Asia

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Facebook Sinks Millions Into Underwater Internet Cable

With US market saturated, Facebook looks to Asia for growth

(Newser) - Call it Bandwidth of Dreams. Banking that if they build it, users will come, Facebook is investing in a 6,214-mile-long fiber-optic cable running from Malaysia to South Korea and Japan, reports the BBC . The $450 million Asia Pacific Gateway cable is designed to reduce the countries' reliance on Singapore...

Manufacturing Orders Slump in Asia, Plunge in Europe

Leading indicator reveals Western economies may be worse than thought

(Newser) - Purchasing Managers' Index reports from Asia and Europe—a critical economic indicator—showed big drops in June, in a strong sign that the economies of Europe and the US could be weaker than thought, the Guardian . Despite European leaders agreeing on a bank bailout scheme last week, Europe's PMI...

North America No Longer Home to Most Millionaires

The honor now goes to Asia

(Newser) - North America may have retaken one crown from Asia yesterday, but it was forced to relinquish another today: The latter is now officially home to the most millionaires in the world, according to a new report by Capgemini. Its 3.37 million millionaires, a boost of 1.6% over 2010,...

Blind Chinese Activist Chen En Route to US

Chen Guangcheng aboard flight from Beijing

(Newser) - The blind Chinese activist whose escape from a rural village set off a diplomatic tussle between Beijing and Washington is on his way to the United States. Chen Guangcheng, his wife, and their two children were on United Airlines Flight 88, which took off from the Beijing airport en route...

Asia Snapping Up Our High-Tech Jobs, Too

Cost advantage isn't the only reason Asia is gaining on US

(Newser) - Asia isn't just snapping up low-wage unskilled manufacturing jobs from the US; thanks to rapidly expanding engineering and research capabilities, the continent, and particularly China, have been able to lure away America's high-tech manufacturing jobs, too, according to a new report from the National Science Board. In the...

Record Number of Rhinos Killed in S. Africa

Meanwhile, Interpol joins effort to save Asian tigers

(Newser) - Two stories of note on the wires about animal conservation:
  • Rhinos: Poachers have killed a record 341 rhinos this year in South Africa, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The horns fetch big money on the black market for use in traditional medicine or as ornamental daggers, reports the BBC
...

Putin: Time for 'Eurasian Union'

'Economic and currency' alliance wouldn't be new USSR: prime minister

(Newser) - Russia’s former—and likely next —president wants to join former Soviet countries in a “Eurasian Union.” The entity would be rooted in Russia’s Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, to allow labor, capital, and trade to flow freely among the countries beginning next year, Reuters...

Philippines: Geckos Won't Cure AIDS

Health officials suggest trying actual medicine

(Newser) - Put down that gecko: The Philippine health department is warning citizens that using geckos to treat AIDS, asthma, and tuberculosis doesn't work and endangers those who don't seek proper treatment. There's no scientific evidence to the folklore behind the practice, and it's caused an increase in...

Millions in Europe, Asia Face 'Unmapped' Quake Risk

'Interior zone' earthquakes can be the deadliest

(Newser) - We’re well aware of longstanding earthquake risks in places like California and Japan. But Europe, the Middle East, and Asia face potentially deadlier threats—and it’s time for scientists to take action, researchers say. So-called “interior zone” earthquakes have killed 1.4 million in the past century,...

Stocks, Dollar Surge on bin Laden Death

Market celebrates in early trading

(Newser) - Stocks and the dollar surged in early trading after news hit the world that the US has taken out Osama bin Laden. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.5% in Tokyo, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.5%, putting it on track for...

Obama Relives Childhood Memories as Asia Trip Ends

Trip offered opportunities for personal moments

(Newser) - President Obama finished off his 10-day Asia trip on a personal note, visiting the Great Buddha statue in Japan that he last saw as a 6-year-old boy. “It is wonderful to return to this great treasure of Japanese culture,” he wrote in the guest book. "Its beauty...

Obama Spins India Trip Into Job Mission

Critics scream about cost despite widely discredited report

(Newser) - Faced with a barrage of outrage—based on a discredited report—over the cost of his 10-day trip to India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan, Barack Obama has rebranded it as a jobs mission. “The primary purpose is to take a bunch of US companies and open up markets...

Price of Condoms to Rise
 Price of Condoms to Rise 
RUBBER'S PRICEY

Price of Condoms to Rise

Asian storms interfere with rubber tapping, driving up cost of tires, latex gloves

(Newser) - Safe sex just got a little pricier: The cost of condoms, tires, latex gloves and other rubber products will rise sharply due to torrential rains in southeast Asia, where most rubber is farmed, the Financial Times reports. Producers have had to absorb a 65% increase in the cost of natural...

Toll in China Landslide Hits 337

More rain expected tomorrow; 1100 still missing

(Newser) - Rescuers dug through mud and wreckage today searching for more than 1,100 people missing after flash floods and landslides struck northwestern China and killed 337, one of a series of floods across Asia that have killed hundreds and spread misery to millions more. Vehicles carrying aid supplies choked the...

1,300 Missing in Asia Floods
 1,300 Missing in Asia Floods 

1,300 Missing in Asia Floods

Millions plunged into misery

(Newser) - Rescuers searched today for an estimated 1,300 people left missing after rubble-strewn floodwaters tore through northwestern China, smashing buildings, overturning cars, and killing at least 127 people. In neighboring Pakistan, 4 million people faced food shortages amid their country's worst-ever flooding, while rescuers in Indian-controlled Kashmir raced to find...

Brazilian Business Accused of Mutilating Sharks for Fins
 Brazilian Business Accused 
 of Mutilating Sharks for Fins
Shark Week Bummer

Brazilian Business Accused of Mutilating Sharks for Fins

Shark fin soup is the hot ticket in Asia

(Newser) - Here’s a story sure to rain on your Shark Week parade: A Brazilian environmental advocacy group is suing a Brazilian seafood exporter, alleging that it has been capturing sharks, cutting off their fins, and throwing the severely wounded creatures back into the water. Removing a shark’s fin is...

South Korea Border Robots Ready to Kill

With shrinking population, S. Korea manufactures soldiers

(Newser) - Two killer robots are patrolling the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea—and they belong to the South. The robots, produced at a cost of $330,000, are equipped with surveillance, tracking, firing, and voice recognition capabilities. South Korea is using them as a test run for a...

Obama Will Visit India in November
Obama Will
Visit India in November

Obama Will Visit India in November

Calls partnership among his 'highest of priorities'

(Newser) - President Obama today called deepening ties with India one of his administration's most important goall and said he will visit in early November. The US-Indian relationship, he said, will help shape the coming century. Obama's comments came during the inaugural US-India Strategic Dialogue, a high-level meeting meant to ease Indians'...

Man Kills 3 Judges in China Shooting Spree

Post office security guard have been angry over divorce ruling

(Newser) - A man with a small automatic weapon burst into a court office in China Tuesday, killing three judges and wounding three others before killing himself. The 46-year-old head of security at a post office reportedly told a co-worker he was taking his weapons for an inspection, then headed to court...

The iPad Goes International
 The iPad Goes International 

The iPad Goes International

'I wanted to touch it as soon as possible!'

(Newser) - Some 1,200 people waited in a half-mile-long line outside Apple's flagship store in Tokyo this morning in anticipation of the international iPad launch. "I wanted to touch it as soon as possible. I felt real excitement when it was finally in my hands," one man tells Reuters...

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