Given that around half of the world's burden of cardiovascular disease is carried by low and middle income countries in the region, these findings, published by the Asia-Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration (APCSC) in the Journal of Hypertension, highlight the immense impact that blood pressure-lowering strategies could have in the area.

Indonesia says it will cull tens of thousands of chickens kept in backyards across the sprawling archipelago in an effort to stop the spread of the bird flu virus. As VOA correspondent Nancy-Amelia Collins in Jakarta reports, the decision follows a new spate of human infections.

Rising numbers of human bird flu deaths in Indonesia and avian flu outbreaks among poultry in several Asian countries have put the region on alert. The World Health Organization says Asia, Africa, even Europe, need to be prepared for the worse. Claudia Blume reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

Southeast Asian governments attending an annual meeting in the Philippines are pushing for faster economic growth in the less-developed countries of the region. VOA's Heda Bayron reports from Cebu, where Asian leaders are gathering for a regional summit.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers meeting in the Philippines have again tried to push Burma to accelerate its promised democratic reforms. As VOA's Heda Bayron reports from the city of Cebu, the North Korean nuclear issue also featured high on the agenda in discussions between the ministers and their counterparts from Northern Asia and India.

Security measures are being stepped up in Bangkok, following the fatal New Year's Eve bombings and before an annual celebration this Saturday. VOA's Suzanne Presto in Bangkok reports.

The Asian Development Bank, or ADB, is funding studies in selected Asian cities to help develop sustainable urban transportation systems. The bank says transportation systems in most of the region's cities are inadequate, and it is poor people who suffer most. Claudia Blume reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

Senior Southeast Asian economic officials meeting in the Philippines are pushing for faster economic integration in the region and more preferential free trade deals with its major Asian trading partners. Officials say the stalled global free trade negotiations underscore the need for regional trading arrangements. VOA's Heda Bayron reports from Cebu, where the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and China, Japan, South Korea and others are gathering this week.

Philippine officials are confident that two Asian summits that were abruptly postponed last month will go ahead safely and successfully starting this week. They say neither rain nor threats of terrorism will stop the meetings. VOA's Heda Bayron reports from Cebu.

Critics of the Japanese government say its attempt to force nationalism on children could become a major political issue this year. Last month, the government revised its Basic Education Law for the first time since it was implemented after World War II, in an attempt to instill greater patriotism in students. Yuriko Nagano reports from Tokyo.

Japan's finance minister, Koji Omi, Monday said a continuing U.S. presence in Asia is critical for economic development and stability in the region. VOA's Barry Wood reports Omi spoke at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In India's northeastern state of Assam, the death toll in three days of attacks by suspected militants on migrant workers has risen to more than 65. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, it is the worst violence in years in the region, where separatist rebels have been waging an insurgency for more than two decades.