Recent attacks on six Iraq churches highlight the plight faced by Christians in the Middle East. Their populations, even in strongholds like Bethlehem, are steadily decreasing as they head for the West. At the same time, the exodus is leading

Nepal's deteriorating law-and-order situation and political uncertainty have many doubting the country’s peace process will be completed anytime soon. Looking on from the sidelines is former king Gyanendra, who points out the people have got what they voted for. As

China's indifference to United Nations efforts to block North Korean arms shipments flies in the face of world opinion and could doom the plan. Beijing has clear motives: a reunified Korea might recognize United States supremacy in the region, and

Shaking up his cabinet despite the objections of hardliners and clearly less bellicose in his speeches, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's new term is shaping up as more moderate than his previous four years. Although likely to be welcomed by reformists

Vietnam has made significant economic progress in the past decade, partly due to renewed trade ties with former adversary the United States, but in other areas it lags. After the prominent imprisonment of a priest and attorney over criticism of

The recent visit by China's President Hu Jintao to Russia aimed at deepening the two countries' strategic partnership and developing energy cooperation. But the sums do not quite add up. - Sergei Blagov

Asian reflation is poised to take on a wild life of its own, forcing policymakers at some point to accept that dollar flows are destabilizing and unmanageable. China, in particular, faces an intensifying predicament, with a rejuvenated boom that will

No sooner does a Wall Street firm announce bumper earnings than all the communists squirm out of the woodwork to criticize it for "profiteering", whatever that means. It is very much the job of capitalists to make money off the

Conventional wisdom has it that the global economic crisis is accelerating the transfer of power and influence from the West to Asia, yet in reality there are few signs of the vaunted "decoupling". The real gainers will be those countries

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first high-level visit to India - which started in Mumbai on Friday - brought with it startling tidings. Indians are dismayed to learn the Obama administration's priorities now lie elsewhere. Clinton - though

In this day and age of dumbed-down cheapo junk that goes by the name of news media, atimes.net bucks the trend by adding value. To explain this crazy concept, we begin by looking at the humble toothbrush. - Allen Quicke

Asia Times Online is proud to announce the launch of this new website, atimes.net , the twin sister of atimes.com. Yes, it's for subscribers only, and yes, it runs the same news content as the free atimes.com. So why would

Amid the global financial crisis, state revenue for the first half of 2009 decreased by 2.4 percent year-on-year. However, spending on areas like social security, livelihood, technology and environmental protection saw a growth of over 20 percent. In particular, spending

Chief Economist for the National Bureau of Statistics, Yao Jingyuan, said on July 19 that the CPI would rebound in the months to come, particularly in the fourth qu ...

With market sentiment boosted by resilient Chinese economy and positive earnings reports from the U. S., Hong Kong shares finished with a ten-month high on Monday and reached the 19,000-mark. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index surged 699.71 points, or 3.70

Jia Kang, head of the Institute of Fiscal Science at the Ministry of Finance, said that between the second half of this year and early next year is an appropriate period to unveil the new resource tax. If this is

In the second half of 2009, consumption will continue to grow rapidly and stably, and will contribute to economic growth more than in the first half. The total consumption for the year will definitely surpass 10.8 trillion yuan, last year's

Professor Shen Weirong. (China Tibet Information Center Photo)&$&$ A lecture themed about "Seeking Shangri-La---exploring western demonized Tibet" was held at Peking University on July 19 by Shen Weirong, professor from China Renmin University with more than 200 audiences in attendance.

Considering the peak season of July, August and September is just arriving, China's civil aviation market will thrive in the second half, pushing the entire year's growth of domestic passenger transport to over 20 percent, said Li Jiaxiang, director of

In a bid to provide practical solutions to the threat of climate change, Australia's Curtin University of Technology signed an agreement on Monday with Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) to establish a new laboratory for research into new