The first weeks of 2014 showed North Asia's manufacturing and export giants enjoying mixed fortunes, with South Korea and Japan starting the year positively, while China, the biggest of the trio, was still struggling to regain momentum.

• January 23, 2014

China must increase spending on emission cuts and clean technologies by 2 trillion yuan ($330 billion) to do its fair share to halt climate change, a report by Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics said.

• January 22, 2014

China will base a 5,000-tonne civilian patrol ship on one of the main islands it controls in the disputed South China Sea and begin regular patrols, an official newspaper said on Tuesday, a move likely to add fuel to territorial disputes with neighbors.

• January 21, 2014

New York-based Human Rights Watch accused China on Tuesday of failing to embark upon political reforms which meet the people's demands for real change and of pursuing anti-corruption activists despite its declared crackdown on graft

• January 21, 2014

Iran has halted its most sensitive nuclear activity under a ground-breaking deal with world powers, a confidential U.N. atomic agency report reviewed by Reuters on Monday showed, paving the way for the easing of some Western sanctions.

• January 20, 2014

China's central bank has provided emergency funding support to commercial banks and will add more cash on Tuesday, as authorities respond to a spike in cash rates ahead of a major holiday, the bank announced on Monday.

• January 20, 2014

The president of Germany's Bundesbank said on Thursday there was no reason for "irrational inflationary fears" and dismissed suggestions of a danger of the euro zone falling into deflation, echoing the European Central Bank's outlook.

• January 20, 2014

Iran has about $100 billion in foreign exchange assets around the world, of which it will be able to draw $4.2 billion under last year's nuclear agreement with six world powers, a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday.

• January 17, 2014