NYTimes Asia And Pacific News: 28 November 2008

November 29th, 2008 • Asia, NYTimes, World

• An Artist in Exile Tests India’s Democratic Ideals
  A controversial artist’s case illustrates how freedom of expression has frequently come under fire in India.

• Rescuing Cultures of India, From A to Z
  An academy in the agrarian countryside tries to preserve a culture by steeping a new generation of villagers in their own quickly disappearing traditions.

• For Tasmanian Devils, Hope Against a Wily Cancer
  A deadly cancer has preyed on the Tasmanian devil, causing it to be listed as endangered, and scientists have begun an experimental inoculation program.

• Indian Navy Says It Sank Pirate Ship
  The Indian Navy said it battled would-be hijackers in the Gulf of Aden, sinking one vessel and forcing the pirates to abandon another.

• Entrepreneurial Edge: An Eye on Growth, Deals Stretch Across the Pacific
  Despite the worldwide downturn, the ties between small businesses in China and Southern California should continue to grow.

• John Leighton Stuart, China Expert, Is Buried There at Last
  The ashes of John Leighton Stuart, a missionary and educator who was called a symbol of imperialism by Mao, were finally buried in China 46 years after his death.

• F.D.A. Opens Office in Beijing to Screen Food and Drug Exports
  The U.S. opened a branch of the Food and Drug Administration in the Chinese capital, the first of several overseas offices aimed at regulating the safety of imported food and medicine.

• Memo From Seoul: Latest Threats May Mean North Korea Wants to Talk
  Longtime North Korea watchers say recent public moves by the country fit a familiar and consistent pattern, and that they may even signal an upturn in relations with the United States.

• U.S. Strike Reportedly Killed Five in Pakistan
  Striking for the first time beyond Pakistan’s tribal areas, a pilotless U.S. aircraft fired missiles at a village well inside Pakistani territory on Wednesday, a Pakistani official said.

• Grenade Attack Kills Thai Protester
  An anti-government protester was killed and at least 29 were injured in an attack against activists occupying the Government House in Bangkok, according to reports.

• China Pledges New Measures to Safeguard Dairy Industry
  The Chinese government announced a wide range of food safety measures aimed at reining in abuses in the dairy industry.

• World Briefing | Asia: Afghanistan: Gates Seeks More Troops
  Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that he would like to add significant U.S. forces to the war in Afghanistan before national elections scheduled for next year.

• World Briefing | Asia: Pakistan: Bombing Kills 8 at a Funeral
  A bomb killed eight mourners at the funeral of a Shiite cleric on Friday in northwestern Pakistan, according to the police.

• U.S. Missile Strike Said to Kill 4 in Pakistan
  The attack came within days of a Pakistani protest to the United States ambassador over missile attacks on its territory.

• Garbled Report on Sichuan Death Toll Revives Pain
  An error in translation of a news conference by a governor left the impression that the death toll of students in the May earthquake was higher than thought.

• Myanmar Gives Comedian 45-Year Sentence for Cyclone Comments
  A secret court run by Myanmar’s military leadership sentenced a prominent Burmese comedian and activist on Friday, continuing a recent crackdown on regime dissidents.

• Tokyo Killings May Be Tied to Scandal on Pensions
  The grisly knifing death of a former health ministry official and his wife by an unknown assailant has thrown this normally low-crime nation into an unusual uproar.

• At Exile Meeting, Tibetans Debate Independence
  Long associated with the Dalai Lama and his “middle way,” the exile movement has reached a crossroads.

• In Battle Against Whaling, Groups Split on Strategy
  Greenpeace is distancing itself from the directly confrontational approach it once championed — and which the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society remains committed to.

• Tibetans Reaffirm a Conciliatory Approach to China
  After an intense debate, delegates attending a conference of Tibetan exiles recommended a continuation of the Dalai Lama’s conciliatory approach to China.

• Airstrike Kills Qaeda-Linked Militant in Pakistan
  The British militant, a liaison to Al Qaeda, was a key suspect in a 2006 plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners.

• Memo From Islamabad: Ringed by Foes, Pakistanis Fear the U.S., Too
  There is an increasing belief among some Pakistanis that what the U.S. really wants is the breakup of Pakistan.

• Obama Speaks With Karzai
  The conversation was the first officially reported direct contact between the men since the election more than two weeks ago.

• Bangladesh Delays Vote
  The army-backed caretaker government of Bangladesh on Sunday postponed national elections by 11 days to assuage the concerns of one of the country’s two main political parties.

• Clash Leaves Civilian Dead in Afghanistan
  A joint patrol of American and Afghan security forces killed a civilian and two armed insurgents, the American military said.

• World Briefing | Asia: Pakistan: Military Kills 15 Militants in Tribal Region
  Government forces battling Islamist insurgents in the tribal areas along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan killed 15 militants, the army said.

• Motive in Japanese Stabbings: A Dead Dog
  The Japanese police say the motive in last week’s stabbing deaths of a former health ministry official and his wife appeared to be anger over a long-dead dog.

• China Irritated with ‘Slanderous’ U.N. Report on Rights
  The report, issued Friday by the United Nations Committee Against Torture, alleges that China conducts systemic torture of political and criminal detainees.

• North Korea Threatens to Snip Ties With South
  North Korea said it would ban South Korean tourists from Kaesong and “selectively expel” South Koreans working in a joint industrial complex there.

• Ibrahim Nasir, 82, Maldives President, Is Dead
  Mr. Nasir led the Maldives’ movement for independence from the British and became the nation’s first president.

• Thai Protesters Shut Down Airport
  Antigovernment protesters besieged Thailand’s main international airport, startling tourists, halting flights and escalating months of political tensions into a full-blown national crisis.

• Monetary Fund Approves $7.6 Billion Loan to Pakistan
  The loan was initially resisted by the Pakistani government, which sought funds on more generous terms from bilateral donors.

• 10 Arrested for Afghan Acid Attack
  The police in Kandahar have arrested 10 Taliban militants they said were involved in the attack earlier this month on a group of Afghan schoolgirls.

• Australian Legislators Back Gay Rights
  Australian lawmakers have approved legislation giving homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexuals but have ruled out legalizing same-sex marriages.

• A Global Downturn Puts the Brakes on China’s Industry
  The global downturn is reaching deep into the heart of the country’s once-rapid industrial transformation.

• Mistake Cited in Sinking of Boat by India
  A harrowing account suggests that the sinking of a Thai fishing trawler in the Gulf of Aden was a case of mistaken identity.

• Afghan Leader, Showing Impatience With War, Demands Timetable From NATO
  President Hamid Karzai bluntly rebuked NATO for its faltering campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda and demanded a timetable for the seven-year war to end.

• Effort Made to Save Man China Convicted of Spying
  His family and the U.S. try to save a Chinese man, Wo Weihan, from execution for spying.

• Police Officers’ Killer, Hero to Some Chinese, Is Executed
  A 28-year-old man convicted of killing six police officers was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday morning, according to state media.

• China, in Dispute Over Dalai Lama, Delays European Talks
  China has postponed an annual summit with the European Union, angered by a new visit to several European countries by the Dalai Lama.

• Memo From New Delhi: With Economic Crisis, a Newly Flush India Exercises Caution
  India’s fast-clip economy is now beginning to show signs of a slowdown, in turn tamping the country’s newfound predilection to spend.

• Chinese Activist Wins Rights Prize
  In a rebuke of China’s Communist Party, the European Parliament gave a prestigious human rights prize to Hu Jia, an imprisoned advocate for democracy in China.

• New Delhi Journal: Urban Cowboys Struggle With India’s Sacred Strays
  “Cow catchers” spend their days roping cattle on the streets of India’s capital as part of a long and frustrating battle to rid it of stray cows.

• Suicide Bomber Kills Four in Kabul
  A suicide car bomber plowed his Toyota into rush-hour traffic in Kabul, killing at least four civilians and wounding up to 17 , authorities said.

• Thai Protesters Vow to Keep Blockades
  Protesters rejected a call by Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of Thailand to end their blockades of Bangkok’s two commercial airports.

• Brooklyn Rabbi and Wife Caught in Attacks
  A New York rabbi and his wife, who moved to India to manage a synagogue, were among those taken hostage.

• Mumbai’s Longest Night, With an Abyss of Terror
  The attacks in Mumbai quickly turned some joyous occasions into a night of terror.

• Sophisticated Attacks, but by Whom?
  India’s prime minister said the attacks probably had “external linkages,” but others suggested the attackers were Indian Muslims, with a domestic agenda.

• News Analysis: India’s Suspicion of Pakistan Clouds U.S. Strategy in Region
  The attacks seem likely to sour Indian-Pakistani relations and hamper, at least for now, U.S. goals for reconciliation in the region.

• The Lede: Eyewitness Updates: Nariman House
  Keith Bradsher, a Times correspondent, is sending updates from his BlackBerry as he observes the continuing security operation at the Nariman House in Mumbai.

• Indian Commandos Storm Jewish Center
  It was not known how many hostages were being held inside Nariman House, home to the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad Lubavitch.

Trackback URI.