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April 07, 2014 2:05 PM SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea and Australia will sign a free trade deal this week, South Korean President Park Geun Hye said on Monday, after four years of negotiations on the pact. ...

April 07, 2014 2:13 PM BEIJING (AFP) - Beijing warned the United States on Monday against interfering in Hong Kong's affairs after US Vice President Joe Biden met with two of the city's outspoken pro-democracy campaigners last week. ...

April 07, 2014 2:17 PM SINGAPORE (AFP) - The World Bank said on Monday developing countries in East Asia will grow 7.1 per cent in 2014 as they benefit from a stabilising global economy and withstand the impact of US stimulus cuts. ...

April 07, 2014 2:36 PM BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's capital Beijing will set up cameras at building sites across the city to monitor how much construction contributes to Beijing's notoriously polluted air, state media said. ...

April 07, 2014 4:05 PM SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean President Park Geun Hye called on Monday for tighter vigilance against North Korea, days after its leader Kim Jong Un warned of a "very grave situation" on the peninsula. ...

April 07, 2014 4:40 PM TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan and Australia clinched a basic trade deal to cut import tariffs, the Australian media reported, as United States and Japanese officials stepped up efforts to reach a parallel agreement that would re-energise stalled talks on a broader regional pact. ...

April 07, 2014 5:15 PM NEW DELHI (AFP) - The Indian police have lodged a criminal case against three Israeli diplomats for allegedly abusing and injuring an airport immigration official, despite them enjoying diplomatic immunity, an officer said Monday. ...

April 07, 2014 5:50 PM BEIJING (Reuters) - The governor of China's restive far western region of Xinjiang wrote on Monday that Islamist militants were trying to ban laughter at weddings and crying at funerals, as he appealed to people to stamp out the "tumour" of extremism. ...

April 07, 2014 5:56 PM TOKYO (AFP) - Japan and Australia on Monday said they had reached “substantive agreement” on a long-awaited free-trade deal, in a rare opening of Japan’s protected markets, even as talks to ink a huge Asia-Pacific agreement run into trouble. ...

April 07, 2014 6:06 PM NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's prime ministerial frontrunner Narendra Modi pledged good governance and development on Monday as he released his party's delayed manifesto that also included controversial Hindu nationalist policies. ...

April 07, 2014 6:57 PM BEIJING (AFP) - Rescuers on Monday raced to save 22 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in south-western China, state media reported. ...

April 07, 2014 6:43 PM QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) - A Pakistani court hearing the murder case of a slain Baluch nationalist leader on Monday ordered embattled former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to appear in person on April 21 or face arrest. ...

April 07, 2014 7:22 PM KABUL (Reuters) - Preliminary tallies from Afghanistan's presidential election showed former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah leading in parts of Kabul on Monday, but with ballot counting likely to last weeks it was far too early to predict a winner. ...

April 07, 2014 7:37 PM HONG KONG (AFP) - An Indonesian maid allegedly tortured by her Hong Kong employer returned to the city on Monday for a medical examination to help the investigation of a case which sparked angry protests. ...

April 07, 2014 7:47 PM LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) - A Pakistani court on Monday ordered the police to investigate whether to bring obscenity charges against a popular film actress allegedly involved in a sex tape controversy in the conservative Islamic country. ...

April 07, 2014 7:49 AM TOKYO (AFP) - China will show off its new aircraft carrier to US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday, allowing the Pentagon chief a first-hand look at a symbol of the country's growing military prowess. ...

April 07, 2014 9:03 AM WELLINGTON (AFP) - Britain's baby Prince George arrived in New Zealand with parents Prince William and Catherine on Monday for the eight-month-old's first ever official tour. ...

April 07, 2014 10:42 AM DIBRUGARH (AFP) - Indians began voting in the world's biggest election on Monday which is set to sweep the Hindu nationalist opposition to power at a time of low growth, anger about corruption and warnings about religious unrest. ...

April 06, 2014 1:30 AM KABUL (AFP) - Afghans celebrated a largely peaceful election on Saturday, as turnout exceeded predictions despite Taliban threats to disrupt the vote to choose President Hamid Karzai's successor.         ...

April 05, 2014 1:01 PM TOKYO (REUTERS) - Japan has ordered a destroyer in the Sea of Japan to strike any ballistic missiles that may be launched by North Korea in the coming weeks after Pyongyang fired a Rodong medium-range missile over the sea, a government source said on Saturday.         ...