North Korea has slammed joint US-led war games with Japan and South Korea as a prelude to forming an “Asian version of NATO” and having a “sinister aim” against Pyongyang.

Sri Lanka has shut its schools while handing tokens to people queuing for petrol amid a severe fuel shortage in the country.

A United Nations expert has called for more meaningful action to end violence in Myanmar as more than 2,000 people have lost their lives in a persisting crackdown since a coup in February last year.

Australian conservationists have launched a legal bid to block a massive gas project, saying it would harm the Great Barrier Reef by warming the planet.

Police said thousands of refugees joined the marches, standing on roads and alleys.

Monsoon storms in Bangladesh and India have killed at least 59 people.

Political tensions remain strained between China and its neighbors over the South China Sea. The sea has in recent years become a flashpoint for tensions as all nations have their own territorial claims.