KABUL - Underpaid, under-equipped and under-trained, Afghanistan's 93,000-member police force is the weak link in an ambitious security strategy to hand over defense of the country to Afghans so American and other foreign troops can go home.
KABUL - Underpaid, under-equipped and under-trained, Afghanistan's 93,000-member police force is the weak link in an ambitious security strategy to hand over defense of the country to Afghans so American and other foreign troops can go home.
JAKARTA (AFP) - - Hollywood's latest doomsday offering "2012" has caused a storm in Indonesia, with conservative clerics condemning it Thursday as a "provocation against Islam".
JAKARTA (AFP) - - Environmentalists claimed a small victory on Thursday after Indonesia ordered one of the country's biggest pulp and paper companies to halt forest clearing in the Kampar Peninsula.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia is deploying more peacekeepers to Lebanon to join a U.N. mission monitoring a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia has stepped up efforts to combat graft to maintain investor confidence as a survey showed the country's corruption ranking worsened this year, Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamad said Wednesday.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's government has warned a newspaper that its coverage of a fatal police shooting of five ethnic Indian criminal suspects could stir racial tensions and cause the publication to be suspended, the daily's chief executive said.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The government in Muslim-majority Malaysia has barred a Roman Catholic newspaper from publishing a supplement in a language spoken by indigenous people on Borneo island, an official said Friday.
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - - Philippine troops have killed one of the top commanders of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, the military said Friday.
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine troops killed a senior commander of al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants wanted for kidnappings and bombings amid an ongoing offensive, the military said Friday.
MANILA, Philippines - A Philippine gay rights group is waging a legal battle to be allowed to run in next year's polls after the Elections Commission ruled it cannot register as a political party on grounds that it advocates immorality.
SINGAPORE: The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said four individuals are currently under investigation for selling illegal medicines over the Internet.
SINGAPORE: The International Advisory Panel (IAP) on Clean Energy has identified three key areas of focus for Singapore to differentiate itself in the energy market.
MANILA: Overseas Chinese businessmen have a role to play in leading economies out of the current recession, said Singapore’s Foreign Minister George Yeo in an address at the 10th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC) in Manila on Friday.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The Cambodian government on Friday confirmed its temporary takeover of management of the country's air traffic control company after one of its Thai employees was arrested last week on a spying charge.
BANGKOK - Police in Thailand have detained a fourth person suspected of using the Internet to spread rumors about the king's health, but plan no further arrests, a senior police officer said Thursday.
BANGKOK (AFP) - - Thai police have charged a fourth person with spreading false rumours about the health of the country's revered king, after concerns over his condition sent stocks plunging, police said Thursday.
BEIJING - Washington's ambassador to Beijing hit out Friday at negative U.S. media coverage of President Barack Obama's visit to China, saying it failed to take into account important progress on many issues.
BEIJING - China's health ministry said it will punish officials who underreport cases of swine flu after a doctor famous for exposing the extent of the 2003 SARS epidemic said he believes the true number of swine flu deaths is being covered up.
BEIJING (AFP) - - Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie will visit North Korea soon, state-run media said on Friday, amid efforts to draw Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.
By James Pomfret
HONG KONG (AFP) - - Nicknamed "spiders" for their gravity-defying skills in web-like constructions, Hong Kong's bamboo scaffolders have risen above predictions that their trade would disappear.
HONG KONG (AFP) - - US President Barack Obama must press China on human rights violations in Tibet and its far-west Xinjiang region during his upcoming Asian tour, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.
TAIPEI (AFP) - - Leading Taiwanese movie director Chu Yen-ping plans a black comedy titled "Assassinating Chen Shui-bian" about a plot to kill the island's former president, a report said Thursday.
TAIPEI (AFP) - - A Taiwanese mother kept the body of her maltreated toddler daughter for four days, cooling it with ice cubes, before going on Yahoo! to ask how to dispose of the corpse, reports said Monday.
TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's government is not concerned about US President Barack Obama's first visit to China, given the easing in tensions with Beijing, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.