A 12-year-old boy dies in the Indian city of Calcutta while trying to enact a suicide scene he had seen on television, police say.

Asian stocks climb on the first full day of trading in 2012

At least five people die of leptospirosis and dozens are diagnosed with the disease following Typhoon Washi in the southern Philippines, officials say.

The Commonwealth calls for credible elections in Fiji and Australia urges more action, after its military ruler announced an end to martial law.

Fire bans are declared and bushfire warnings issued in South Australia and Victoria, amid soaring temperatures and wind.

The man accused of murdering Indian student Anuj Bidve in Manchester on 26 December is due to appear for the first time before a crown court judge.

Morning newspaper round-up: Chaos over sales of railway tickets for the Spring Festival period - this time on the internet.

Economic growth slows in the last quarter of 2011

Can Pakistan step back from the brink in 2012?

New York leaders condemned a series of firebomb attacks, including one on a mosque in Queens, which police say they are investigating as a hate crime.

Asia facing year of transition, uncertainty and change

Burma's government announces reductions in prison sentences, but makes no mention of the release of political detainees.

The Bangladeshi government approves a tough new anti-pornography law which would see offenders jailed for up to 10 years.

Afghanistan's national power company says it will cut the electricity supply to the central prison unless it pays its overdue bills soon.

Reports from the Ningxia region of northern China say several hundred Muslim villagers fought with riot police who tore down a mosque.

As temperatures soared across many of the southern states of Australia, animals at Melbourne Zoo were given a hose down.

The Korean peninsula is at a "turning point" and there are opportunities for change, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a new year speech.

The family of Anuj Bidve, who was killed in Salford on 26 December, have spoken of their grief and anger at the handling of their son's case.

India lodges a high-level protest with China after an envoy is "manhandled" and collapses in a courtroom in China's eastern city of Yiwu.

Provides an overview of Fiji, including key events and facts about this tropical island and ethnically diverse former British colony in the Pacific.