Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP

Asia

Rights group: Thai navy abandoned migrants at sea
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's navy abandoned hundreds of illegal migrants on a barge in the Indian Ocean where about 300 desperate people with little food and water later drowned, a refugees' advocacy group said. (Updated 6:01 p.m. PT)

Gaza war fuels anti-Israeli anger in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Islamic hard-liners enraged by Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip marched to the synagogue's gates chanting, "Go to hell Israel!" (Updated 4:03 p.m. PT)

Obama's half brother performs in China
SHENZHEN, China -- The news release didn't say who Mark Ndesandjo was. Nor did the posters and e-mails promoting the concert Friday in this southern Chinese boomtown where he played piano to raise money for orphans. (Updated 11:03 a.m. PT)

China: 757 women pregnant who lost child in quake
BEIJING -- Thousands of Chinese parents lost their only children in last May's Sichuan earthquake, but now a few hundred families are expecting another baby, after receiving a special exemption to the country's strict population controls. (Updated 9:19 a.m. PT)

Miliband urges Pakistan action on Mumbai attacks
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan must address the "searing sense of injustice" in India over the Mumbai attacks and dismantle terrorist structures threatening regional stability, Britain's foreign secretary said Friday. (Updated 9:09 a.m. PT)

China to celebrate day Tibet feudal rule ended
BEIJING -- Ahead of the politically sensitive 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight into exile and the crushing of a Tibetan rebellion, China has told Tibet to celebrate the event as a liberation from feudalism. (Updated 8:13 a.m. PT)

Sri Lanka: Thousands of civilians flee rebel area
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Thousands of civilians have fled Sri Lanka's northern war zone in recent days, crossing the front lines amid fierce fighting as the army closed in on the rebels' last stronghold, the military said Friday. (Updated 7:23 a.m. PT)

SKorean military imprisons army officer for spying
SEOUL, South Korea -- A South Korean army officer accused of helping a North Korean spy in a sex-for-secrets scandal has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison, the Defense Ministry said Friday. (Updated 4:50 a.m. PT)

Chinese woman who had son strangled given death
SHANGHAI, China -- A court in central China has sentenced a woman to death for hiring someone to strangle her 9-year-old son so she could have another child with her new husband without violating population laws, a court official and reports said Friday. (Updated 4:16 a.m. PT)

UN to Obama: Don't change Afghan strategy
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The top U.N. official in Afghanistan said U.S. President-elect Barack Obama should resist calls to change strategy in Afghanistan, urging him instead to focus on implementing the one already being pursued. (Updated 4:04 a.m. PT)

Additional headlines:
- Official: Vietnam to release jailed reporter early
- SKorean convicted of marital rape in landmark case
- Seoul court refuses to release blogger on bail
- China: Melamine victim's parents receive $29,000

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009
- Would-be Olympics protester sentenced to prison
- Turkmen leader fires top officials
- Pakistan says militants killed in Swat valley
- Afghan veteran wins Australia's top valor medal
- Report: China's wild camels increasing
- Report: NKorea's Kim taps 3rd son as successor
- Dung deal: Elephant count surprises in Malaysia
- 7.3 quake strikes near disputed Kuril Islands
- Filipino troops hunt for abducted ICRC workers
- Miliband condemns war on terror as 'mistaken'
- Former leader urges Obama to make NKorea priority
- US seeks Turkmen help to stabilize region
- Philippine student to attend Obama's inauguration
- Top Afghan army general killed in chopper crash
- Kazakh lawmakers approve election law change
- Chinese baby slashed by angry family maid
- Large quake hits South Pacific off New Caledonia
- Japan parties ready for annual conventions

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2009
- China names 7 new revolutionary martyrs
- Applications pour in for 'Best Job in the World'
- Jailed Chinese activist said to be in poor health
- China police detain 13 suspected child traffickers
- Khmer Rouge trial date to be set
- Facebook images catch New Zealand burglar
- China economy grew to world's 3rd largest in 2007
- China's population of Web users hits 298 million
- Pakistan reopens NATO supply route
- US ambassador to China lauds ties
- Report: Myanmar activist gets 104 years in jail
- NKorea to crack down on markets to stem imports
- Flash floods kill 11 in Philippines, 8 missing
- Top separatist leader arrested in Indian Kashmir
- China: Labradors sniff for drugs after planes land
- Russian navy saves Dutch ship from Somali pirates

TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2009
- Fiji faces more rains after devastating floods
- Japan construction crew sets off buried explosive