Authorities in Nepal said Saturday they have beefed up security near the Chinese Embassy to stop any possible anti-Chinese demonstrations in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet. "The area within 200 meters (218 yards) of the Chinese Embassy visa section has been declared a prohibited area from Friday," Nabaraj Silwal, the chief of the Kathmandu city police, said. "Rallies, sit-ins and sloganeering will not be allowed within the prohibited area." The decision comes ...

China has criticized Christie's auction of two Qing dynasty bronzes looted by invading French and British forces in 1860, saying the sale would hurt the auction house. The items were included in a huge three-day auction of art and furnishings that belonged to the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. The sale, which ended on Wednesday, raised more than €370 million ($470 million). The bronze sculptures, a rat's head and a rabbit's head, were sold for €14 million ...

A dish of stir-fried pig's liver served at a dinner party in Guangzhou, China, poisoned 14 people with what authorities think was an animal feed additive, a Chinese state-run news agency reported. Investigators made 52 arrests in overnight raids in California, Minnesota and Maryland, increasing to more than 750 the number of suspects detained in the coast-to-coast operation to disrupt the Sinaloa cartel, Holder said. Drug Enforcement Administration agents said $59 million has been seized in what was dubbed Operation ...

China accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs and those of other nations on Thursday after the State Department issued a report sharply critical of Beijing's human rights record, state-run media reported. "The report turned a blind eye to the efforts and historic achievements China has made in human rights that have been widely recognized by the international community," according to an editorial that appeared on China's Xinhua news agency Web site. The U.S. State Department issued ...

Three men set themselves on fire in a shopping area in downtown Beijing Wednesday, Chinese state-run media reported. Ivan Cameron, six, passed away early Wednesday, the UK's Press Association reported a Conservative Party spokesman as saying. "It is with great sadness that David and Samantha Cameron must confirm the death of their six-year-old son Ivan," the spokesman said according to the agency. The spokesman said that Ivan, who suffered from cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy, was taken ill ...

The three mothers hail from the same province in China, but they'd never met until a reckless driver in central Ohio killed their only children. Two years later, the women wade through a cultural morass, struggling with American laws and language as they work to recoup the tens of thousands of dollars they borrowed to educate, and bury, their children. They've also lost their pride and possibly their future. In China, a family's future often rides on the education of ...

There's a motorcycle-taxi stand near my home in Bangkok, and many of the drivers' hands are dirty. Not from urban grime or motor oil, but from newsprint. Fueled by a growing literacy rate and press reforms in some parts of the continent, Asia is enjoying what may be the world's last great newspaper boom. Eight of the world's 10 biggest paid-for daily newspapers are printed in Asia, according to the World Association of Newspapers . The largest national newspaper markets? ...

At least 12 people were killed and 25 were injured Saturday when a train collided with a bus in Slovakia, government officials said. "Having considered the matter, the government adheres to its previously articulated position," said a Justice Department document filed in federal court in Washington. In a controversial 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court last year ruled that detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay had a right under the constitution to challenge their continued detention. However, ...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broached the issue of human rights with Chinese leaders Saturday, but emphasized that the world economic and other crises are more pressing and immediate priorities. "Human rights cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises," Clinton said in talks with China's foreign minister. Clinton made China the last and most crucial stopover in her Asia trip, signaling the new administration's first attempts to lay a foundation ...

The Obama administration told a federal court late Friday it will maintain the Bush administration's position that battlefield detainees held without charges by the United States in Afghanistan are not entitled to constitutional rights to challenge their detention. "Having considered the matter, the government adheres to its previously articulated position," said a Justice Department document filed in federal court in Washington. In a controversial 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court last year ruled that detainees held at the U.S. naval base ...