Asia, President | featured news

A global campaigning organization says that almost 3,000 people have gone missing in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad more than four months ago. A survey by the online activist group Avaaz.org estimates that one person is disappearing in Syria every hour. The group released the survey results in a statement on Thursday.

Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during mass protests on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and witnesses said.

Chinese state media is dismissing reports that former President Jiang Zemin has died, calling them "pure rumor."

On a stage once commanded by his brutal father, President Bashar Assad blamed foreign conspiracies for Syria's unrest in a national speech Wednesday that sought to steel his family dynasty against a rebellion similar to those that have toppled regimes across the region.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted the resignation of the government on Tuesday, Syrian state television said.

The Communist Party official is named to a post that is considered a steppingstone for assuming the leadership. He has a reputation for being tough on corruption and friendly toward business, even foreign companies. Unless something goes badly wrong for Xi Jinping over the next two years, it looks like a fait accompli that the 57-year-old Communist Party official, who has been groomed his entire career for leadership, will be China's next president.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has proposed a plan to reunite his country with North Korea and suggested a tax to prepare for the costs expected if the two countries come together, South Korea's state media said Sunday.

Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva is inaugurated as president of troubled Kyrgyzstan, weeks after hundreds died during ethnic violence, state media reports.

A meeting on Tuesday between President Obama and President Hu Jintao highlighted the nations’ different approaches to problems as China assumes a bigger global role.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said Sunday he accepts responsibility for the government's slow response after Typhoon Morakot slammed into the island killing at more than 120 people and unleashing floods, mudslides and misery.