AUSTRALIA

A resident of the Philippines says his relative spotted wreckage of a plane with a Malaysian flag inside on the island of Tawi Tawi.

With the world’s attention focused on the Middle East and Europe, the leaders of small island countries have pointed to a separate burgeoning refugee crisis.

The Indonesian government initially insisted that it would not accept help from other countries to battle the forest fires.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen's Australia unit said it will conduct a voluntary recall of nearly 100,000 vehicles equipped with emissions-rigging software.

The deal with the Philippines has not been finalized, but according to a local report, Australia offered funding of $150 million over five years in initial talks. 

Scientists warned Thursday that climate change and weather patterns could cause another global coral bleaching with huge negative consequences.

Asian and European stocks traded mostly lower though Chinese stocks surged in a post-holiday catch-up session, while U.S. stock futures pointed to a weak opening.

Poor Muslims in the region may be ideal targets for radical groups looking to recruit for deployment abroad.

The talks comes amid the company's disclosure that over 90,000 vehicles sold in Australia are equipped with software to cheat on emissions tests.

The High Court of Australia ruled that the BRCA1 gene -- which acts as a tumor suppressor and can increase risk of breast and ovarian cancer, if mutated -- is not a "patentable invention."

Curtis Cheng, a civilian member of Sydney police, was fatally shot by an Iranian teenager Friday.

French prosecutors confirmed last month that a wing component found on Réunion Island in July came from the missing plane.

While Asian stocks extended their gains Tuesday, European markets were weighed down by weak German factory data released earlier in the day.

The United States tentatively agreed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, but many members of Congress remain unsure about the deal.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, negotiated by U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, could be a boon for the financial services industry, which vigorously lobbied for it.

With upcoming elections in the U.S., Canada, Peru, and Japan, several countries have a vested interest in ensuring that the deal concludes Sunday.

Bangladesh stepped up security for foreign diplomats and citizens on Sunday after the killing of two foreigners within a week in attacks claimed by Islamic State, which has vowed similar further assaults in the Muslim-majority nation.

The Australian government's focus on national security and the war on terror to tackle Islamic extremism, rather than social cohesion and inclusion, has helped create an environment for radicalized Muslim youth to emerge in disproportionate numbers, experts say.

Negotiators attempting to broker a deal on the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreed to talk in Atlanta for another 24 hours.

The U.S. agency that publicized Volkswagen's cheating on emissions tests will check diesel vehicles made by other manufacturers for the possibility of similar frauds.

An Iranian teenager fatally hit a civilian member of Sydney police outside the New South Wales state police headquarters Friday.