Mamun was hailed a hero for pulling survivors from the ruins of Bangladesh's Rana Plaza factory complex but now he struggles to sleep, haunted by the memory of sawing off a young woman's hand.

While Taipei and Manila continue their very public dispute over the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman by members of the Philippine coast guard, lurking in the background is China, whose presence is very much felt by both parties.

For the past five years, the Philippines has dodged the recession plaguing the developed world mainly because of the billions of dollars sent home by some 10 million Filipinos living or working abroad. But the picture is no longer that rosy. Last week, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP or central bank) reported that in March, remittances from overseas Filipinos grew at the slowest pace in nearly four years.

In an ideal world, how would the recent shooting by the Philippine Coast Guard of a Taiwanese fishing boat, which resulted in the killing of one of the fishermen, have been handled?

On Thursday, May 9, Hung Shih-cheng died from gunfire while hiding in the cabin of the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28, a Taiwanese fishing vessel plying its trade in the South China Sea.

Chinese officials have certainly been busy.

Japan, China and South Korea agreed Monday to cooperate in the fight against cross-border air pollution, despite strained relations between the neighbors because of territorial disputes.

It doesn't take a new-media expert to say it — everybody knows that social media cut both ways. But Hernando Rojas should be credited for taking on the technological darling of the hour fearlessly. Speaking at a lecture organized by the Thai Journalists Association a few days ago, he basically said that few things inflame an ideological divide better than the social-connection tools at our disposal nowadays.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday it is “carefully” monitoring massive capital flows into Asia and urged the region's policymakers to guard against risks of overheating.

China's defense ministry made a thinly veiled attack on the United States on Tuesday for increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific by ramping up its military presence and alliances in the region, days after the top U.S. diplomat visited Beijing.