Japanese prosecutors yesterday made the first arrests in a funding scandal that forced Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to replace four ministers last month, local reports said.

The Maldives government has suspended three deputy ministers for disparaging India’s prime minister, an official said yesterday, during a dip in ties with its powerful neighbour.

Maldives today suspended three of its ministers over derogatory remarks made against India and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he posted about the pictures of his recent trip to Lakshadweep island on X, local newspaper Atoll Times reported

A woman in her 90s trapped for five days under rubble caused by a huge earthquake in central Japan was rescued against the odds, but snow and storms were further complicating relief efforts on Sunday

A Myanmar rebel alliance has gained control of a key town along the country’s volatile northern border with China after weeks of fierce fighting with junta troops, the alliance and the junta said.

Taiwan’s defence ministry yesterday accused China of threatening aviation safety and waging psychological warfare on the island’s people with a recent spate of balloons spotted near or over the island, days before key Taiwanese elections.

North Korea’s military fired over 60 artillery rounds near Yeonpyeong Island yesterday, Seoul’s military said, a day after both sides staged live-fire drills in the same area near their contested maritime border.

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s inaugural solar mission, Aditya-L1, has reached its destination within the anticipated four-month timeframe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday. 

Rescuers and residents sifted through rubble Saturday as their focus turned to recovering bodies and cleaning up rather than finding survivors, five days after a huge earthquake struck central Japan and killed at least 126 people

North Korea fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean border islands yesterday, Seoul’s defence ministry said, prompting a live-fire drill from the South Korean military.

India’s Gautam Adani once again became Asia’s richest man yesterday, according to a Bloomberg index of the world’s billionaires, a year after allegations of market manipulation hammered his conglomerate’s stock prices.

Pakistan’s senate approved a resolution yesterday to further delay national elections which had been scheduled to take place on February 8, the chairman of the senate said while addressing senators.

The United States said yesterday it is preparing military logistical support and aid for regions in Japan devastated by an earthquake that killed 94 people, forced about 33,000 people to leave their homes, and left over 200 people unaccounted for.

The president of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, will pay a state visit to China from January 8 to 12, the Chinese foreign ministry said in statement yesterday.

India's Gautam Adani once again became Asia's richest man today, according to a Bloomberg index of the world's billionaires, a year after allegations of market manipulation hammered his conglomerate's stock prices

A merchant ship, with 15 Indian crew members, was hijacked last evening near Somalia's coast, ANI reported today quoting Indian military officials

North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands on Friday, Seoul's defence ministry said, warning the actions threatened peace and it would respond

The death toll from a devastating earthquake in central Japan rose to 92 on Friday, regional authorities said, with the number of missing jumping to 242

An armed Myanmar ethnic group yesterday claimed that it had downed a military helicopter, killing six soldiers onboard in a northern region of the country.

Pilots on a Japan Airlines plane that burst into flames just after all 379 passengers and crew escaped had no “visual contact” with the other aircraft in the collision, the airline said yesterday.