Asia

World News

How Singapore Sees The Threat From North Korea

7:37am May 05, 2017

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has urged South Asian countries to ensure enforcement of sanctions against North Korea. Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan of Singapore talks with Rachel Martin.

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All Nippon Airways To Review Gluten-Free Options

7:11am May 05, 2017

On a flight from Tokyo to Sydney, Martin Pavelka ordered gluten free meals. For breakfast, other passengers got sausage, eggs and bread. Pavelka got a banana along with a knife, fork and some salt.

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China Forcefully Opposes U.S. Missile Defense System In South Korea

4:37pm May 04, 2017

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks to Michael Elleman, senior fellow for missile defense at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, about a new American missile defense system in South Korea.

Protest banners hang in rural Seongju county, where the U.S. has installed a missile defense system known by its acronym, THAAD. Residents oppose the installation, and it's become an issue in South Korea's upcoming presidential election. The front-runner

Korean Village's Message To THAAD Missile Defense System: 'Go Away'

4:37pm May 04, 2017

by Lauren Frayer

From a golf course in South Korea, the U.S. can now shoot down North Korean missiles. But residents don't want a missile defense system in their backyard — and neither does China.

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The North Korean flag flies above the country's embassy in Beijing last month. China is the North's most important trading partner and ally, but lately Beijing has been placing pressure on Pyongyang over the North's nuclear and missile programs.

World News

North Korea Pens Singular, Scathing Criticism Of Its Singular Ally, China

2:53pm May 04, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

The country's state-run news agency issued a rare broadside against Beijing, its most important trade partner and ally, for "its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

Health & Safety

Women (And Men) Demand An End To India's Tax On Sanitary Pads

12:32pm May 04, 2017

by Esha Chhabra

#LahuKaLagaan is the name of a new viral campaign. It means "the tax on blood." The goal is to get the government to end the tax on sanitary napkins.

Amateur K-pop dancers perform at a presidential campaign rally for Moon Jae-in, the candidate for Korea's Democratic Party, in Seoul on Saturday.

Parade Floats And Altered K-Pop Songs Mark South Korea's Coming Election

12:22pm May 04, 2017

by Lauren Frayer

With tensions rising over North Korea's nuclear program, you might expect a kind of panic in South Korea. But there's an altogether different scene happening in Seoul ahead of the election.

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The China-Korea Friendship Bridge crosses the Yalu River from Dandong into North Korea. Seventy percent of North Korea's trade passes over the bridge.

World News

A Chinese Border City Gives Tourists A Glimpse Of Life In North Korea

11:32pm May 03, 2017

by Rob Schmitz

From Dandong, across the Yalu River from North Korea, middle-class Chinese tourists can buy North Korean cigarettes and souvenirs, and gaze through binoculars at North Korean farmers plowing fields.

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In this picture released by the Tasnim News Agency, miners and rescue personnel carry an injured mine worker after a coal mine explosion, near Azadshahr in northern Iran. (AP Photo/Tasnim News Agency, Mostafa Hassanzadeh)

World News

More Than 20 People Reportedly Killed In Iranian Coal Mine Blast

4:46pm May 03, 2017

by Jim Kane

Iranian state media say at least 21 miners died and scores more were injured in the mine in northern Iran. More than a dozen people were thought to still be trapped in the mine.

North Korea Confirms Detention Of Third American As Tensions Grow

4:32pm May 03, 2017

NPR's Kelly McEvers speaks to Joseph DeTrani, former State Department special envoy for negotiations with North Korea, about the detention of a third American in North Korea.