Some are refugees from sad countries torn apart by war. Others are children of the stable middle class whose parents came to the U.S. in search of a better life. Some came with nothing, not even the rudiments of English. Others came with skills and affluence. Many were born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. No matter what their route, young Asian Americans, largely those with Chinese, Korean and Indochinese backgrounds, are setting the educational pace for the ...

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who rose from the housing projects of the Bronx to the top of the legal profession, made history Thursday when the Senate confirmed her to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. Sotomayor was easily confirmed in a 68-31 vote. Nine Republicans joined a unanimous Democratic caucus in supporting her nomination. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, supported Sotomayor but was not present for the vote because of illness. Sotomayor, a 55-year-old federal appeals court judge, will ...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a "tough but lovingly presented" message to Kenya on Thursday: shun corruption and reform government. African governments should uphold the rule of law to attract investment and ensure economic growth, Clinton said during a town hall meeting at the University of Nairobi. "The fact is Kenya has not fulfilled its economic promise," Clinton said. "I believe it has not realized ... a functioning democracy." Clinton, who arrived at the capital, Nairobi, on Tuesday, ...

If Japanese engineers had their way, we might soon be cheering on a robotic World Series. Every year or two, Japanese researchers roll out a new robotic invention — the latest to grab headlines earlier this month was a mechanized baseball duo of a batter and pitcher that can throw 90% of its pitches in the strike zone. And while the majority of Japanese robotic inventions — from the dazzling to the horrifying —have largely been unable to break into the mass ...

The number of abortions performed in China each year tops 13 million, with inadequate knowledge of contraception playing a major role in the annual tally, state-run media reported. "Sex education needs to be strengthened, with universities and our society giving more guidance," Li Ying, a professor at Peking University, told China Daily. Research from the National Population and Family Planning Commission's technology research center shows nearly half of the women who had abortions had not used any form of contraception, ...

Guinea-Bissau will hold a runoff presidential election Sunday, five months after the leader of the West African nation was assassinated by a group of soldiers. The race is between two former heads of state, Kumba Yala and Malam Sanha. The candidates won the most votes in the first round of balloting June 28. Analysts hope the new president will usher in an era of stability to the nation of 1.5 million. The former Portuguese colony has had a history of ...

Iran's supreme leader warned the political opposition Monday not to "direct the society toward insecurity." "You are being tested. And failing this test will not only mean your failure, it would also mean your fall," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his remarks to leaders, according to text released by the government-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Khamenei has stood by the official results of last month's presidential election, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. In his ...

China moved closer to its goal of 8 percent annual growth, as the nation recorded a record jump in foreign currency reserves. China's foreign exchange reserves hit a record $2.13 trillion at the end of June, according to the People's Bank of China. The world's largest holder of foreign cash -- mostly U.S. treasury bills -- China's reserves grew by nearly $180 billion last quarter -- $42.1 billion alone in the month of June, a $30 billion increase from same ...

Provisional Honduran President Roberto Micheletti has accepted an offer that an independent commission help broker an impasse over whether to allow the return of ousted President Jose Manual Zelaya, Costa Rica's foreign ministry said Tuesday. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias offered to form a mediation panel with representatives from four or five countries. The development came as Zelaya, ousted by the Honduran military on June 28, met in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He is trying to ...

Authorities here closed the airport and restricted the airspace over the nation's capital in anticipation of deposed President Jose Manuel Zelaya's announced return Sunday. In an interview from Washington with Telesur TV, Zelaya said he was departing for Honduras on a plane with United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto. A delegation supporting Zelaya, including the head of the Organization of American States and Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, ...