An official visit to the United States by Myanmar President Thein Sein this week should not be regarded as a celebration of the success of reforms in Myanmar. The job is far from finished, with many tough challenges still to be tackled, with no guarantee of success or achievement.

A Myanmar court sentenced seven Muslims to prison — one of them to a life term — in the killing of a Buddhist monk amid deadly sectarian violence that was overwhelmingly directed against minority Muslims but has produced no serious charges against the members of the country's Buddhist majority.

Myanmar's victims of sectarian strife were spared the full force of Cyclone Mahasen, but many are now returning to flimsy tents in flood-prone camps with the monsoon just weeks away.

Taliban attacks killed at least ten Afghan police on Sunday, officials said, in the latest violence against the force which is due to take more security responsibility from NATO troops before their withdrawal next year.

Fiji's military ruler said Sunday he would meet Beijing's leaders in China this month, a week after unveiling an official trip to Russia, as he looks beyond strained regional ties in the South Pacific.

The operator of a Cambodian shoe factory where two workers were killed this week when a ceiling collapsed admitted Friday to neglecting staff safety and vowed to take full responsibility.

Hundreds of garment factories in a Bangladesh manufacturing hub reopened Friday, days after they were closed down due to unrest sparked by the country's worst industrial tragedy, employers said.

Cyclone Mahasen weakened Thursday afternoon into a tropical storm and then dissipated, causing far less damage than had been feared as it passed over Bangladesh and spared Myanmar almost entirely, meteorological officials said.

Three people were killed when the ceiling of a warehouse fell in at a shoe factory in Cambodia, a government minister said on Thursday, adding to concern about safety standards at Asian factories producing clothes cheaply for Western consumers.

A plane crashed while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in northern Nepal early Thursday, and all 21 people on board, including eight Japanese tourists, survived with injuries, police said. Four of the injured were in critical condition, police officer Bhim Bahadur Chand said.