News in Asia Loves Links

This week’s version of “News in Asia” is linky because it’s hard to write with a five-month-old in your arms (even if she is adorable). Auntie duty calls.

[Trigger warning for rape and violence against trans women.]

India celebrated Diwali, its Festival of Lights this week. Here are some images of the celebration.

An indictment of three Japanese executives over their handling of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The chief executive who took over leadership of Hong Kong in 1997 said student leaders should re-open negotiations with the government.

President Obama has invited Afghanistan’s top two leaders to the White House.

UK troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

North Korea has released American Jeffrey Fowle.

Also, North and South Korea exchanged gunfire for the second time in two days.

A U.S. Marine who has been accused of killing a trans Filipino woman is being held in the Philippines. U.S. officials fear that this crime could jeopardize an agreement to expand the U.S. military’s presence there.

The men who sexually assaulted a female call center worker in Delhi have been sentenced to life in prison.

This article from Mother Jones points out that the U.S. spent $7.6 billion to crush the opium trade and this year, poppy cultivation is at record levels.

Finally, John Oliver has far surpassed his old boss Jon Stewart with humorous takes on just how fucked up the world really is and this segment on the deplorable treatment of former translators working with U.S. forces is no exception. The fact that these people faced immense danger to themselves and their families and can’t get visas to the U.S. is heartbreaking and horrible.