"Japan warned on Saturday that a volcano 50 km (31 miles) from a just-restarted nuclear reactor is showing signs of increased activity, and said nearby residents should prepare to evacuate."

"Chinese soldiers and rescue workers in gas masks and hazard suits searched for toxic materials in China's port of Tianjin on Sunday as Premier Li Keqiang arrived to offer condolences, days after explosions flattened part of a national development zone."

"Air pollution is killing about 4,000 people in China a day, accounting for 1 in 6 premature deaths in the world's most populous country, a new study finds."

"Huge, fiery blasts at a warehouse for hazardous chemicals killed at least 50 people and turned nearby buildings into skeletal shells in the Chinese port of Tianjin, raising questions Thursday about whether the materials had been properly stored."

"A power plant operator in southern Japan restarted a nuclear reactor on Tuesday, the first to begin operating under new safety requirements following the Fukushima disaster."

"A typhoon battered China's east coast on Sunday, killing 14 people and forcing the authorities to evacuate hundreds of thousands more."

"China has begun building a 314-metre (1,030-ft) high dam which will be among the world's tallest, officials said, as the country massively expands hydropower."

"The worst heat wave to hit Pakistan's southern city of Karachi for nearly 35 years has killed more than 1,000 people, a charity said on Thursday, as morgues ran out of space and public hospitals struggled to cope."

"An intense heat wave over three days has killed more than 180 people in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, officials said on Monday, leading authorities to declare an emergency as the electricity grid crashed and bodies stacked up in the morgues."

"North Korea says it is facing its worst drought in a century, with its main rice-growing provinces badly affected. What effect will this have on an already impoverished population?"