations occur without judicial oversight.

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World News

Pakistan Agrees To Fresh Negotiations With Taliban Reps

8:39am March 06, 2014

Attacks by Taliban splinter groups continue in Pakistan. Retired Pakistani General Talat Masood tells David Greene the Pakistani government's response has not been organized.

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7 Ton Mango Vanishes From Popular Roadside Attraction

8:06am February 25, 2014

Tourists visiting Bowen, Australia, got a bit of a shock on Monday when it was discovered that one of the town's famous giant fruits was missing. A food chain took it as a publicity stunt.

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U.S. Looks To Bobsledder Steve Holcomb To Add To Medal Count

12:11pm February 23, 2014

by Robert Smith

The U.S. has the best bobsledder in the world, Steve Holcomb. He races in the two-man on Monday.

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Lucy Skrine, 11, is part of a group of activists who gathered about 64,000 signatures pressing Hong Kong's government to destroy its stockpile of 28 tons of ivory.

World News

Hong Kong To Destroy Ivory Stockpile, But Will It Curb Demand In China?

12:11pm February 23, 2014

by Frank Langfitt

Over the next two years, Hong Kong plans to burn 28 tons of ivory. Many conservationists hope destroying stockpiles will dampen demand in a country where many wealthy Chinese are buying ivory statues and carvings as investments. Others worry that it may have no effect at all.

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Anticipation Grows That U.S. Ice Dancing Duo Will Win Gold

12:11pm February 23, 2014

by Tamara Keith

Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White are favored to win gold in ice dancing. The pair took silver in the last Olympic Games in Vancouver, and expectations are high that they'll do even better in Sochi.

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Yuna Kim, of South Korea, won gold in Vancouver. She's leading the field after Wednesday's short program.

Female Figure Skaters Compete For Gold — And The Sport's Future

8:55pm February 19, 2014

by Sonari Glinton

The competition is fierce: the defending South Korean champion, a 15-year-old Russian phenom who has thrilled the figure skating world, and three Americans heading into Thursday in the top 10.

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World News

U.N. Panel Accuses North Korea Of Crimes Against Humanity

11:03am February 18, 2014

A United Nations panel accuses the North Korean regime of rape, forced abortions, intentional starvation and slavery. David Greene talks to retired Australian judge Michael Kirby, chairman of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea.

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U.S. Women's Bobsled Team Features 2 Summer Olympians

11:03am February 18, 2014

by Robert Smith

Bobsled used to be an all-male sport until 2002. Even now, the women only race two-man, not four-man bobsled. Team USA features 2 summer Olympians as brakemen. Lauren Williams is a gold and silver medalist in the sprint. Lolo Jones did the hurdles in Bejing and London.

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Indian activists from the student wing of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party protest near the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi on May 25, 2010, against Wendy Doniger's The Hindus. Penguin Books, India, said this week that it would withdraw the book and pul

Author Of Book Yanked In India Says Move Has Backfired

8:09pm February 14, 2014

by Krishnadev Calamur

Penguin Books, India, withdrew Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternate History after a Hindu group's court challenge. The group said the book denigrated Hinduism. Doniger defended the publisher but said the Indian law that makes offending religious sentiment a crime should be changed.

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