The Philippine Armed Forces on Thursday sent hundreds of more troops to Sharif Aguak, capital of the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, to contain the members of the Ampatuan political clan, who have been accused for the massacre of at least 57 people last week. In a press briefing, the Philippine military public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said the deployment of the 33rd Infantry Battalion from Lanao del Sur is also part of their preparation for the possible service of warrants against other members of the family. (Philippines-More-Troops) SINGAPORE -- Online shopping continues to be popular among internet users in Asia-Pacific with 89 percent of people who participated in a survey saying they had shopped online in the past 12 months, Visa said on Thursday. According to the Visa eCommerce Consumer Monitor survey, in terms of quarter-on- quarter growth, when compared with other respondents, those from China and India registered the strongest increase in online shopping over the last six months. (Singapore- Shopping-Popular) SINGAPORE -- Asia has emerged from the latest global financial crisis in a much better position than its Western counterparts, and is set to play a key role in leading the world to recovery, Singapore Exchange's (SGX) chief said on Thursday. With a growth forecast of over seven percent for developing Asia in 2010, Asia is outstripping the expected growth rates in Western economies many folds, said Magnus Bocker, Chief Executive Officer of SGX. (Singapore-Financial-Crisis) SUVA -- Fiji's AIR Pacific's first flight to Hong Kong that will also include Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama this week will see more tourists from Asia and Europe visiting the island nation. Tourism Fiji believes the flight on Saturday will allow for more sitting capacities which will automatically increase the number of tourists from China into Fiji. (Fiji-Hong Kong-Flight) ISLAMABAD -- At least 22 militants were killed during ongoing military operations in various areas of Pakistan's northwest on Thursday, official sources said. According to Swat Media Center (SMC), Abu Faraj, a top militant commander, was among 11 militants killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Segaram area of Swat. One security personnel was also wounded in the clash. (Pakistan- Militants- Killed) SEOUL -- Union workers of the state-run (South) Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) have decide to return to work later Thursday, ending their eight-day nationwide strike. At a press conference held here Thursday evening, the KORAIL union announced that striking workers will return to work at 09:00 a.m. on Friday because they could not ignore inconveniences caused by the walkout to citizens. (S. Korea- Workers-Strike) KABUL -- The top U.S.-NATO Commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal said Thursday that the new strategy announced by U.S. President Barack Obama will be successful. 'I believe by next summer you will see significant improvement of security when additional forces continue to flow. Little more than a year as all forces arrive, I believe, I will be able to tell you that strategy is clearly working and would be successful, ' McChrystal told Afghan parliamentarians here in a session of Defense Commission of Afghan Parliament. (Afghanistan-U.S.- Strategy) NEW DELHI -- India said on Thursday that it is voluntarily willing to reduce carbon emission by 20 to 25 percent by 2020, but it is not going to sign any legally binding agreement at the Copenhagen climate summit. Indian Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh said at the Lok Sabha, or Lower House of Parliament, that ' India will never accept a legally binding emission reduction agreement'. (India-Reduce-Carbon) 