Japan's prime minister promised Wednesday to double inward investment, raise personal incomes by a third and cut red tape to make his country the best place in the world to do business.

North Korea said Wednesday it has passed a law on setting up more special economic zones, as the isolated state seeks to attract foreign investment in its moribund planned economy.

Mongolia, which is banking on a mining-led investment boom to develop its economy, is aiming to turn itself into a regional renewable energy hub as it tries to fight off the pressures of global warming, the country's president said.

The U.S. will oppose moves by any country to seize control of disputed areas in the South China Sea by force, the top American military commander in the Pacific said Wednesday, adding that rival claimants might need to seek compromises to resolve the feud over potentially oil-rich territories.

Thailand said Wednesday that it had refused entry to Cambodia's opposition leader-in-exile because of concerns he would criticize Prime Minister Hun Sen's government ahead of national elections.

An Australian property mogul Wednesday lost his lawsuit against the nation's largest casino after wagering more than US$1 billion there and losing over US$20 million.

A top counterinsurgency police officer in Indian-controlled Kashmir has been arrested for allegedly running a militant cell and is suspected of encouraging men to join rebel groups and then turning them in or killing them for personal gain, police said Wednesday.

Dozens of political prisoners convicted of treason in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province say they'll reject a proposed plan to be freed under a government amnesty program, arguing that leaving jail would amount to admitting guilt for crimes they didn't commit.

North Korea may be just one or two months away from restarting a reactor to produce plutonium, potentially allowing the regime to ramp up its nuclear weapons program, a think tank said Monday.

Mannequins displaying lingerie and other skimpy clothing may soon be banned in India's cosmopolitan city of Mumbai as an anti-rape measure.