Philippine New Year celebrations leave hundreds injured

At least one person has been killed and nearly 600 others injured by New Year fireworks and gunfire in the Philippines, officials have said.

Giant rubber duck bursts in Taiwan

A giant yellow rubber duck on display in a Taiwanese port has burst in unexplained circumstances.

N Korean leader Kim Jong-un hails execution of uncle

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has spoken of the "elimination of factionalist filth" in his first public reference to the execution of his once-powerful uncle last month.

Chang Song-thaek, left, is believed to have mentored Kim Jong-un

Japan's population falls 'by record 244,000' in 2013

Japan's population declined by a record 244,000 people in 2013, according to health ministry estimates.

Japan's government is trying to boost a stagnant economy in the face of a shrinking population

N Korean leader's powerbroker uncle 'sacked'

South Korean intelligence reports suggest Kim Jong Un's influential uncle was dismissed from his posts.

Wife of China's jailed Nobel Laureate suspected of suffering severe depression

(Reuters) - The wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo is unwell under house arrest and possibly suffering from severe depression, but refuses to seek medical help as she is afraid of further punishment, her friends said on Monday.

Workers prepare the Nobel Peace Prize laureate exhibition ''I Have No Enemies'' for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo December 9, 2010.

North Korea powerbroker 'dismissed'

A powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been removed from his post, South Korean media reports say.

Many observers saw Mr Chang as having a major influence on Kim Jong-un

Liu Xia, wife of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, 'depressed'

Concern is growing for the mental health of the wife of jailed Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo.

China begins talks on economic reform

© Photo: AFP

Chinese leaders began a four-day meeting in Beijing Saturday to set an agenda of economic reforms over the next ten years, with finding a more sustainable growth model for the world’s second-largest economy likely to be a top priority.

Scores killed in Philippines typhoon onslaught

More than 1,000 people have been killed in the Philippines after one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall struck the country Friday, the Red Cross said. The coastal city of Tacloban and Samar province are among the most devastated areas.

Vietnam braces for deadly Typhoon Haiyan

After killing an estimated 10,000 people and leaving a trail of destruction across the Philippines, Typhoon Haiyan is expected to hit Vietnam on Monday morning, with the country evacuating hundreds of thousands of people in preparation.

At least 10,000 feared dead after Philippines typhoon

Typhoon Haiyan has left at least 10,000 dead in the central Philippines, a senior police official said Sunday, with the country left battered by winds of up to 275 kph and surging sea water that has swept away entire villages.

Beijing police accused of sexism towards women drivers

Police in China's capital, Beijing, have been accused of sexism over safety tips targeting women drivers.
Beijing police believe that women drivers are lack of sense of direction while driving

China plea paper 'to be overhauled'

A Chinese newspaper that made a front-page appeal for the release of a reporter accused of defamation is to be overhauled, a press regulator says.
Chen Yongzhou appeared on state TV in his prison uniform

China calls car crash a terrorist attack, arrests 5

Authorities identify the three occupants of the car that hit pedestrians at Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The three family members were among five people killed.

Uighurs sell their wares at a market in Beijing. Members of the ethnic minority said they were facing stepped-up scrutiny from Chinese police after the deadly car crash Monday at Beijing's Tiananmen Square. (Ng Han Guan / Associated Press /October 30, 2013)

Returned South Koreans 'entered North Korea via China'

South Korea says six men returned by North Korea on Friday all entered the communist state via China, some in search of a better life.

The six men were returned via Panmunjom, the truce village between the Koreas