Japan said Tuesday that it would formally ask Australia to keep anti-whaling activists and their ship, the Steve Irwin, from refueling at Australian ports.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07whale.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07whale.html" border="0"//a /span

Opposition lawmakers ended their violent, 12-day siege of South Korea’s Parliament on Tuesday after successfully delaying a crucial vote on a United States free-trade deal.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-OPPOSITIONPA_BRF.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-OPPOSITIONPA_BRF.html" border="0"//a /span

India’s national airline has fired nine flight attendants for being overweight, an official said Tuesday.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-9FLIGHTATTEN_BRF.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-9FLIGHTATTEN_BRF.html" border="0"//a /span

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan on Tuesday rejected claims that its soldiers had killed civilians during an operation against Taliban insurgents in Helmand Province.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-NATOFORCEDIS_BRF.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-NATOFORCEDIS_BRF.html" border="0"//a /span

Sheikh Hasina was sworn in as the country’s prime minister on Tuesday.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-PREMIERISSWO_BRF.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-PREMIERISSWO_BRF.html" border="0"//a /span

Construction workers in Hanoi have found a huge unexploded bomb that is believed to have been dropped by the United States during the Vietnam War.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-USBOMBDISCOV_BRF.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07briefs-USBOMBDISCOV_BRF.html" border="0"//a /span

The document compiled by Indian authorities and seen by The Times seems designed to demonstrate that the attackers were sent from Pakistan.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07india.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/asia/07india.html" border="0"//a /span

Afghans of all ethnic and political stripes, even the Taliban, seem likely to count Alberto Cairo as one foreigner who left the country better than he found it.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/world/asia/25afghan.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/world/asia/25afghan.html" border="0"//a /span

A mud eruption triggered by exploratory drilling for natural gas has grown to be one of the largest mud volcanoes to have affected a populated area.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/asia/19mud.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/asia/19mud.html" border="0"//a /span

Scientists are forecasting that in the next several decades there will be another major earthquake off Sumatra like the one that spawned the tsunami in 2004.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/science/16obquake.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=4b4e52cf15ce4763b704aaa809138972u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/science/16obquake.html" border="0"//a /span