Asia

Until recently, very few people had ever heard of raspberry ketones, the aromatic compounds that give the berries their distinctive smell. Today, health food stores have trouble keeping the capsules or drops of the stuff on their shelves. Almost overnight, an obscure plant compound became the next big thing in weight loss - and all it took was a few words from Dr. Oz. In a February episode of "The Dr. Oz Show," Mehmet Oz told viewers that raspberry ketones were "the No. 1 miracle in a bottle to burn your fat. " Once Oz calls something a "miracle," it doesn't remain obscure for long.

The harlequin ladybird was once a stalwart ally of greenhouse growers around the world. Native to Japan, Korea and other parts of eastern Asia, the bright red ladybugs were prized for their aphid-eating abilities - until they caused serious declines in other ladybug populations. Now researchers have discovered the harlequin ladybird's secret weapon: a deadly parasite that lives harmlessly in its body but kills other species with abandon. The findings, published this week in the journal Science, demonstrate how things can go awry when a foreign creature is introduced into an ecosystem, even when done with the best intentions.

Bina Badi tends her garden behind a picket fence. Goats leap. Boys fly kites. Water buffalo laze in the river. Idyllic, except for the used condoms that litter the road and the fact that men have visited her house virtually every day for 28 of her 38 years to enjoy her body, and she sees no escape. South Asia's caste system is infamous. The ancient tradition that once rigidly defined people's occupations continues to shape their social status and sense of self-worth. But few living under its influence are as degraded as the Badis of southwestern Nepal.

NEW DELHI - At least 58 people were missing and feared dead Tuesday after a boat capsized off Myanmar while residents tried to flee an approaching cyclone, United Nations officials said. The boat was carrying about 100 Rohingya Muslims, many of whom lived in camps in low-lying areas to escape Buddhist-Muslim violence, officials said. The boat apparently ran into rocks off Pauktaw township in the western state Rakhine and sank late Monday as people were evacuating, said Aye Win, spokesman for the U.N. Information Center in Myanmar, based on preliminary information.

NEW DELHI - At least 58 people were missing and feared dead Tuesday after a boat capsized off Myanmar while residents tried to flee an approaching cyclone, United Nations officials said. The boat was carrying about 100 Rohingya Muslims, many of whom lived in camps in low-lying areas to escape Buddhist-Muslim violence, officials said. The boat apparently ran into rocks off Pauktaw township in the western state Rakhine and sank late Monday as people were evacuating, said Aye Win, spokesman for the U.N. Information Center in Myanmar, based on preliminary information.

Ann Babe knows her real name, birthday and hometown. That's because it was all included on the note left with her at the South Korean bus stop where she was abandoned as an infant in 1986. However, beyond the name of the orphanage where she was later adopted by an American couple, that's all she knew about her South Korean roots. The only way to find out more, Babe decided, was to return to the land of her ancestors. After graduating in 2008 from the University of Wisconsin with a triple major -- journalism, history and political science -- she became one of many ethnic Koreans raised abroad who return to explore their heritage.

Han Jin thought he had a foolproof business plan to get his family out of debt. He rented extra land next to his tiny farm here to grow heaps of cabbage at a time when the price of the leafy vegetable was soaring. But when it came time to harvest this spring, the hapless father of two discovered thousands of other farmers had the same idea. Wholesalers were flooded with greens. Prices plummeted. Left with a field of nearly worthless vegetables and owing more money than he earned in a year, Han locked himself in his bathroom in April and hanged himself.

For Jung Joon, the moment of truth arrives for his clients as they slip into the casket and he pounds the lid in place with a wooden hammer. Insights arise, he says, as they are confronted with total, claustrophobic darkness, left alone to weigh their regrets and ponder eternity. Jung, a slight 39-year-old with an undertaker's blue suit and a preacher's demeanor, is a resolute counselor on the ever-after who welcomes clients with the invitation, "OK, today let's get close to death."

Seeking a competitive edge, fabric designer Vaneeza Ahmad spent hours on the phone to China but couldn't find anyone to make her new line of dupattas , the omnipresent scarves that Pakistani women drape over their arms, head, chest. China may be the world's factory floor, but its scarf makers aren't equipped for something that can be more than 8 feet long. Ahmad fretted, until, after much wrangling, she found a solution. "I've located a curtain maker who could do it," she said triumphantly.

My name is Haley. I was adopted in 1995. I now live in America. I enjoy singing and playing the violin and hanging out with my friends. I have a good life, but I would like to find my biological family. Just minutes after Jeannie Butler and her adopted daughter, Haley, tacked a Chinese-language poster with this message to a wall in the Yangtze River village where she had been abandoned, a woman emerged from a restaurant next door and did a double-take. The woman stared hard at Haley, 14, then at the baby photo on the poster.

COLSTRIP, Mont. - Out in these windy stretches of cottonwood and prairie grass, not far from where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer ran into problems at Little Bighorn, a new battle is unfolding over what future energy development in the West will look like. Here, rancher Wallace McRae and his son, Clint, run cattle on 31,000 acres along Rosebud Creek, land their family has patrolled with horses and tamed with fences for 125 years. They could probably go on undisturbed for 100 years more if the earth under the pastures weren't laced with coal.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - On Sunday, a local politician named Mukarram Shah was in his car in the remote Pakistani village of Banjot when a bomb was detonated by remote control. He was instantly killed. The bomb was made out of a pressure cooker, a common appliance in Pakistani kitchens and an increasingly common tool of terrorism in South Asia. It is the same sort of device that is believed to have been used in the Boston Marathon bombings, although authorities caution that it does not necessarily point to South Asian perpetrators; anyone could have taken advantage of easy-to-find online plans that have been posted by Al Qaeda, among others.

Following a flurry of complaints, Los Angeles County inspectors have cited 16 "maternity hotel" owners for illegally operating boardinghouses in residential zones. The facilities, all in Rowland Heights or Hacienda Heights, will ultimately be shut down, county officials said. No major health or safety issues were found at the hotels, where women from Asia stay to give birth to U.S. citizen babies. Some were cited for building and fire code violations, according to a report released Thursday.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but this one has inspired many more, because it has become a departure point for how Europeans became acquainted with Asia. When the Getty acquired an 17th century drawing by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, "Man in Korean Costume," at a 1983 auction, it was already well known among the cognoscenti. Then six years ago Getty curator Stephanie Schrader learned that it had inspired two books in Korea - a bestselling novel in 1993 and a nonfiction volume by a Jesuit historian in 2004.

Cherry blossom season sprang to life earlier than usual this year in Tokyo and is now in full swing, according to Japan's weather agency. An official rite of spring, the blooming of cherry trees is a beloved natural spectacle in Japan, involving nationwide parties and celebrations to take in the flowers' short-lived beauty. The first blossoms were spotted this year on March 16, the earliest date on record. Among the festivities are special events at the Peninsula Tokyo , which got into the act early by importing cherry blossoms and setting 14 florists to work to create seven huge arrangements.

WASHINGTON -- Japan intends to join the talks for an ambitious free-trade pact with the U.S. and 10 other countries, raising the economic stakes of the negotiations but also potentially delaying agreement as American and Japanese interests tangle over protecting their respective car and farm markets. The decision, announced Friday by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was expected after his White House meeting three weeks ago with President Obama, who sees the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, as a way to strengthen the U.S. economy and influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Zou Jin has one response to the gifts of mooncakes that piled up on her desk before the mid-autumn festival: "You shouldn't have. " The 30 cakes that Zou had received from her employer and various clients weeks ago sat unopened and neglected under her desk as the 31-year-old marketing manager tried to pawn them off on anyone who would take them. "They're too sweet and not healthy," she said. "I just bring them with me when I meet friends and give mooncakes to anyone who wants one. " According to custom, one is supposed to eat the cakes under the full moon on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which this year falls on Monday.

The hotly anticipated new animal habitat Elephants of Asia finally opens to the public, featuring three gentle pachyderm transplants from the San Diego Zoo: Tina, Jewel and 25-year-old Billy. The six-acre exhibit features bathing pools, sandy hills and varied topography, all devoted to exploring the connection between elephants and the cultures of Thailand, India, China and Cambodia. L.A. Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, Griffith Park. Grand opening 10 a.m. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. except Dec. 25. Adults $14, seniors $11, children 2-12 $9, children younger than 2 free.

Another longtime European hotel group is making fresh inroads into Asia. Kempinski Hotels , one of Europe's oldest luxury hotel groups, is adding to its portfolio of 75 properties by opening three hotels in China and another in India. "We are opening in growing market destinations in China and southeast Asia," said Reto Wittwer, president and chief executive. "Both China and India are countries with excellent growth potential for the group.” Kempinski, founded in Europe in 1897, now has hotels in 31 countries, and continues to add new properties in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, including historic landmark properties, urban hotels, resorts, and high-end residences.