Asia News

TANAH KARO, Indonesia - An Indonesian volcano shot a towering cloud of black ash high into the air Tuesday, dusting villages 15 miles (25 kilometers) away in its most powerful eruption since awakening last week from four centuries of dormancy. Full Story »

NARATHIWAT, Thailand (AFP) - Two teachers were among five people killed in a string of attacks by suspected militants in Thailand's restive south, sparking calls for schools to be closed, officials said Tuesday. Full Story »

NOWSHERA, Pakistan (AFP) - Hollywood star Angelina Jolie Tuesday visited Pakistan's northwest to draw the world's attention towards the plight of 21 million people affected by the country's worst-ever floods. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea freed the crew Tuesday of a South Korean fishing boat seized a month ago, a sign the rivals may be talking behind the scenes to improve relations that have plummeted to their lowest point in years since the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship. Full Story »

DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh's president has pardoned 20 death-row prisoners four years after they were sentenced for the murder of a then-ruling party activist, a prison official said Tuesday. Full Story »

SHANGHAI - Sales of passenger cars in China — the world's biggest auto market — rose 18 percent in August from a year earlier as government subsidies and price cuts by dealers helped spur demand. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government's financial commitment to Afghanistan is likely to linger and reach into the billions long after it pulls combat troops from the country, newly disclosed spending estimates show. Full Story »

KABUL (AFP) - The US commander of the Afghan war has warned that his troops' lives will be endangered if a Florida evangelical church goes ahead with a planned burning of the Koran on Saturday's 9/11 anniversary. Full Story »

SEOUL, South Korea - The top executive at Kia Motors has resigned after the company recalled more than 100,000 vehicles worldwide over defective wiring, the automaker said Tuesday. Full Story »

CANBERRA (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard retained power by a tiny, one-seat majority Tuesday after winning the backing of two key independent MPs in the first hung parliament in decades. Full Story »

KABUL, Afghanistan - The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned Tuesday an American church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide. Full Story »

CANBERRA, Australia - Prime Minister Julia Gillard will lead Australia's first minority government in 67 years after two independent lawmakers threw their support behind her center-left Labor Party on Tuesday, ending two weeks of uncertainty left by national elections that ended on a knife-edge. Full Story »

ISLAMABAD - The influx of foreign aid after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake significantly increased survivors' trust in the West, according to new research that also suggests hard-line Islamist charities did little to help despite the publicity they generated. Full Story »

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand - A sharp series of about 20 aftershocks rattled New Zealand's earthquake-hit city of Christchurch overnight, and earthquake experts warned Tuesday that another powerful temblor might hammer the region in coming days. Full Story »

SUKKUR, Pakistan - As the disastrous floods recede in Pakistan, something new is rising: suspicions and rumors that powerful officials and landowners used their influence to divert water away from their property and inundate the villages and fields of millions of poor Pakistanis. Full Story »

SYDNEY - A state government in Australia has agreed to turn over case documents to prosecutors in the U.S. hoping to charge an Alabama man with the drowning death of his wife during a honeymoon scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Full Story »

ADELAIDE, Australia - Criminals who plead guilty within six weeks of their arrest could get a 40 percent reduction in their prison sentence under a proposal aimed at reducing the backlog at courts in one Australian state. Full Story »

LAKKI MARWAT, Pakistan - A Taliban suicide bomber detonated a car in an alley behind a police station in a strategically important town in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing at least 17 police and civilians in an explosion that shattered the station and neighboring homes. Full Story »