A French climber, known as 'Spiderman', is facing charges after scaling a 57-storey building in Australia.

BOJ makes money available to banks to cope with stronger yen.

Mount Sinabung, a volcano on Sumatra, Indonesia, erupts for the second time after a 400-year silence.

Exodus as Indonesian volcano erupts for first time in 400 years

Thousands rally in Hong Kong to express their anger at the Philippines' handling of a coach hijacking in which eight Hong Kong tourists died.

At least 19,000 people flee as a volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupts for the first time in 400 years.

An Aboriginal man wins a seat in Australia's House of Representatives, becoming the first indigenous person to do so in the country's history.

The man nominated to be the new prime minister of South Korea withdraws his candidacy amid allegations about past financial irregularities.

Some 1,000 people in the Philippines attend the funeral of the sacked policeman who seized a bus and killed eight hostages in Manila.

Australia lose thrilling Tri-Nations match in Pretoria

Championship leader Mark Webber starts the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after a rain-affected qualifying session in Spa.

The 17-year-old daughter of the American ambassador to Thailand dies after falling from a 25th-storey apartment in New York.

Leaders of Burma's junta are reported to have resigned from their military posts ahead of a general election in November.

In Thailand, "red shirt" anti-government protesters are beginning to gather in massive rallies again, three months after a huge street protest in Bangkok ended

Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives back in the US with an American whose release by North Korea he secured.

A Catholic school in Australia apologises to parents after it awarded a prize to a boy who dressed as Adolf Hitler.

Japanese media are allowed into a prison execution chamber, in a move that may stir public debate on the death penalty.

Japan police arrest the daughter and granddaughter of an alleged centenarian found dead in his home, in case which prompted a nationwide review.

Fresh doubt is cast on the record of a Korean climber, hailed as the first woman to climb the world's 14 highest peaks.

Japan's core consumer prices index fell for the 17th straight month in July, underlining its entrenched problems with deflation.