Asia News - AP

HANOI, Vietnam - Two Vietnamese journalists went on trial Tuesday in Hanoi for allegedly writing false information in reports about one of the country's most high-profile corruption cases.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A 20-year-old American man was arrested late Monday at a checkpoint near the Afghan border in a tribal region where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban and al-Qaida militants, police said.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Four former Khmer Rouge rebels were sentenced up to 20 years in prison Tuesday for their involvement in the murder of a British mine-clearing expert 12 years ago.

VIENNA, Austria - North Korea declared Monday that it will resume shutting down its nuclear program and allow U.N. experts to monitor the process, including making sure the plant that produced plutonium for its test bomb remains disabled.

XINXING, China - Heartbroken at the sudden death of their baby boy, the Yi family struggled to forget what they thought was a tragic twist of fate. They burned his clothes, toys, everything but a single photo and the baby formula he drank.

SEOUL, South Korea - The first photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il released in two months show him in a setting very similar to photographs from August.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Clashes between Taliban militants and pro-government forces killed 51 people as fighting spread across Pakistan's volatile northwest tribal regions along the Afghan border, officials said Monday.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai riot police used a cheap Chinese tear gas that contained an explosive powerful enough to rip craters in the ground to disperse crowds of anti-government protesters last week, an investigator said Monday.

NEW DELHI - The Dalai Lama was recovering Monday from surgery to remove gallstones and was likely to leave a New Delhi hospital early this week, a senior aide said.

NEW DELHI - The Indian prime minister warned Monday that a recent wave of bloodshed that has left scores dead across India threatens the "fundamental underpinnings" of the world's largest democracy.

BEIJING - An ambitious young Chinese politician has withdrawn from a Hong Kong beauty pageant following withering criticism from commentators online, state media reported Monday.

BEIJING - The family of a baby whose death has been blamed on toxic milk filed suit against one of China's largest dairies Monday, while another dairy ensnared in the scandal said it was a victim of unscrupulous subcontractors.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan soldiers attacked Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers along the northern front lines triggering gunbattles that killed 27 guerrillas and three soldiers, the military said Monday.

KABUL, Afghanistan - The U.S. coalition says its troops have killed five Taliban militants in a raid in central Afghanistan.

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine president is calling on Asian leaders meeting in Beijing next week to convene a special session to tackle the impact of the global economic crisis.

TOKYO - Tepid public support for Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has fallen further in the weeks since he took office and voters now want help for the country's economy to take priority over domestic politics, according to a poll published Monday.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani tribesmen are raising armies to battle al-Qaida and Taliban militants close to the Afghan border — a movement encouraged by the military and hailed as a sign its offensive there is succeeding.

BEIJING - China's ruling Communist Party on Sunday said it would seek to expand its massive internal market to counter the global economic slowdown that has reduced international demand for Chinese goods.

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - A Soyuz spacecraft with two Americans and a Russian on board lifted off from Kazakhstan on Sunday for the international space station.