Taiwan stepped up pressure on Manila Tuesday, saying it would conduct a naval drill in waters near the Philippines if Manila did not officially apologise for the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman.

A boat carrying up to 150 Rohingya Muslims fleeing a cyclone has capsized off Myanmar's coast, the UN said Tuesday, as the storm threatened to strike flood-prone Rakhine State over coming days.

The Japanese government on Tuesday moved to distance itself from comments by a prominent politician that the so-called "comfort women" of WWII served a "necessary" role by keeping troops in check.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said Tuesday she wants talks with North Korea on removing raw materials and finished products from a joint industrial complex closed by military tensions.

Samsung Group, South Korea's No. 1 conglomerate, said Monday it plans to establish a foundation to bolster the country's growth engine in line with the government's push to cultivate economic development.

The United Nations (UN) climate change body has warned a stepped-up coordinated response is needed to fend off impacts of climate change after the world's carbon dioxide concentration surpassed its highest level in 4 million years, Xinhua news agency reported.

Panic has gripped Saudis in the country's east, where most cases of the deadly coronavirus have been detected, witnesses said, as the death toll from the SARS-like virus in the kingdom hits 15.

Winds whipped up a wall of ice into a lakeside community in Canada's western Manitoba province, destroying or damaging dozens of cottages over the weekend, officials said Monday.

Angry Taiwanese fishermen burned Filipino flags in protest Monday after the Philippine coastguard fired on a Taiwan fishing boat killing a crew member.

At least seven people were killed while a presidential aide survived an ambush during mid-term elections in the Philippines on Monday, authorities said.