KOREAN PENINSULA: S. Koreans cast wary eyes to North

South Koreans are celebrating the successful launch of a satellite into space -- but are also growing worried at the increasingly hostile signs from its northern neighbor.

SOUTH KOREA: Once Upon a Time in Seoul - An FP Photo Essay

Remarkable images of South Korea, before Samsung and PSY.

CHINA: Giant sinkhole swallows buildings

A massive sinkhole in Guangzhou,China, destroys two buildings but there are no reported casualties, says CCTV.

JAPAN: Could Scientists Have Prevented the Fukushima Meltdown?

Three-Eleven is what they call the disaster. On March 11, 2011, all hell broke loose when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck the eastern coast of Japan. As if that weren’t enough, a massive tsunami followed about an hour later, churning over everything in its path for some 200 square miles.

ALASKA mulls tax breaks for oil and gas

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell is courting the oil and gas industries with a legislative proposal designed to make the state as attractive as North Dakota, Alic writes.

ASIA & Arctic politics: Many voices at the table

AS the arctic melts, the politics of the region are hotting up. Today, the arctic council includes Singapore, India and China, among others

CHINA & JAPAN: Mexican oil, Chinese drilling, Japanese nuclear: Energy trends to watch in 2013

Rogers offers five major energy trends that are likely to take shape and play out in international headlines in 2013.

NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong Eun-der the Knife?

Reports surfaced last week that North Korea's young dictator may have undergone plastic surgery.

INDONESIA Graft Watchdog Detains Party Official

The Corruption Eradication Commission, a government-created, independent organization that has powers of prosecution, named Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, president of the Prosperous Justice Party, as a suspect in a corruption case linked to import.

VIETNAM: Political prisoner, now free, comes home from Vietnam

Democracy activist Nguyen Quoc Quan of Garden Grove was detained in Ho Chi Minh City more than nine months ago, accused of trying to overthrow the communist government.

The political prisoner looked ashen and bony — weary from the months of being held in his native Vietnam — as he was pulled into the tight embrace of his family.