Indian police charge 5 in New Delhi gang rape

NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities filed rape and murder charges Thursday against five men accused of the gang rape of a 23-year-old university student on a New Delhi bus, a crime that horrified Indians and provoked a national debate about the treatment of women.Police said they plan to push for the death penalty in the case, as government officials promised new measures to protect women in the nation's...

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Indian court may suspend lawmakers facing crimes

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian lawmakers facing sexual assault charges against women could be suspended from office if the country's top court rules in favor of a petition submitted following a gang-rape and murder that shocked the country.Six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape, said Jagdeep S....

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Afghan negotiator welcomes prisoner release

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A top Afghan negotiator said Tuesday he hopes eight Taliban members freed by Pakistan will serve as peace mediators, describing Islamabad's move as a major step forward for Kabul's effort to enlist its neighbor's help in negotiating an end to its 11-year war.The eight released Monday include the Taliban's justice minister when the militants ruled Afghanistan before their...

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Asian nations giving enthusiastic welcome to 2013

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Sydney's skyline erupted with tons of exploding fireworks as revelers cheered in the new year from the city's crammed harbor in the world's first major celebration for 2013.The enthusiastic welcome to 2013 was continuing on a grand scale across Asia.Increasingly democratic Myanmar is having a public countdown for the first time. Jakarta plans a huge street party befitting...

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India rape victim's body cremated in New Delhi

NEW DELHI (AP) — A young woman who died after being gang-raped and beaten on a bus in India's capital was cremated Sunday amid an outpouring of anger and grief by millions across the country demanding greater protection for women from sexual violence.The cremation took place during a private ceremony in New Delhi soon after the woman's body arrived in the capital on a special Air India flight from...

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Whale of a tale: Pakistani fishmonger now pop star

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Muhammad Shahid Nazir is a testament to the age-old adage that if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, but if you teach a man to sing about fish, his song will shoot up the British pop chart.The 31-year-old Pakistani fishmonger catapulted to fame in recent weeks in the unlikeliest of circumstances: while hawking frozen snapper and mackerel for one British pound ($1.61) at...

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China requiring people to visit their aged parents

BEIJING (AP) — Visit your parents. That's an order.So says China, whose national legislature on Friday amended its law on the elderly to require that adult children visit their aged parents "often" — or risk being sued by them.The amendment does not specify how frequently such visits should occur.State media say the new clause will allow elderly parents who feel neglected by their children to take...

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India rape victim in Singapore; PM pledges action

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged Thursday to take action to protect the nation's women while the young victim of a gang rape on a New Delhi bus was flown to Singapore for treatment of severe internal injuries.The Dec. 16 rape and brutal beating of the 23-year-old student triggered widespread protests, including a march on Thursday, demanding a government crackdown on the...

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New Japan PM: Saving economic crisis top mission

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's newly installed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his top mission is to avert economic and diplomatic crises.Abe was elected as Japan's leader Wednesday. The rise of Abe, whose nationalist positions have in the past angered Japan's neighbors, brings back the conservative, pro-business Liberal Democratic Party that governed for most of the post-World War II era to power. The left-leaning...

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Plane crash-lands on Myanmar road, 3 killed

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A flight packed with Christmas tourists crash-landed on a road in central Myanmar on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring 11, officials said.Four foreigners were among the injured on the Air Bagan flight, the airline said. It said the fatalities were all Myanmar citizens: a tour guide and an 11-year-old child on board the plane and a man riding a motorcycle on the road...

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Afghan policewoman kills US adviser in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan policewoman shot and killed an American adviser outside the police headquarters in Kabul on Monday, the latest in a rising tide of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies, senior Afghan officials said.The killing of the American, who worked as a contractor with the NATO command, was the first known insider attack by a woman in Afghanistan.The woman,...

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Gang rape protesters clash with Indian police

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police in India's capital used tear gas and water cannons for a second day Sunday in a high-security zone to break up protests by thousands of people demonstrating against the gang rape and beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus.Police chased angry protesters with batons some of whom fought pitched battles with steel rods and rocks as they tried to get past steel barricades and...

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Pakistan says 29 nationals beaten by Afghans

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say they are investigating allegations by neighboring Pakistan that Afghan forces severely beat Pakistani nationals.The Saturday protest note from Islamabad's Foreign Office provided no details other than to say that all 29 had valid travel documents.Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai says he has no information about the allegations, but Kabul...

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Russia's Gazprom to buy Kyrgyz state gas company

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Kyrgyzstan's state-owned natural gas company says it is to be sold in its entirety to Russian energy giant Gazprom.Kyrgyzgaz general director Turgunbek Kulmurzayev said Friday that the sale of the company would be completed by April 1.The takeover will raise hopes that the Central Asian nation may not continue to experience debilitating energy shortages like those it has...

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Indian women live in fear of violence

NEW DELHI (AP) — It is almost every Indian woman's nightmare, lived daily when in public — a stream of obscene comments, unwanted hands being placed on them and then being blamed for causing the sexual violence.The gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old student by six men on a bus in New Delhi may have sparked days of protests and demands for authorities to take tougher action, but for women in India...

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Dictator's daughter has lead in SKorea vote

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The daughter of a late dictator held a slight lead Wednesday in early vote counts for South Korea's presidential election, setting up the possibility that the deeply conservative country will get its first female leader.With about 64 percent of the votes counted, Park Geun-hye had 51.7 percent of votes while her opponent Moon Jae-in had 47.8 percent, according to the state-run...

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Both SKorean presidential hopefuls promise change

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The liberal son of North Korean refugees faces the conservative daughter of a late dictator in South Korea's presidential election Wednesday. For all their differences, they've made remarkably similar campaign promises.Liberal Moon Jae-in and conservative Park Geun-hye both want to extend a hand to rival North Korea, fight widespread government corruption, strengthen social...

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Philippines passes divisive contraceptives law

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine legislators passed a landmark law Monday to provide government funding for contraceptives and sex education in schools despite strong opposition from the Catholic church and its followers, some who threatened to ask the Supreme Court to block the legislation.A majority of the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives separately cast their votes for...

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Nationalist Shinzo Abe is likely Japan's next PM

WAKO, Japan (AP) — The Liberal Democratic Party's victory in Japan's parliamentary election virtually ensures that Shinzo Abe, who resigned as prime minister for health reasons in 2007 after just a year in office, will get a second chance to try to lead Japan out of its economic slump.In Abe's political resurrection, the Japanese are confiding their hopes for a national comeback, backing Liberal Democrat...

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Schools and students are targets worldwide

BEIJING (AP) — A half-day before a young gunman committed one of the deadliest school attacks in U.S. history, a Chinese farmer took a kitchen knife and hacked at more than 20 children as they entered their rural elementary school.Though the outcomes are different — 28 dead in Connecticut, and 23 injured in China — the Friday attacks show how disturbingly frequent rampages against children and schools...

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