Asia

Across India, several Christian communities prepare sweet homemade wines for the festive season from a rich array of local fruit, roots and grain. Above, a glass of golden pineapple wine.

From Beetroot To Pineapple, Homemade Wines Sweeten Christmas In India

11:21am December 24, 2015

by Nina Martyris

Across India, Christian communities make sweet homemade wines for the festive season from an array of local fruit, roots and grain. But the know-how behind this ancient tradition may be disappearing.

World News

At Least 70 Missing After Landslide Buries Industrial Park In Southern China

4:29pm December 23, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Jennifer Turner, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's China Environment Forum, about the toxic waste disaster in Shenzhen, China.

World News

Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Convicted; Receives Suspended Sentence

2:49pm December 22, 2015

by Anthony Kuhn

The conviction was based on the contents of seven tweets he posted online. The sentence caps a year which saw most of the country's small community of human rights lawyers detained or questioned.

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Rescuers use machinery to search for potential survivors following a landslide in the south of China.

World News

A Day After Massive Landslide In China, 85 People Still Missing

9:04pm December 21, 2015

by Laura Wagner

The landslide of mud and construction materials is the latest in a string of disasters in China that were caused by human error.

World News

Japan Upholds Surname Law In Name Of Culture

8:34am December 20, 2015

Japan's supreme court upheld a law from more than 100 years ago that requires married couples to have the same last name. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with NPR's Elise Hu about reaction to the decision.

Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around a reef in the disputed Spratly Islands, in a still image from video taken by a U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft in May. China says a U.S. bomber got too close to one of the islands.

World News

U.S. Bomber's Flight A 'Serious Military Provocation,' China Says

12:28pm December 19, 2015

by Bill Chappell

Complaining that an American B-52 bomber flew near disputed islands in the South China Sea, China's defense ministry calls the flight "a serious military provocation" that caused an alert.

Two young Afghan women, Shopirai Otmonkhel and Zahra Karimi Nooristani, hold the Afghan flag on an unnamed peak in Panjshir. They were among 13 Afghan girls and young women who took part in a 16-day climbing expedition in northeast Afghanistan.

For Young Afghan Women, Scaling Mountain Peaks Brings Highs And Lows

6:14am December 19, 2015

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Months of training culminated with reaching the summit of a 16,500-foot peak, which they named. But there were frustrations and squabbles along the away, and uncertainties as they returned to Kabul.

If you're heading to China, check out the list of recommended vaccines. And be careful on that ice!

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Mumps: Medical Tips For Year-End Travelers

3:46pm December 18, 2015

by Fran Kritz

Winter travelers need to think about measles, mumps, polio and bug repellents.

South Korean Team Building Exercise Puts Workers In Coffins

7:38am December 17, 2015

South Korea firms — faced with high stress and low productivity — are putting employees through a deathly motivational exercise. Workers are put into a coffin, which is then sealed for 10 minutes.

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Ali Hakim performs in the main train station under Kuala Lumpur's most famous landmark, the Petronas Twin Towers. Malaysia's Tourism Ministry now provides support for buskers.

World News

Malaysia Gives Buskers A Stage Of Their Own

2:08pm December 16, 2015

by Elise Hu

Street performers are a common sight in Kuala Lumpur, but they weren't always welcome. An effort to bring buskers together, along with support from the Tourism Ministry, helped change their image.