By Mohamed Olad Hassan
The Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s president said on Monday, Dec. 29, that he is resigning as the head of his country’s U.N.-backed government after four years of leading one of the most violent, impoverished countries in the world. Read the full story

In the wake of snowy weather, Western Washington’s blood supply has lost 20 percent of its inventory — 1,000 units of blood. Due to the snowstorms and icy weather, Puget Sound Blood Center has had to cancel more than 27 blood drives and has lost 1,700 blood donations. Read the full story

By Amy He
Northwest Asian Weekly

David Yoo is a cynic — but that might be a bit of an understatement. Read the full story

HONG KONG (AP) — Just because Batman landed in Hong Kong doesn’t mean “The Dark Knight” will. Read the full story

By Aijaz Hussain
The Associated Press

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Kashmir’s first election since a wave of deadly protests against Indian rule swept through the disputed region has resulted in a deadlocked legislature, officials said Sunday, Dec. 28, sparking a scramble to form a new coalition government. Read the full story

By Andrew Hamlin
Northwest Asian Weekly

For all their fascinating culture and history, Hmong rarely get depicted on film. Read the full story

By Ben Stocking
The Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The thugs came after dark, as Viet Khoa Do and his family were getting ready for bed. He says they punched him, kicked him, stole his camera, and terrified his wife and children. Read the full story

By Yuki Nakajima
Northwest Asian Weekly

Watching the fireworks at the Space Needle is not the only way to celebrate the new year. A temple in Redmond, known as Jingoji, offers a New Year’s event in which people can pray for fortune for the upcoming year. About 100 people visit Jingoji every year to participate in this event. Read the full story

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Security forces lined the streets Monday, Dec. 29, as Bangladesh voted in its first election in seven years, a much-anticipated poll that was to restore democracy to this troubled nation after two years of emergency rule. Read the full story

The Games opened in Beijing with 14,000 performers and 91,000 spectators in the Bird’s Nest Stadium. Dancing, music, and fireworks entertained 840 million television viewers worldwide. Read the full story

One person was killed and dozens were wounded in a fight between supporters of an opposition group and pro-government demonstrators. For more than a week, thousands of protesters, called People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), staged a sit-in outside the government buildings in Bangkok, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Pro-government groups launched counterdemonstrations. Read the full story

More than 170 people were killed and about 300 were wounded in a series of attacks on several of Mumbai’s landmarks and commercial hubs that were popular with foreign tourists, including two five-star hotels, a hospital, a train station, and a cinema. Read the full story

North Korea gave U.S. officials about 18,000 pages of documents detailing its efforts in 1990, 2003, and 2005 to reprocess plutonium for nuclear weapons. The country raised hopes that it was on the path toward denuclearization. Read the full story

The scandal broke after 16 infants in Gansu Province, who had been fed on milk powder produced by Sanlu Group, were diagnosed with kidney stones. After the initial focus on Sanlu, the market leader in the budget segment, government inspections revealed the problem existed to a lesser degree in products from 21 other companies, including Mengniu, Yili, and Yashili. Read the full story

Millions of voters turned out to elect a 601-seat constituent assembly that would write a new constitution. Maoist rebels, who recently signed a peace agreement with the government that ended the guerrillas’ 10-year insurgency, vied for seats in the assembly. On April 21, it was reported that the Maoists won 120 out of 240 seats. Read the full story

As many as 68,000 people were killed and thousands injured when an estimated 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan Provinces in western China. Nearly 900 students were trapped when Juyuan Middle School in the Sichuan Province collapsed, devastating families. Read the full story