China is demanding an explanation from the United States after a report in an Australian newspaper said Australian embassies, including the one in Beijing, were being used as part of a U.S.-led spying operation.

• October 31, 2013

Sheikh Mansour Hamid al-Imara clutches his prayer beads and watches a huge new oil facility nearing completion across the road from his village, hoping that Russian operator Lukoil will offer his poor tribesmen a better way of life.

• October 31, 2013

International powers are unlikely to meet their goal of convening peace talks on Syria in Geneva next month as differences emerge between Washington and Moscow over opposition representation, Arab and Western officials said.

• October 30, 2013

China's leaders will hold a key meeting to discuss deepening financial reforms between November 9 and November 12, the official Xinhua news agency said, as the ruling Communist Party looks to set its economic agenda for the next decade.

• October 29, 2013

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in an interview published on Saturday, said Japan was ready to be more assertive towards China as Beijing threatened to strike back if provoked.

• October 28, 2013

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in an interview published on Saturday, said Japan was ready to be more assertive towards China as Beijing threatened to strike back if provoked.

• October 26, 2013

North Korea repatriated six South Korean citizens and a corpse at a heavily defended border crossing on Friday, South Korea's Ministry of Unification said, in a rare humanitarian gesture amid persistent tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul.

• October 25, 2013

The slowdown in Asian economies will likely persist for the rest of this year as weak global growth and reforms under way in many countries hinder activity, Reuters polls showed on Thursday.

• October 24, 2013