Tokyo / AFP The foreign ministers of Japan, China and South Korea will meet this week in Tokyo, with their countries at odds over territorial disputes and a US missile defence system. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, China’s Wang Yi and South Korea’s Yun Byung-Se will have dinner on Tuesday before formal talks on Wednesday, Japan’s foreign ministry said in …

Oslo/ AFP The Philippine government said Monday it hoped to reach a peace deal with communist guerrillas within a year, as the two sides kicked off talks in Norway aimed at ending one of Asia’s longest insurgencies. “On the part of the (government) panel, we have imposed a timeline of nine to 12 months,” Silvestre Bello, the government delegation’s head of …

  Dubai / Reuters Gulf stock markets fell early on Monday after oil and Asian equities dropped because of the threat of a U.S. interest rate hike, while Dubai builder Drake & Scull declined sharply because of concern about its financial situation. Brent crude dropped back to just above $50 a barrel in Asian trade amid talk that a U.S. …