Gunmen In Pakistan Target Polio Vaccinators
Gunmen staged new attacks Wednesday on health workers carrying out a nationwide polio vaccination program. On Tuesday, six workers were killed as they went house to house.
Asia
Daughter Of A Dictator Favored In S. Korean Election
Park Geun-hye's father was a military dictator who ran the country for nearly two decades. She has apologized for her father's suppression of democracy and appears to be slightly favored in Wednesday's presidential vote.
Japanese Voters Return Conservatives To Power
The Liberal Democratic Party won resoundingly Sunday in parliamentary elections that both Washington and Beijing were watching carefully. The conservative LDP's hawkish leader, Shinzo Abe, will become Japan's prime minister for the second time and has pledged to take a harder line on China.
Nationalist Rhetoric High As Japanese Head To Polls
Sunday's parliamentary election is taking place against a backdrop of increasing nationalist feeling in Japan. Right-wing sentiment has been growing in the face of an ongoing conflict with China over a group of disputed islands and continued economic and political instability inside Japan.
What North Korea's Rocket Launch Tells Us About Iran's Role
U.S. officials wonder whether North Korea's successful rocket launch this week helped Iran — another country whose nuclear program concerns the U.S. The two countries have worked together in missile design, but it's unclear who's helping whom.
Chinese Firm Buys Massachusetts Tech Company
On Tuesday, a federal bankruptcy judge gave the nod to a Chinese firm to buy a Massachusetts technology company. The company, A123 Systems, makes batteries for electric cars, but some in Congress are fighting to block the deal.
N. Korea Fires Long-Range Rocket
North Korea appears to have taken a step forward in its long-range missile program. The country has fired a long-range rocket in spite of warnings from the U.S. and the United Nations.
Hunger Still Haunts North Korea, Citizens Say
A U.N. report says North Korea has more food than in previous years. But North Koreans who spoke to NPR say conditions are still dire. Food has become too expensive for many North Koreans, and people are dying of hunger, they say.
Fleeing North Korea Through 'Asia's Underground Railroad'
North Korea remains one of the most isolated and repressive countries in the world. Each year, a brave few attempt an escape to freedom through China. In Escape from North Korea, writer Melanie Kirkpatrick tells the harrowing personal stories of North Korean defectors and their quest for freedom.
In Rural China, New Leaders Aren't Familiar Faces
Economic progress in China's countryside helps explain the varied reaction to the once-in-a-decade leadership transition. In big cities and online, some derided the process as an authoritarian charade. In rural China, though, there is a reservoir of goodwill and people are more accepting even if they don't know the leaders well.