Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, was gunned down by one of his bodyguards today in a crowded marketplace -- the highest-profile killing in Pakistan since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the latest blow to the country's beleaguered civilian government.

Dominating the games demonstrates to the Chinese the superiority of their system, analysts say. China's lavish preparations and hospitality show fellow Asian nations that it is a friendly power whose leadership in the region should be embraced, not feared, they say.

Since Korea’s success began as an entertainment exporter in the late 1990s, its music, television dramas, movies and video games have become popular among young people across Asia, a phenomenon often known as “Hallyu” or the Korean Wave.

This is an undeniable fact that, today; there is a very different Turkey in the world political scene in terms of its foreign policy rationale. Ankara’s attitude toward Iran and the crisis with Israel following the Mavi Marmara incident have especially pulled Turkey into the center of the Middle East.

Can India win 20 gold medals in the 2020 Olympics? A preposterous suggestion, most would argue. After all, the tally in Beijing in 2008 was a paltry three, with a solitary gold for shooter Abhinav Bindra. To believe there could be a 20-fold increase in the matter of a decade defies good sense.

At the end of May, it was announced that a South Korean band called Super Junior would perform at the Shanghai World Expo. Free tickets would be released for those who arrived early on the day of the performance, which was scheduled for the evening of May 30.

In viewing a traditional Chinese painting, the eyes do not have to follow a linear perspective from a fixed and external position to a vanishing point; they move within a scroll and, like a movie camera, capture a shifting focus.