Southeast Asian foreign ministers sought on Saturday to heal a rift over territorial rows involving China, aiming to build unity ahead of a leaders' summit in which rights and trade will also dominate.

Asia is hit with 30 million cases of malaria a year resulting in 42,000 deaths, a report said Friday as experts called for an urgent response to the disease which stalks billions in the region.

Opium cultivation in Southeast Asia has doubled over the last six years as growing demand for heroin in China and the rest of Asia lures more farmers to grow poppies, the U.N. said Wednesday.

Myanmar's government said Monday it has boosted security in a western state hit by ethnic and sectarian unrest as the number of displaced rose to 28,000 people, mostly Muslims.

Military spending by Asia's major powers increased dramatically over the past decade with China leading the way, as its defense budget quadrupled since 2000, according to a study released Monday.

Japan said Thursday its security alliance with the U.S. is an important deterrent against conflict breaking out between China and Japan over disputed islands.

Russia delayed delivery of a trouble-plagued aircraft carrier for at least a year on Friday, a blow to India's efforts to quickly build up naval strength as increasingly assertive Asian rival China expands its maritime reach.

Indonesia is buying submarines from South Korea and coastal radar systems from China and the United States. Vietnam is getting submarines and combat jets from Russia, while Singapore — the world's fifth-largest weapons importer — is adding to its sophisticated arsenal.

When Tashi Sangmo was 17 she married a 14-year-old neighbor in a remote Himalayan village in Nepal and, as part of the package, she also agreed to wed his younger brother.

Dozens of Chinese students, carrying banners and shouting slogans, protested outside Japan's Embassy in Seoul on Thursday to show their support for Beijing in a bitter territorial row with Tokyo.