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Top Asian News at 4:30 a.m. GMT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) King of Bhutan marries his commoner bridePUNAKHA, Bhutan (AP) _ The beloved king of the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan married his commoner bride Thursday in an ancient Buddhist ceremony at the country's most sacred monastery fortress. King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, wearing the raven crown, came down from his golden throne in front of a huge statue of Buddha to place a smaller, silk brocade crown upon the head of his bride, Jetsun Pema. Monks chanted in celebration as she took up her seat beside him as the new queen of the country. Latest US drone strike kills 3 in PakistanPESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) _ An American missile strike killed a ranking member of the militant Haqqani network Thursday in northwestern Pakistan, increasing pressure on one of the deadliest factions fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence officials said. Two other militants were killed in the attack close to the Haqqani stronghold of Dande Darpa Khel village in North Waziristan, the group's main sanctuary along the Afghan border, said the officials, who did not give their names because they were not allowed to speak to the media on the record. Indonesia's Bali rattled by large quakeBALI, Indonesia (AP) _ A powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia's popular resort island of Bali on Thursday, sending people fleeing from their homes and hotels in panic. No tsunami alert was issued, and there were no immediate reports of injuries. Some roofs collapsed, and witnesses told local radio and television stations they saw cracks in the walls of buildings. Salvage crew boards stricken ship off NZ coastTAURANGA, New Zealand (AP) _ A salvage crew finally managed to board a cargo ship that has spilled hundreds of tons of oil since striking a reef off New Zealand, and workers raced Thursday to assess whether oil can be pumped from the ship before the vessel breaks up. Heavy seas had kept the team away for days, but a break in the weather allowed three crew members to be winched aboard the Liberian-flagged Rena, which ran aground Oct. 5 on Astrolabe Reef, 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North Island. Flood toll jumps to 43 in Vietnam's Mekong DeltaHANOI, Vietnam (AP) _ Vietnam says nine more deaths have brought the toll from the Mekong Delta's worst flooding in more than a decade to 43 people, mostly children. The government said Thursday that the seasonal floods have submerged nearly 70,000 homes. The waters have damaged an estimated $55 million in crops and infrastructure in the south since late August. Myanmar releases dissidents, keeps many locked upYANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar freed an outspoken critic and a major ethnic rebel as it began releasing 6,300 convicts Wednesday in its latest liberalizing move, but kept some political detainees behind bars, dampening hopes for a broader amnesty. It was not clear how many of the country's estimated 2,000 political detainees were included in the amnesty _ one estimate said only 206 of them were freed. But the released included ailing Shan Army commander Hso Hten and comedian Zarganar, who was imprisoned after criticizing the government's response to Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Thai floods: Roads turn to rivers in hard-hit cityAYUTTHAYA, Thailand (AP) _ The lucky ones traverse this flood-submerged Thai city in navy boats and motorized canoes. The rest float on whatever they can find _ inner tubes, swan-shaped pedal boats, even huge chunks of muddied white plastic foam. With large sections of Ayutthaya buried under a sea of one-story high water, rescue workers and volunteers are still crisscrossing town to pluck stranded residents from waterlogged ruins. Others are staying to protect what's left. One boy donned a snorkeling mask to inspect his house, its corrugated roof faintly visible below the murky brown waves. Officials find small radiation hotspot in TokyoTOKYO (AP) _ Japanese officials have found a small area in Tokyo with higher levels of radiation than evacuation zones around the Fukushima nuclear plant. Tokyo's Setagaya city's mayor says concerned parents monitoring for radiation asked them to conduct further tests on a roadside spot near a kindergarten. Its radioactivity slightly exceeded that of an area about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. US university to host informal Korean nuke talksSEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ A senior North Korean ruling party official will travel to the United States next week for talks with South Korean lawmakers and U.S. legislative aides meant to help resolve the North Korean nuclear standoff. The informal three-day academic forum in the U.S. state of Georgia, which begins Monday, comes as diplomats struggle to restart long-stalled international negotiations aimed at persuading the North to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Bomb blast kills 6 Afghan police, 1 tribal elderKANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) _ Officials say a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan has killed six police officers and a local tribal elder. The governor's office says in a statement issued Wednesday that a police truck struck the bomb on Tuesday while driving in Kandahar province's Zhari district. Pakistani Taliban raise funds through street crimeDERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) _ Police caught up with the four Taliban militants about 15 minutes after they robbed the bank, shooting them dead on a bridge as they attempted to drive their loot to the safety of the border regions with Afghanistan. The rare triumph against the insurgency in this dangerous part of Pakistan was short-lived _ 10 days later, the Taliban dispatched a husband-and-wife suicide unit to avenge the deaths, devastating the local police station and killing nine officers. Russia's Putin slams US, makes deals in ChinaBEIJING (AP) _ Russia and China talked up their burgeoning but still fraught ties Wednesday, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin taking a swipe at U.S. monetary policy as parasitic. On a two-day visit to Beijing, Putin and Chinese leaders pledged to resolve disputes over pricing that are stalling plans for Russian deliveries of natural gas by two pipelines. Chinese state-backed firms also promised to invest $1.5 billion in a Siberian aluminum smelter and to put $1 billion into a joint investment fund, among agreements officials said were worth $7 billion. Philippines says no state honors for Marcos burialMANILA, Philippines (AP) _ The Philippine president said Wednesday it would be unjust to allow Ferdinand Marcos to be buried with state honors when thousands of human rights victims during the former dictator's reign have never received any government apology. Marcos died over 20 years ago in exile after being ousted in a 1986 "people power" revolt. His body has been displayed in a glass coffin in his northern Philippine hometown of Batac in Ilocos Norte province since 1993. Merck Australia wins appeal in Vioxx lawsuitSYDNEY (AP) _ An Australian court on Wednesday overturned a judgment that found the once-popular painkiller Vioxx doubled the risk of heart attack and was unfit for consumption. The Federal Court's decision reverses a 2010 ruling that had found in favor of an Australian man who blamed the since-recalled drug for a heart attack he suffered. The court said the man, a former smoker, was susceptible to a heart attack independent of taking the drug. China slams US currency bill as threat to tradeBEIJING (AP) _ China criticized an American currency bill as a threat to a shaky global economic recovery and warned Wednesday that trade ties will be "severely damaged" if it becomes law. Beijing rejected the measure passed Tuesday by the Senate as a form of damaging protectionism at a time when other nations are trying to sustain free trade. The bill would allow Washington to raise tariffs on Chinese imports that critics say are unfairly cheap due to Beijing's exchange-rate controls and are destroying U.S. jobs. (c) 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |