Asia

In a $16 billion deal this week, Japanese beverage giant Suntory announced it plans to purchase Beam Inc., maker of Jim Beam and owner of other popular bourbon brands, including Maker's Mark.

Soon To Be Big In Japan, Jim Beam's Roots To Stay In Kentucky

10:48am January 15, 2014

by Rick Howlett

In a deal worth some $16 billion, Japanese beverage giant Suntory is buying Beam Inc., maker of Jim Beam bourbon and owner of well-known American brands such as Maker's Mark. Industry leaders say it's a reflection of bourbon's exploding popularity in Asian markets, but some wonder if the new owners will preserve bourbon's Kentucky heritage.

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A makeshift graveyard outside San Joaquin Parish is now the final resting place of hundreds in the province of Leyte, Philippines.

Filipino Priest Suffers With His Flock Amid Typhoon's Ruins

8:58am January 13, 2014

by Anthony Kuhn

The Rev. Kelvin Apurillo rode out Haiyan on the second floor of his parish church. Two-thirds of his parishioners are now dead, missing or have left, and he's struggling to make sense of the destruction. In the majority Roman Catholic country, the church has played a key role in relief efforts.

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Sports

Rodman's Tour Of North Korea: Diplomacy Or Propaganda?

12:53pm January 11, 2014

by Scott Simon

Dennis Rodman took a team of former NBA players to North Korea to celebrate leader Kim Jong Un's birthday. NPR's Scott Simon likes the flamboyant and frank Rodman, but wonders if his tour amounts to sports diplomacy or propaganda for the North Korean regime.

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Chinese 100 yuan bank notes being counted at a bank in Huaibei, in eastern China's Anhui province, in 2013. Undeclared income — sometimes the proceeds of corruption, often just of unclear provenance — is estimated to make up a staggering 12 percent of

World News

Lure Of China's Gray Economy Reaches Rich And Poor

8:27pm January 02, 2014

by Anthony Kuhn

The proceeds from corruption, and legal and ethical gray areas, are a daily fact of life in China. The practice of gray income, which shows no sign of abating, may make political reforms more difficult.

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A November demonstration against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Designated Secrets Bill drew thousands of protesters. The Japanese Parliament has since passed the law, under which people convicted of leaking classified information will face five to

Japan's State Secrets Law: Hailed By U.S., Denounced By Japanese

8:31pm December 31, 2013

by Lucy Craft

Japan's tough new law protecting state secrets was a victory for Washington, which had long pressured its Asian ally to exert tighter control over classified information. But the controversial law has triggered widespread outrage in Japan and undermined the popularity of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

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PLANET MONEY MAKES A T-SHIRT: The Lives Of The Workers Who Made Our Shirts

Nixon And Kimchi: How The Garment Industry Came To Bangladesh

10:35am December 27, 2013

by Zoe Chace

The business that transformed the nation is the product of an obscure but hugely influential trade deal — and a cultural struggle over Korean food.

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A Bangladeshi worker participates in a protest outside a garment factory in Dhaka.

World News

The Tragic Number That Got Us All Talking About Our Clothing

5:31pm December 26, 2013

by Caitlin Kenney

As 2013 wraps up, NPR is looking at the numbers that tell this year's story. The number 1,134 got us all talking about where our clothes come from, who's making it, and under what conditions. It's the official death toll of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh.

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Music & Culture

World's Most Popular Film Industry Turns 100

11:30am December 21, 2013

Bright colors, intricate dance sequences, melodramatic plots and great music are hallmarks of India's movie industry, which got its start 100 years ago. NPR's Scott Simon explores the Indian cinema with Rajinder Dudrah, aka Doc. Bollywood.

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William Wong (standing) poses with his parents and nephew in an old family photo. Wong's mother immigrated to the U.S. from China as his father's "sister" to bypass the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Chinese-American Descendants Uncover Forged Family Histories

12:30am December 18, 2013

by Hansi Lo Wang

The Chinese Exclusion Act, designed to prevent Chinese laborers from entering the country, prompted tens of thousands of people to use forged papers to enter the U.S. The law was repealed 70 years ago, but many Chinese-Americans are still piecing together their ancestors' true identities.

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Blasting through powder on wooden, horsehide-bottomed skis, with a single pole for balance, an Altai skier shows off the skills and equipment his distant ancestors perfected.

Deep In China, 'Cowboys' Have Skied For Thousands Of Years

10:21am December 16, 2013

by NPR Staff

On wooden skis, the Tuvan people of Central Asia have been traversing the snow for at least 4,000 years. Travel writer Mark Jenkins went to the region for National Geographic, where he joined a group of lasso-wielding men on skis tracking elk.

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