HONG KONG (AP) — Shin Kyung-sook’s novel Please Look After Mom has won the Man Asian Literary Prize. The novel is about a family’s search for their mother after she goes missing in Seoul. The statement by the judges said it was "an incredibly moving portrait of what it means to be a mother, but also of the tradition and modernity of the family in South Korea." Shin is one of South Korea’s most acclaimed authors, and Please Look After Mom has also made a splash in the United States. She won $30,000 and Kim Chi-young won $5,000 for the English translation. She is the first South Korean and first woman to win the Man Asian award in its five-year history.

MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has found lingering deficiencies in Philippine air safety standards despite the country’s efforts to fix the problems. Unqualified personnel inspect aircraft and airport facilities, inspectors accept free rides on the same airlines they are checking, and airlines receive certification despite failing to meet requirements. Safety and management concerns led the U.S. aviation watchdog to downgrade the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in 2007 and limit U.S.-bound flights from the Philippines. In 2010, the European Union also blacklisted Philippine carriers. Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas said his government will take measures to address the deficiencies.

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government says lawyers are now required to take an oath of allegiance to the Communist Party. The move has been criticized by prominent human-rights lawyers who have defended critics of the ruling party. The Ministry of Justice said in a notice posted on its website that first-time applicants or lawyers requesting renewals of professional legal licenses must take an oath of loyalty to the country, the Communist Party’s leaders, and the people. It says the oath is intended to raise the political, moral, and professional quality of the country’s lawyers. Legal reformers say the government has undermined rule of law by promoting a campaign that says the party and people’s interests must be placed above the letter of the law.

BANGKOK — Myanmar exiles living around the world are starting to come home to see for themselves if the country’s campaign of reforms is real. The vast majority are staying put so far, but those who have visited have found big changes in the Southeast Asian country that, until last year, was ruled by a military junta. One recent visitor, Aye Chan Naing, leads the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, which broadcasts independent news in Myanmar. The government once considered the organization a threat to national security, but Aye Chan says he had positive talks with government officials and found a sliver of hope during his five-day trip. He says people are speaking out freely without getting followed, arrested, or punished.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities have shut down a fake police website that offered the public help battling online crime but required a service fee for the assistance. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that police had closed down the website, wangjing110.com, which mimicked an official website hosted by the Shanghai municipal police bureau. It said the fraudulent website claimed to be the China Internet Supervision and Investigation Authority and pledged to recover money lost through online fraud in return for a deposit or service fee. Xinhua says four suspects have been arrested. Police corruption and criminals posing as police to solicit money from the public are common in China.