Japan needs to boost its military with a “sense of urgency and crisis”, its defence minister said yesterday, as a new government assessment again highlighted growing risks from China, North Korea and Russia.

Fuelled by drastic aid cuts, child malnutrition is reaching critical levels in Afghanistan, with the number of children being rushed to health centres soaring, the United Nations warned yesterday.

Myanmar’s detained democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a Red Cross representative yesterday, the humanitarian group said, her first publicised meeting with a foreign official since she was ousted in a 2021 coup.

A suicide bomber has killed over a dozen people including police in an attack during a demonstration of citizens against militancy. More than 18 people were injured in the attack

Across Southeast Asia, illegal cryptocurrency miners are stealing vast amounts of electricity, straining national grids, and exposing links to organized crime

Celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who set a record for the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains, died in an avalanche during an expedition in Pakistan, his company said yesterday.

Nearly four months after taking office, Myanmar’s junta chief turned president Min Aung Hlaing yesterday criticised the regional Asean bloc’s peace plan and outlined his government’s plans for the war-torn Southeast Asian country.

Police in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad have registered a case against the head of Meta India, Arun Srinivas, over multiple videos posted on the company’s Facebook platform that depicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an “abusive manner,” a senior police officer said yesterday.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Thursday night appealed for calm after clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in the country’s south sparked unrest that has left three people dead.

A Sri Lanka court yesterday sentenced former police chief Pujith Jayasundara to death for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people including 45 foreigners.

China’s coast guard conducted patrols it described as routine law enforcement in waters east of Taiwan yesterday, angering Taipei, which condemned the move as a political operation aimed at expanding Beijing’s control.

India has reiterated that Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has not been allowed to use Indian territory for any political activities.

New Delhi says her stay is based on humanitarian considerations, while Bangladesh’s extradition request remains under legal review

The explosion is suspected to be caused by methane gas

Tuesday's 7.1-magnitude tremor caused widespread damage, flattening homes, damaging bridges, triggering fires and leaving tens of thousands of residents without power and water in temperatures forecast to hit 38C this weekend

Myanmar has agreed to take back 5,000 Rohingyas from Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur said yesterday, in a rare repatriation push announced days after Malaysian authorities had detained dozens of refugees.

A spokesperson for Joint Awami Action Committee said around 20 of its supporters had been killed during the clashes

Japan issued a tsunami alert after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the country's southwest on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands of households

Myanmar's military-backed parliament approved a law on Tuesday that authorises capital punishment for those who detain or violently coerce victims into working in online scam centres, the speaker said

The protests were triggered by the leakage of question papers for a national medical college ‌entrance exam ⁠in May