BEIJING (AFP) ― Millions of tourists visit Asia each year for its pristine beaches and cultural treasures, but Nick Bonner offers travelers something different: the “socialist paradise” of North Korea. Bonner launched Koryo Tours in Beijing in 1993 along with a few colleagues, taking an initial group of 12 curious tourists keen for a glimpse inside one of the world’s most isolated countries. Th...

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. on Sunday claimed initial success two days into an assault on Libya that included some of the heaviest firepower in the American arsenal ― long-range bombers designed for the Cold War ― but American officials said Sunday it was too early to define the international military campaign’s endgame. The top U.S. military officer suggested that Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhaf...

The yen fell for a second day on speculation the Group of Seven nations will continue to sell the currency to curb its appreciation. The yen slid against all of its 16 major counterparts, extending losses from March 18 after G7 nations followed Japan’s lead and sold the currency as it reached a postwar high, endangering the recovery from its biggest earthquake. The euro rose versus the yen on p...

World Bank: Japan may need 5 years to rebuild from devastating quake, tsunami SINGAPORE (AP) ― Japan may need five years to rebuild from the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that has caused up to $235 billion of damage, the World Bank said Monday. The March 11 disaster ― which killed more than 18,000 people and ravaged northeastern Japan ― will likely shave up to 0.5 percentage point from th...

TRIPOLI (AFP) - Explosions rocked Tripoli as Western forces staged fresh air strikes to halt Moamer Kadhafi's attacks on civilians, with one raid flattening a building in the strongman's heavily-fortified residence. As warplanes took off from Italian bases and anti-aircraft guns roared in the Libyan capital, Kadhafi's army announced a new ceasefire Sunday, saying it was heeding an African Union ...

WASHINGTON (AP) ― U.S. and British ships and submarines launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses Saturday and a senior American defense official said it was believed substantial damage was inflicted. In the strikes, 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya’s air force. While a U.S. defens...

Libyan state TV says 48 killed, 150 wounded in allied assault U.S., European forces launch cruise missiles, airstrikes BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) ― The U.S. and European nations pounded Moammar Gadhaf’s forces and air defenses with cruise missiles and airstrikes, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising that had seemed on the verge of defeat. L...

MIDDLETOWN, Pennsylvania (AP) ― Japan’s nuclear crisis has transported residents of central Pennsylvania back 32 years, when the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant raised fears that a massive amount of radiation could be released into the atmosphere or the Susquehanna River. But there are stark differences between the disasters. “It’s probably not politically correct to say...

KARAKUWA, Japan (AP) ― There may be no water, no power and no cell phone reception in this tsunami-struck town, but in the school that serves as a shelter, there are sizzling pans of fat, pink shrimp. Relief supplies have only trickled into the long strip of northeast Japan demolished by a powerful earthquake and the wave it unleashed a week ago, leaving affected communities to fend for themselv...