Asia

A traffic guard goes through the motions in the capital of Pyongyang, though streets are almost empty of cars.

World News

Truth Or Propaganda? Finding Real Stories In North Korea

12:21pm September 30, 2013

by NPR Staff

Some stories from the isolated nation are stranger than government-sponsored fiction. AP Asia correspondent Tim Sullivan brings us unexpected tales, like the North Korean love affair with Gone with the Wind.

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World News

Concerns Growing Over North Korea's Nuclear Program

6:03pm September 25, 2013

Robert Siegel talks to Joshua Pollack, a consultant to the US government, about concerns that North Korea has or could soon have the tools to make the centrifuges to enrich the uranium to make the atomic weapons without having to import key elements in the process. Pollack studies arms control, proliferation, deterrence, intelligence, and regional security affairs. He also writes for the blog Arms Control Wonk.

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Boxes of empty Jinro soju bottles sit in a downtown Seoul, South Korea, shop on April 1, 2005.

Arts

Move Over Vodka; Korean Soju's Taking A Shot At America

3:35pm September 25, 2013

by Tom Dreisbach

It's the top-selling spirit in the world, but you've probably never heard of it. That's because Jinro soju does less than 5 percent of its sales in the U.S. Now, they're looking to expand that presence — by a lot. "We want to be in every store," says one marketing manager. "That's our main goal."

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Pakistan, Iraq See Uptick In Suicide Bombings

10:35am September 23, 2013

To try to understand what's behind the rise in gruesome attacks, Steve Inskeep talks to Vali Nasr, who is the dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has served as a senior adviser to the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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A police officer blocks photos from being taken outside Zhongnanhai, the central headquarters for the Communist Party of China, in Beijing last year.

World News

China's Debate: Must The Party Follow The Constitution?

8:01pm September 18, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

If you demand democracy in China, you can quickly find yourself at odds with the government. So these days, reformers are trying to use the constitution to make the party accountable to the people. But that didn't keep a Shanghai professor from getting suspended.

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Inspector Mohammad Saleem Taqi takes a photo of sanitation workers as they clear out debris in sewers. The government feeds the photos into a map to track the city's effort to stop dengue fever.

How Smartphones Became Vital Tools Against Dengue In Pakistan

2:14pm September 17, 2013

by Beenish Ahmed

Two years ago Pakistan's Punjab province was hit with one of the world's worst dengue outbreaks. This year the number of recorded cases has plummeted. Many leaders credit a mobile phone app that tracks mosquito populations and city workers' efforts to contain them.

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Rice farmers pull a harvest festival cart down country lanes in Narita city, Chiba prefecture. The area is home to Tokyo's main airport, but also has many agricultural areas.

Japan's Rice Farmers See Trade Deal As Threat To Tradition

9:38am September 17, 2013

by Anthony Kuhn

Each summer, the rice farmers of Narita, Japan, gather to pray for bountiful harvests with dancing, music and elaborate festival carts. This year, some farmers feel their way of life is under threat from a major trade agreement.

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World News

India Court Convicts 4 Men In Fatal Gang Rape

7:08am September 10, 2013

An Indian court has convicted four men involved in a gang rape of a woman on a New Delhi bus in December. The men are expected to be sentenced Wednesday.

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World News

Concert Stirs Strife In Disputed Kashmir Region

7:25am September 09, 2013

by Julie McCarthy

The German government sponsored the concert and chose as the venue Srinagar, Kashmir. That's the disputed territory in the Himalayas over which India and Pakistan have twice gone to war. Indian-controlled Kashmir has been torn by internal conflict as well for two decades as separatists fought to expel Indian forces.

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Rahul Kacker owns a factory that makes car components. His business has been hit by the economic slowdown.

India's New Central Banker Steps Into A Perfect Storm

8:54pm September 06, 2013

by Julie McCarthy

The new chairman of the Reserve Bank of India infused a sense of much-needed optimism this week, but analysts say the exuberance is unlikely to last. India's economic growth has crashed, its currency has plunged and prices are up. After a decade of high growth rates, India is now the sick man of Asia.

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