Yasushi Akimoto, the producer of Japanese idol phenomenon AKB48, sits down with ‘Talk Asia' this week for an in-depth interview. Akimoto shares with Anna Coren what inspired him to start the group and his plans to expand his pop empire, even though the band already holds a Guinness World Record for the world's largest pop group.

A decade after agreements and pledges were made to end the worst forms of child labor in the West African cocoa plantations, CNN's David McKenzie in a CNN Freedom Project investigation travels deep into the heart of the Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, to find out exactly what progress has been made. 

CNN International will continue its special coverage of the race to the White House on 11 January, as the Republican nomination process gets into full swing.

Award-winning journalist Nick Paton Walsh has joined CNN as an international correspondent, it was announced by Parisa Khosravi, senior vice president of international newsgathering.

Beginning today (January 9), CNN Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi will co-anchor the Asia primetime evening edition of ‘World Business Today,' airing every weekday at 2200 HKT.Based in New York, Velshi will provide business reporting and analysis for the show, interpreting and explaining the top stories of the day alongside the program's Hong Kong-based business specialist Andrew Stevens, Nina dos Santos in London and business correspondent Maggie Lake.