THAILAND

The 45-year-old Russian was busted in a 2008 sting in Thailand in which undercover informants working for U.S. authorities posed as members of the Colombian rebel group FARC. Bout insists he was a legitimate businessman just trying to sell airplanes, not weapons.

The head of China's national pension fund called for a bigger role for the Chinese currency in the international monetary system, saying the yuan could someday account for 10 percent of global reserves.

Viktor Bout, a Russian national known as the Merchant of Death for his far reaching arms deals across the world will learn how long he will be in prison on Thursday. His defense attorneys have asked the judge to set him free while United States prosecutor said he should be locked up for the rest of his life.

Transgender beauty queen Jenna Talackova, who made headlines for being ousted from the 2012 Miss Universe Canada competition, infuriated guests at a hotel in Los Angeles during a bikini photo shoot at the rooftop pool Monday. Talackova was taking photos at the pool Hotel Wilshire and angered guests dining in the restaurant beside the pool, the Roof on Wilshire restaurant.

At its summit this week in Cambodia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations struggled to come to a consensus on how to deal with China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Ryan Gosling saves the day. Again.

China has sent election monitors to check on Myanmar's recent parliamentary elections. The irony of a country without free democratic elections monitoring ballots has not been lost on the Chinese.

When watching the Danish film Teddy Bear, the acting seems so natural you may suspect that you aren't watching professionals at all. That's because director Mads Matthiesen chose to cast non-performers in his debut work. The hero of the film, Dennis (who may be likened to a great big teddy bear) is played by Kim Kold,

The 2012 Myanmar elections have been hailed as the most important sign yet that the nation's nascent reform movement is earnest in its commitment to change. But before that change comes, here's a look inside...

U.S. manufacturing grew alongside the overall economy in March, rising 1 percent over the previous month's level, according to the March purchasing managers index (PMI) of the Institute for Supply Management.

A car bomb caused the deadly fire at a Southern Thailand hotel that killed three persons and injured several others Saturday, said the Thai national police chief.

AYUTTHAYA, Thailand, March 31 - Honda Motor Co <7267.T>, Japan's third-largest car maker, officially resumed production on Saturday at its plant in Ayutthaya in Thailand, which was forced to close for almost six months after severe flooding last October.

Women infected with two separate human immunodeficiency virus strains have a stronger immune response than women infected with a single HIV strain, a finding that could assist in producing the elusive anti-HIV vaccine, according to a new study published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

Thailand's floating movie theater Archipelago Cinema may have been the most beautiful place on earth to catch a film, but the fleeting marvel is now a drifting memory.

Jenna Talackova is a beautiful, 23-year-old Vancouver native who embodies drive, determination and charisma. She seemingly boasts all the qualities the perfect Miss Universe Canada would have, yet she was disqualified because she is transgender. Her case reveals the glaringly outdated beauty pageant rules that remain even in the most progressive of societies.

Many in the circle of Stanford women's volleyball are wondering about sophomore volleyball player Samantha Sam Wopat's cause of death after she died on Sunday, however, family privacy may stall the answer indefinitely.

With timeless towns, towering pagodas, and fervently Buddhist locals, Myanmar promises the authentic Asian experience that's fading in neighboring Thailand.

Myanmar is eager to rev up its economy with the hard currency that comes with foreign tourists, but officials question just how far to open the doors.

The insurance market listed the litany of disasters in its annual report, which included claims from flooding in Australia in January, the February earthquake in New Zealand, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March and the floods in Thailand.

Stanford sophomore volleyball player Samantha Sam Wopat was rushed to hospital from her campus residence on St. Patrick's Day and remained in the intensive-care unit until her death on Sunday.

Gosling produced and narrated the documentary, scheduled for limited release in May.