DHAKA - MYANMAR removed a rig from a gas-rich stretch of the Bay of Bengal on Sunday after Bangladesh sent warships to protest against exploration in the disputed waters, Dhaka's foreign minister said.

Bangladesh deployed four ships and put its navy and armed forces on high alert after a Korean company escorted by Myanmar ships began work in the area.

SEOUL - SOUTH Korea and the United States have agreed to exchange information on citizens' criminal records as part of a visa waiver programme, the foreign ministry here said in a statement on Sunday.

The accord was signed by South Korean ambassador to Washington Lee Tae Sik and Mr Paul Schneider, deputy secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security in the US capital on Friday, it said.

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S main pro-independence opposition said on Sunday it has called for dialogue with the ruling party following a landmark visit by a top Chinese envoy that sparked mass protests in the capital Taipei.

Angry anti-China demonstrations dogged Mr Chen Yunlin, the highest Chinese official to visit the self-ruled island in nearly six decades, at every turn during his five-day visit - at one point leaving him blocked inside a hotel.