Japan's annual defence review on Tuesday expressed "deep concern" over what it sees as China's coercion, as a more assertive Beijing flouts international rules when dealing with other nations.

• August 2, 2016

U.S. planes bombed Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday, responding to the U.N.-backed government's request to help push the militants from their former stronghold in the city of Sirte.

• August 1, 2016

China and Russia will hold "routine" naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, China's Defence Ministry said on Thursday, adding that the drills were aimed at strengthening their cooperation and were not aimed at any other country.

• July 28, 2016

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday he supported the resumption of talks between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea, following an international court ruling against Beijing over the dispute earlier this month.

• July 27, 2016

The United States said on Tuesday it hoped to announce in early August details of planned military cooperation and intelligence sharing with Russia on Syria, and a U.N. envoy said he would also aim to resume peace talks next month.

• July 26, 2016

South Korea warned its citizens in China and Southeast Asia on Tuesday of the risk of "dangerous acts" by North Korea after news reports said North Korea may have sent agents to those places to harm or abduct South Koreans.

• July 26, 2016

Two ancient monuments in the Syrian city of Palmyra were so badly damaged by Islamic State that they can only be rebuilt using substantially new materials, Russian officials said on Thursday.

• July 22, 2016

China has launched a risk alerting system to prevent further investments in wind power generation in certain locations, after large amounts of power were wasted due to inadequate power transmission infrastructure.

• July 21, 2016