TOKYO (AP) — Japan has bought whale meat from Iceland, the first time in 17 years it has imported the meat, a news agency reported Saturday, Nov. 29.
Rare Vietnamese turtle in close call with soup pot
SON TAY, Vietnam (AP) — A rare Vietnamese turtle, one of just four believed left in the world, was swept away by a flood, taken hostage by an enterprising fisherman and nearly ended up in a soup pot.
Volunteer says Olympics in Beijing only the beginning
Ask any Olympic athlete, and you will find that the road to Beijing this summer was an intense and difficult journey. The language barrier and international skepticism only added to the stress during the actual events.
China’s first homegrown jet makes trial flight
SHANGHAI, China (AP) — China’s first fully homegrown commercial aircraft, the ARJ-21, successfully made its maiden flight on Friday, Nov. 28, a key step in the country’s ambitious aviation program.
China AIDS activists say education fights stigma
BEIJING (AP) — AIDS activists were skeptical of a pledge by China’s government to fight discrimination against people with the disease, saying Dec. 1 that the move would mean little without improvements in education to increase awareness and alter mindsets.
All about the money — Economy, not rights, rules the new China–US world
BEIJING (AP) — As a dangerous confrontation flared between China and Taiwan in 1996, Bill Clinton deployed the Seventh Fleet to deter the two rivals from going to war. Five years later, when a U.S. spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter, George W. Bush faced a prolonged international crisis. Meanwhile, human rights and democracy in China were a perennial hot-button issue.
Bush scrambles for North Korea breakthrough
LIMA, Peru (AP) — President George W. Bush scrambled allies Saturday, Nov. 22, to secure a North Korea disarmament deal before he leaves office, rushing hard for a late, legacy-shaping win.
Obama victory sparks cheers around the globe
TOKYO (AP) — Across the globe, people in city squares and living rooms, ballrooms and villages cheered the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president, raising hopes that America’s first Black commander in chief would herald a less confrontational America.
Kidnapped reporter freed from terrorist
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Mellissa Fung says captors kept her blindfolded for four weeks in an underground cave so low the Asian Canadian journalist could barely stand. Chains bound her hands and feet during her last week as a prisoner.
Japan picks woman astronaut for 2010 space flight
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has chosen a female astronaut to board the space shuttle Atlantis in 2010, the country’s first mother to go on a space mission, officials said Tuesday, Nov. 11.