HONG KONG (IHT) - Can a region like Asia - with more than $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, high savings rates, mostly well-capitalized banks and minimal exposure to American mortgage-backed securities - run into trouble during a global financial crisis?

The answer Friday was a resounding yes.

WASHINGTON (IHT) North Korea's move to resume the reprocessing of plutonium, perhaps as soon as next week, left the country on the verge of restarting a nuclear weapons program whose shutdown had been portrayed by the White House as a significant diplomatic achievement.

PHNOM PENH (Channel News Asia) Cambodia's parliament re-elected Hun Sen as prime minister Thursday, extending his 23-year grip on power, at a session boycotted by parties disputing the results of the July general election.

BANGKOK (Channel News Asia) One year after Myanmar's brutal crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks, the world remains divided on how to handle the military government, leaving democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi alone against the generals.

BANGKOK(Channel News Asia) - Severe flooding across Thailand has left at least 16 people dead and more than half a million people struggling to cope with damaged property and disease, officials and news reports said Sunday.

(Christian Science Monitor) Inspectors found that 20 percent of dairy firms inspected since last week had produced melamine-tainted formula, state TV reported Tuesday. Critics say state regulation alone won’t prevent more food scandals.

(IHT) Bangkok - Myanmar's military junta will allow the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to receive letters from her two sons as well as some foreign magazines, slightly easing her stringent house arrest, according her lawyer.

(Guardian) Kevin Rudd announces increase in defence spending in response to accelerating arms race in region.

(Times Online) Hong Kong voters gave opposition pro-democracy parties a surprise success in elections for the territory’s legislature today, ensuring they retained their veto power and influence over political reforms.

MANILA, 5 September 2008 (IRIN) - Up to 500,000 people are enduring poor health services and unsanitary conditions after fleeing the fighting between the government and Muslim rebels in the south.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (GMA News TV) Despite the government’s decision to dissolve its peace negotiating panel, Moro rebels are still open to holding talks to end their century-old struggle in Mindanao.

UPI, Mindanao (IPS) Amidst the raging conflict between government forces and Muslim rebels on the island of Mindanao, the religiously mixed population in the North Cotabato region looks to a community radio station as a beacon of peace.

PERMATANG PAUH, Malaysia (Channel News Asia) - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's party said Tuesday its exit polls indicate he has won 61 per cent of the votes in a by-election expected to return him to parliament.

MANILA (Channel News Asia) The Philippine government has scrapped its controversial peace deal with the country's Muslim minority after two weeks of deadly clashes in the south, the presidential palace said Thursday.

HUA HIN, Thailand (Channel News Asia) Foreign ministers from Cambodia and Thailand said on Tuesday they have agreed to step up efforts to mark the border around a disputed temple that has been the scene of a military standoff.

HANOI (IHT) Even the ghosts are suffering from inflation in Vietnam this year.

ALOFI, Niue (Xinhua) -- As last-minute preparation work is being carried out in the small island nation of Niue, heads of the government from guest countries are landing here for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) summit to be held from Tuesday to Thursday.

(Pacific Magazine) The Pacific Plan, climate change, renewable energy, labor mobility and the Fiji situation are on the agenda for Pacific Island Forum leaders when they meet in Niue tomorrow for their 39th Summit.

HA NOI (Viet Nam News) Nearly 200 people in the North were killed, injured or missing due to rain and flooding, caused by Storm Kammuri, said the Central Steering Committee for Floods and Storm Control yesterday.

MANILA (New York Times) The number of Filipinos displaced from their homes since fighting began late last week between government forces and Islamic separatists in the southern Philippines reached 130,000 on Monday, officials said.

(The Yomiuri Shimbun) Five elderly people, who as primary school children were evacuated from Hiroshima before it was devastated in the atomic bombing 63 years ago, poured spring and well water into two rivers as an offering to the city's victims last month.

(Xinhua) Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda pledges that Japan will adhere to the three anti-nuclear principles during a memorial ceremony held at the peace park of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 2008.

SEOUL (Xinhua) - Thousands of South Koreans plan to hold protests against U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Seoul on Tuesday amid tightened security measures in the capital city.