A massive power breakdown plunged the entire Pakistan into darkness minutes before midnight on Saturday, Energy Minister Omar Ayub confirmed in a statement.

Indonesia detected signals on Sunday that could come from a flight recorder of a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the sea after taking off from the capital Jakarta, as human body parts and suspected pieces of the plane were retrieved.

A Sriwijaya Air plane with 62 people on board lost contact after taking off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on a domestic flight today and rescuers said suspected debris had been found in the sea off the city.

The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan reported its first Covid-19 death some 10 months after initially detecting the virus and managing to keep the disease under control by largely sealing off the tourism-dependent country.

Dhaka has urged Kuala Lumpur to do the needful for bringing back the stranded Bangladeshi workers to their old and new places of work in Malaysia on humanitarian grounds.

Japan expects Bangladesh’s first metro rail line in Dhaka to be operational this year despite the coronavirus pandemic that had slowed down all economic activities.

A Bangladeshi migrant worker is suing his ex-employer and dormitory operator in Singapore, accusing them of "false imprisonment" after he was locked in his room during a coronavirus outbreak.

Hong Kong police arrested about 50 pro-democracy figures Wednesday for allegedly violating the new national security law by participating in an unofficial primary election last year held to increase their chances of controlling the legislature, according to political parties and local media.

India’s markets watchdog fined Reliance Industries 250 million rupees ($3.42 million) and its chairman Mukesh Ambani 150 million rupees for what it said were fraudulent trades while selling a stake in a subsidiary in 2007.

Taiwan is ready to have “meaningful” talks with China as equals as long as they are willing to put aside confrontation, President Tsai Ing-wen said today, offering another olive branch to Beijing in her New Year’s speech.

As Asia says goodbye to 2020 - a tumultuous year that saw the planet roiled by a deadly pandemic - celebrations will be smaller, shorter and more muted amid fears of coronavirus flare-ups.

A Chinese court sentenced 10 Hong Kong activists to between seven months and three years in jail today for illegally crossing the border, in a case that has drawn international attention and concern over the defendants’ treatment.

Leaders of Indian farmers’ unions have agreed to meet ministers, possibly paving the way for a seventh round of talks with the government which has so far failed to mollify growers who say three new agricultural laws threaten their livelihoods.

The Malaysian Human Resource Ministry will introduce a new application that will enable a two-way communication between the government and local and foreign workers, Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan has said.

India’s government detained at least 75 Kashmiri political leaders and activists to forestall political unrest after an alliance of Kashmir’s regional political parties won a local election, leaders and a police official have said.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today corrected statements he had made in parliament, apologising for what he said were mistakes regarding a political funding scandal that has also cast a pall over the current premier.

China has launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba Group and will summon the tech giant’s Ant Group affiliate to meet in coming days, regulators said on Thursday, in the latest blow for Jack Ma’s e-commerce and fintech empire.

More interested in trade and investment, says Momen

India is likely to approve Oxford/AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use by next week after its local manufacturer submitted additional data sought by authorities, two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.

Two major UK banks face pressure for lending millions of dollars to a technology company that is partly owned and used by the Myanmar military accused of genocide against the Rohingyas.