China has denied it is increasing combat readiness in response to a territorial row with the Philippines over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

The tense stand-off, which erupted last month, centers on Scarborough Shoal, a tiny rocky outcrop in the South China Sea about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the Philippines' main island of Luzon.

Expanding palm-oil plantations in Malaysian Borneo are rapidly eating into the habitat of the rare proboscis monkey and causing its numbers to decline sharply, officials warned Wednesday.

The reddish-brown primate, which is named for its distinctive large and fleshy nose, is found only on Borneo, a large island divided up between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.