Asia | featured news

The barrage of threats from North Korea has sparked talk from within South Korea of the need to develop its own nuclear weapons. A recent poll shows that two-thirds of South Korean citizens surveyed support the idea, especially in the wake of North Korea's third nuclear test in February.

Police said they arrested five men Sunday in connection with the gang rape of a Swiss woman who was attacked in central India while on a cycling vacation with her husband.

A Swiss woman who was on a cycling trip in central India with her husband has been gang-raped by eight men, police said Saturday. The attack comes three months after the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus outraged Indians.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - In a break from months of saber rattling, China under new President Xi Jinping appears to be moderating its approach to a potentially explosive territorial dispute with Japan and taking measures to prevent accidental conflict.

Street signs in English, not-so-spicy cuisine, locals who don’t stare, contemporary art galleries, modern youth hostels and even interpreter hot lines for cabdrivers who don’t speak English. For independent travelers about to start an expedition into the huge, mysterious nation of China, I have some advice: stop in Shanghai and take a deep breath.

China’s new leader Xi Jinping capped his rise Thursday by adding the largely ceremonial title of president, though he will need cautious maneuvering to consolidate his power.

Most North Koreans can't access the Internet, and only foreigners can use the country's brand-new 3G cellular network. But the country has still developed its own rudimentary social network -- which you can now see for yourself, thanks to a SXSW panel the Associated Press's Jean Lee gave this weekend.

If the extraction process is successful, it could provide enough energy to meet the country’s gas consumption needs for 14 years, experts say.

Former professional basketball star Dennis Rodman says he plans to return to North Korea to vacation with Kim Jong Un. Rodman met with the authoritarian leader in late February during a visit that was not endorsed by the U.S. State Department. The visit came during a period of tension between the countries over North Korea's nuclear weapons testing.

The director of National Intelligence says an unpredictable North Korea, with its nuclear weapons and missile programs, stands as a serious threat to the United States and East Asia nations....