Taiwan's new president Ma Ying-jeou has been in office for only two months and already he is being credited with breathing new life into the stagnated relationship the island shares with mainland China. This weekend, TALK ASIA gets exclusive access to the President as he discusses with host Anjali Rao the move to build closer ties with the mainland, his views on their leadership and his emergence and rise to power as Taiwan's leader. He then invites Rao and the crew to join him as he celebrates his 58^th birthday on Taiwan's Air Force One.

On this week's TALK ASIA, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks frankly with CNN's Tokyo-based correspondent Kyung Lah on world's efforts to fight climate change, the situation in Zimbabwe, dealing with North Korea and the growing global food crisis. Sitting down with Lah on the sidelines of the recent G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Ban also finds time to discuss his upbringing, the rapturous welcome he received during his recent home visit, and maintaining a work/life balance in what he calls "the most impossible job on the earth'.

In a unique off-air initiative to highlight its week of special environmental programming, CNN has invited well-known contemporary Indian artist Suryakant Lokhande to create a work of art using recycled rubbish.  He created a life-size sculpture of a tiger, pictured left.

May was a record-setting month for CNN.com in terms of international traffic as well as the number of online video streams, with more than 116 million reaching global users. Continuing its No. 1 ranking in total minutes for the 11^th month in a row, the CNN Digital Network maintained the top spot in May among all U.S. News and Information properties.

China's prima ballerina, Tan Yuan Yuan is principal dancer with the prestigious San Francisco Ballet. A Shanghai native, Tan first put on ballet shoes at the age of seven, was enrolled at the Shanghai Dance School at 11 and moved to Europe when she was 17 to further her dance education.  This talented dancer joins CNN's Kristie Lu Stout on this weekend's TALK ASIA as she prepares for her latest performance in Hong Kong. 

Anand Mahindra is credited for transforming a small family business into an industrial conglomerate worth U.S $6.7 billion dollars and driving Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) into the Forbes' world's 200 most reputable companies list. With M&M's interests ranging from information technology to real estate to banking, the Vice Chairman and Managing Director takes time from his busy schedule to meet CNN's Anjali Rao on this weekend's TALK ASIA.