Asia | featured news

A strong earthquake struck China’s mountainous Sichuan province Saturday morning, leaving at least 113 people dead and more than 3,000 injured. Chinese authorities assessed the magnitude of the quake at 7.0, while the U.S. Geological Survey reported 6.6.

Japanese man Jiroemon Kimura, who holds the distinction of being the world's oldest living person, is celebrating his 116th birthday on Friday.

More than 50 percent of patients infected with a new type of bird flu in China had no contact with poultry, the World Health Organization said on Friday, further raising questions about whether the virus was transmitted between humans.

North Korea on Thursday demanded the lifting of United Nations sanctions and an end to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises as preconditions for starting dialogue.

China's campaign to cut a huge backlog of initial public offerings has failed to deliver. Now there are signs that the authorities could be preparing to reopen the IPO floodgates.

Music streaming service Spotify makes its first moves in Latin America and Asia, amid rumours Apple may be preparing a similar product.

Watch firefighters rescue a 6-year-old girl who accidentally jammed her head between two walls in China.

Trading in the stock market turned more treacherous in late-day trading as investors reacted to slowing economic growth in China and a massive commodity sell-off -- and as initial word spread as well of the explosions at the end of the Boston Marathon. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 266 points on the day, down 1.8%. It was the Dow's biggest point drop since Nov. 7, in the wake of President Obama's reelection, when the index lost 295 points.

China reported another death and three new infections from a new strain of avian influenza known as H7N9 on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 14 and the number of infections to 63, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Gold headed for its biggest two-day drop in 30 years on Monday as funds accelerated their exits from the market, and investors also cut exposure to oil, copper and grain after underwhelming Chinese growth data.