• A crack opens in the Korean wall [Asia Times]
  The big question on the opening Tuesday of the North-South Korean summit in Pyongyang was whether or not North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would condescend to welcome South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in person, or whether he would delegate that ceremonial chore to his much lower-ranking No 2.


• Myanmar's neighbours have little influence: Singapore FM [AFP]
  Myanmar's neighbours have little influence over internal developments there, said George Yeo, foreign minister of Singapore, which is currently the chair of ASEAN.


• Tajikistan struggles for power [Asia Times]
  It's difficult to run a country in the dark. Politicians who leave voters in the cold, unable to cook or keep warm, become unpopular with the flick of a switch. Swarms of secret police can't offset the damage that having no electricity causes.


• Thai coup leader formally named deputy PM [Channel News Asia]
  Thailand's coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin was officially named a deputy prime minister Tuesday, but he denied that his appointment to the Cabinet was an attempt to cling to power.


• Japanese scientists create see-through frog [National Geographic]
  Japanese scientists at Hiroshima University have created a see-through frog which does not require dissection to see its organs, blood vessels, and eggs.


• Turkmenistan: The hazards of surfing [Eurasianet.org]
  Coming up on a year since Berdymukhamedov took power, the Internet is not really any more accessible than it was under Niyazov. There are only a handful of government-run Internet cafes in the capital, Ashgabat, which opened in March.

Photo from mansonkin: "Nagai Kenji of APF tries to take photographs as he lies injured after police and military officials fired upon and then charged at protesters in Yangon's city centre September 27, 2007. Kenji, 52, a Japanese photographer, was shot by soldiers as they fired to disperse the crowd. Kenji later died."