Three Chinese government ships entered disputed waters Friday, the Japanese coastguard said, as the two countries' soured relationship grew more complex following North Korea's nuclear test.

The United States and China joined other world powers in a chorus of condemnation Tuesday after North Korea carried out a third nuclear test in defiance of stark international warnings.

A court in China has handed down heavy sentences to a Tibetan monk and his nephew for inciting eight people to set themselves on fire in anti-Chinese protests, media said on Thursday, the first time punishment has been meted out over such protests.

China said Wednesday that its navy would proceed with a deep-water training exercise amid a continuing spat with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea that has sparked regular confrontations among patrol boats from each side.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan ruled out a general amnesty for Kurdish militants on Sunday but said intelligence agents would continue to talk to the rebels' jailed leader in a bid to end a near three-decade insurgency.

China provided the United Nations with detailed claims to waters in the East China Sea on Friday, apparently padding out its legal argument in an ongoing territorial dispute with Japan.

Myanmar is at the heart of a growing narcotics crisis in Asia that threatens public security, the U.N. said Wednesday, urging regional help for the impoverished nation in stemming drug production.

The commander of American troops in Japan said Thursday that the situation ahead of North Korea's planned launch of a long-range rocket this month is “very dangerous.”

North Korea spent US$41.5 million this year promoting the personality cult surrounding the ruling Kim dynasty, a South Korean government report said Thursday.

Japan on Thursday dispatched three destroyers to waters over which North Korea says its satellite-bearing rocket will travel.