A rescue operation was under way Tuesday after an asylum-seeker boat carrying 105 people began sinking north of Australia, two weeks away from an election where boatpeople are a key policy issue.
Tokyo shares opened lower Tuesday, following a weak showing on Wall Street as speculation lingers that the US Federal Reserve will scale back its bond-buying programme.
A volcano off New Zealand sent a plume of steam two kilometres (1.24 miles) into the air Tuesday, although volcanologists described the eruption as small and said it was over in minutes.
Puddles with extremely high radiation levels have been found near water storage tanks at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, as it moved to contain the latest of several toxic water threats.
Japanese cosmetics maker Kanebo said Monday the number of complaints about skin discolouring from using its whitening products has topped 7,000 from customers both at home and abroad.
Dozens of same-sex couples said "I do" Monday as New Zealand became the first Asia-Pacific country, and only the 14th in the world, to legalise gay marriage.
Young Australians have a reputation for being fit and enjoying a sporty, outdoorsy lifestyle, but research released Monday found they are stacking on more weight than any other age group.
Heavy rain in the Philippine capital of Manila forced all schools, government offices and the stock exchange to close on Monday, as waist-deep water flooded parts of the city.
The world's 136 largest coastal cities could risk combined annual losses of $1 trillion (750 billion euros) from floods by 2050 unless they drastically raise their defences.
Clean-up workers Monday started removing a layer of grey ash that spread across a city in southern Japan after a volcano erupted at the weekend, spewing a plume 5,000 metres into the air.
A defiant Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned Monday not to write him off as a new poll showed his popularity slumping barely three weeks away from elections.
New Delhi and Tehran were Saturday working to resolve a dispute over the detention of an Indian oil tanker by Iranian naval guards for allegedly polluting sea waters in the Persian Gulf.
Philippine rescuers searched Saturday for more than 200 people missing after a ferry collided with a cargo ship in thick darkness and sank almost instantly
A powerful earthquake rattled major cities across New Zealand on Friday, terrifying residents and causing the capital Wellington to shake "like jelly", but authorities reported no major damage.
The world's leading furniture chain Ikea on Thursday issued a recall of two models of children's beds after several reported cases of a broken metal rod that exposed sharp edges.