Asia

The video for Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's newly released song starts by re-creating the conditions of his captivity during the 81 days he was held in police detention in 2011, and later dissolves into a dystopian nightmare.

China's Artist Provocateur Explores New Medium: Heavy Metal

8:18pm May 22, 2013

by Louisa Lim

In 2011, police detained Ai Weiwei for 81 days. Now, he's released a song that's turned the experience into a heavy metal protest song, along with a dystopian nightmare video. The lyrics are explicit and angry. Ai says his music is for the many political prisoners who remain jailed.

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One of the highlights of the new China Art Palace in Shanghai is a giant digital rendering of a famous ancient scroll, "Along the River During Qingming Festival," which includes figures that walk and talk. The work was first presented at the 2010 World Ex

China Builds Museums, But Filling Them Is Another Story

5:43pm May 21, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

China has been building museums with abandon, opening about 100 annually in recent years. Two of the biggest opened on the same day last fall on opposite banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River. But filling these museums — with both art and visitors — is proving more challenging.

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Yen's Drop In Value Could Fuel Curency War

5:16am May 16, 2013

by John Ydstie

Japan has embarked on a massive effort to stimulate its economy. Both the government and the central bank are collaborating to end a long period of stagnation and deflation. But the effects are also being felt outside Japan.

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The Legacy Of Gen. Ridgway And America's War In Korea

12:07pm May 15, 2013

The ongoing conflict on the Korean Peninsula is the legacy of the Korean War, which helps explain relations between the north and south. In a new book, historian Victor Davis Hanson discusses how the strategies of U.S. Gen. Matthew Ridgway helped to turn around what appeared to be "a lost war."

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The wife of Li Yiqian, Yang Liming, sits in their house, which is plastered with pictures of China's leaders, an attempt to help prevent local authorities from demolishing it. Her husband has been sentenced to three years in prison for organizing a crowd

World News

Five Years After A Quake, Chinese Cite Shoddy Reconstruction

5:42pm May 14, 2013

by Louisa Lim

A massive 2008 temblor in Sichuan province killed some 90,000 Chinese and pointed to the poor construction practices in China. The rebuilding effort was supposed to showcase modern China. But today, many survivors are angry over what they say is official corruption, ranging from poor construction and unpaid workers to bribes and improper compensation for seized land.

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A Vietnamese rhino horn user displays her horn, which was a gift from her well-to-do sister. Last year, rhino horn sold for up to $1,400 an ounce in Vietnam, about the price of gold these days.

Vietnam's Appetite For Rhino Horn Drives Poaching In Africa

5:42pm May 14, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

Demand for rhino horn, used in traditional Chinese medicine, is fueling a slaughter of the animals in Africa. In Vietnam, the sought-after commodity is fetching prices as high as $1,400 an ounce, or about the price of gold. There, some believe ground horn can cure everything from hangovers to cancer.

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One of the few women competing in Pakistan's parliamentary election on Saturday is Naz Baloch, 33, a first-time candidate. She's the daughter of a politician, but is running for a different party than her father.

World News

Pakistani Women Still Struggle For A Voice In Politics

5:41pm May 14, 2013

by Julie McCarthy

Women account for only 36 of the more than 4,000 candidates on the ballot in Saturday's parlimentary election. One of them, Naz Baloch, is following her father into politics, but acknowledges it's a rough-and-tumble game in a country where opportunities for women are limited.

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Garment workers sew T-shirts at a factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2009. Bangladesh, the world's second-largest clothing exporter, has lured clothing makers through a combination of low wages and light regulation.

World News

Bangladesh's Powerful Garment Sector Fends Off Regulation

5:41pm May 14, 2013

by Jim Zarroli

The deaths of hundreds of workers in Bangladesh are taking place in a garment sector that has seen explosive growth over the past three decades. Amid market pressures to cut prices, the country has managed to lure clothing-makers through a combination of low wages and light regulation.

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World News

Bangladesh Reveals Uphill Battle For Fair Trade Clothes

3:24pm May 13, 2013

Retailers are under pressure after a building collapse killed more than 1,100 garment workers in Bangladesh. But global demand for inexpensive clothing shows no sign of abating. The New York Times' Steven Greenhouse and Elizabeth Cline, author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, unravel the prospects for improved safety in the garment industry.

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World News

Nawaz Sharif Expected To Win Pakistan's Elections

8:41am May 13, 2013

by Julie McCarthy

In Pakistan, two-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is quickly moving to form a central government for a third time in this volatile country. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League has amassed a commanding lead in unofficial returns from Saturday's election.

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