Asia News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - China may host US Defense Secretary Robert Gates for talks later this year after having cancelled an earlier visit over US arms sales to Taiwan, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Full Story »

BEIJING (AFP) - Myanmar's junta leader Than Shwe on Thursday thanked China for its support of his isolated state and pledged to work with Beijing to maintain stability on their sometimes troubled border. Full Story »

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka's president promised Thursday to use his new powers under a constitutional revamp to grow the economy and heal ethnic divisions, as observers worried about the island's fragile democracy. Full Story »

NEW YORK (AFP) - Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi was thwarted in his first attempt to win a US Open doubles title when he and partner Kveta Peschke lost to Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan in Thursday's mixed doubles final. Full Story »

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's top prosecutor said Thursday that while President Hamid Karzai backs the work of Western-supported anti-corruption teams, he wants investigations to be led by Afghans and free of interference from international advisers. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - A major U.S. union is asking the Obama administration to crack down on various Chinese trade practices which it says are robbing American workers of jobs in the burgeoning field of clean energy such as solar and wind power. Full Story »

SEOUL (AFP) - Former North Korean soldiers who have defected to the South formally launched a campaign Thursday to topple the Pyongyang regime with the help of serving soldiers there. Full Story »

CHESTER-LE-STREET, United Kingdom (AFP) - Wahab Riaz could play in Friday's one-day international against England despite the Pakistan seamer being caught up in the spot-fixing row currently rocking the sport. Full Story »

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Energy-hungry India is considering setting up an 11-billion-dollar fund to help finance the expansion of power companies' generation capacities, the country's power secretary said Thursday. Full Story »

KABUL, Afghanistan - The top U.S. and NATO intelligence officer in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn, is moving to a senior intelligence job in Washington, two defense officials said Thursday. Full Story »

KABUL, Afghanistan - Hundreds of angry Afghans burned a U.S. flag and chanted "Death to the Christians" on Thursday to protest plans by a small American church to torch copies of the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean children are already singing the praises of the young man in line to become the reclusive nation's next leader, analysts say, but the rest of the world doesn't even know the age, or, until recently, how to spell the name of Kim Jong Il's youngest son. Full Story »

DONGSHIGU VILLAGE, China - Blind activist lawyer Chen Guangcheng returned home Thursday after a four-year prison stint to find that very little had changed — he was cut off from communication, monitored by security agents, his family still harassed and intimidated. Full Story »

KABUL, Afghanistan - The legitimacy of Afghanistan's parliamentary elections is severely threatened by insurgent attacks on candidates and the lack of security provided by the government, an international rights group said Thursday. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea celebrated its 62nd anniversary Thursday with odes to supreme leader Kim Jong Il and pilgrimages to his late father's statue amid hints that a political meeting believed aimed at promoting his son as successor is imminent. Full Story »

BRUSSELS - The European Union presidency said Thursday that Iran's suspension of a stoning sentence against a woman convicted of adultery is not enough and demands it be completely overturned. Full Story »

TOKYO - Japan will damage its relations with China if it decides to prosecute the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands, Beijing warned Thursday. Full Story »

MANILA, Philippines - Some victims in a botched hostage rescue of a tourist bus in the Philippines may have been hit by police fire, the nation's top law enforcement official said Thursday. Full Story »