All Asia Pacific
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As world dials back death penalty, Japan heads in opposite direction
Two gangsters were hanged in Japan last week. More executions are likely under new Prime Minister Abe, who has expressed strong support for the death penalty – and says the public backs him.
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US considers end to tariffs in Myanmar: Too soon?
Though the country has gone through a series of reforms, Human Rights Watch has recently thrown allegations of 'ethnic cleansing' at the government.
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Why China won't help the US on North Korea
Many Asia watchers are dubious that China either can or will take decisive action to push North Korea away from nuclear threats. Here are five underlying reasons why:
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Is Japan's Shinzo Abe finally acting on his true nationalist colors?
Japan's prime minister appears to be stepping up his campaign to reinterpret Japan's wartime history, aggravating China and South Korea at a time when the region should be uniting to deal with North Korea.
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US military chief in Beijing warns of North Korea 'miscalculation'
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Dempsey is in China looking for help on North Korea. Though Beijing indicated it was 'working on' it, there are a number of reasons why China might be reluctant to push the North too hard.
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China harasses family of Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo
Chinese officials routinely pressure family members of political activists and government critics to get them to fall in line.
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Nuclear North Korea entreats Mongolia for help in feeding its people
Kim Jong-un, the young leader in Pyongyang, finds that destabilizing East Asia can help build quite an appetite.
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North Korea: US military braces for heightened readiness
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey says 'we’re in a period of prolonged provocation' with North Korea and its young dictator, Kim Jong-un. The US will continue holding military exercises with South Korea, Dempsey says.
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Rhino head heist: Half a million euros' worth stolen from Irish museum
The thieves are expected to try to sell the horns in Asia. Europol claimed in 2011 that most of Europe's illegal rhino trade was committed by a single 'ethnically-Irish organized criminal group.'
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No consulates yet, but China and Taiwan opt for the next best thing
China and Taiwan are set to mark five years of improving ties with de facto consulates. If they are approved, they will represent the highest-level presence by either country.
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North Korea's Kim Jong-un celebrates missile-free holiday (+video)
Officials in South Korea, the United States, and Japan say that intelligence indicates North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in February, is ready to test a medium-range missile.
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China cozies up to Iceland in race for Arctic resources
China has been paying a lot of attention to Iceland, a country with a population 1/5000th the size of its own, as an effort to stretch its influence into the Arctic Sea.
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Why Indonesia's farmers have begun to guard their crops like gold
The price of staple crops has skyrocketed in Indonesia - shallots have gone from $1.20 a kilogram to as much as $7 - prompting farmers to take new measures to guard their fields against looters.
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Kim Jong-un's goal? Status as the unequivocal god-king of the North.
Kim Jong-un is showing he is firmly in charge of North Korea, capable of challenging the mighty United States and a worthy successor to the Kim dynasty. That might be a good thing.
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Friend or frenemy? For China, key issue is how US really views it
Both the US and China want to tamp down the North Korea crisis. But as Secretary of State John Kerry visits Beijing this weekend, an underlying issue is mutual suspicion over strategic aims in the Pacific.
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Calm in Guam as islanders doubt North Korean missile aim
The US territory's crisis-ready inhabitants are trusting God, Uncle Sam, common sense, and poor aim to keep them safe from a ballistic assault by North Korea.
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North Korea threat: How one island is taking Kim Jong-un more seriously
Island residents of Baengnyeong are at the center of the North-South conflict, and are taking North Korea's threats of a missile test seriously, but calmly.
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North Korea threat: Is it cooling?
North Korea threat of missile launch continued to preoccupy the region today, which was the deadline North Korea gave for foreigners to leave South Korea to avoid conflict. But nothing happened.
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Amid crisis, influential South Korean politician wants to deploy US nukes
A member of the South Korean National Assembly called for US tactical nuclear weapons on the peninsula. He also suggested that Seoul consider developing its own deterrent.
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Why is North Korea's Kaesong industrial park closing?
The exceptional length of the shutdown so far could signal that inter-Korean relations have entered a new low.
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