After five years without a single Muslim MP, Myanmar is in need of someone to help fight for the rights of oppressed minorities, says Sithu Maung as he celebrates his election to parliament.

Japan formally proclaimed Crown Prince Akishino the first in line as heir to the throne on Sunday, the last of a series of ceremonies after his elder brother, Emperor Naruhito, became monarch last year following their father’s abdication.

Pro-democracy members of Hong Kong's legislature will resign "en masse" if Beijing moves to disqualify four of them for violating the city's Basic Law, the bloc said Monday.

The United Arab Emirates has announced a major overhaul of the Islamic personal laws in the country -- allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, loosening restrictions on alcohol, and criminalising “honour killings”.

India's Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat has said a tense border standoff with Chinese forces in the western Himalayas could spark a larger conflict, even as senior commanders from both sides met near the frontline for their eighth round of talks.

Malaysia has yet to open its borders to foreigners, including those employed there but are currently back in their home country, says Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Asian market was mixed on Monday following last week’s painful global sellout, and attention was focused on the US presidential election against the backdrop of rising virus infections across the country and Europe.

At least four people have died in the super typhoon Goni that lashed on the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, including a five-year-old washed away in flash floods after dikes collapsed.

Officials have evacuated almost a million residents in the southern part of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon as a category 5 storm - the world’s strongest this year - makes landfall on Sunday.

Bangladeshi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said that he looks forward to establishing direct road and rail links with China via Myanmar.

China is the “gravest threat” to the future of religious freedom, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday, in his latest verbal assault on Beijing during a whirlwind Asian tour.

Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi cast her ballot today in advance voting for general elections that are taking place during a surge of coronavirus illnesses.

Millions of Indians turned out to cast ballots in a state election in the world’s biggest vote since the coronavirus emerged, with booths packed out and many ignoring government advice on wearing masks and social distancing.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale has pressed Myanmar to end conflicts and secure return of the Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh.

A suicide bombing at an education centre in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul killed 24 people including teenage students and wounded dozens more on Saturday, officials said.

For many marginalised ethnic minority groups in conflict-plagued regions of Myanmar, next month's national elections had at least offered a glimmer of hope for empowerment.

Asia surpassed 10 million infections of the new coronavirus on Saturday, the second-heaviest regional toll in the world, according to a Reuters tally, as cases continue to mount in India despite a slowdown and sharp declines elsewhere.

The US State Department has approved the potential sale of three weapons systems to Taiwan, including sensors, missiles and artillery that could have a total value of $1.8 billion, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

Thailand’s government on Thursday ordered the removal of emergency measures imposed a week earlier to try to end months of protests against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the monarchy, a statement said.

The Indo-Pacific Business Forum will be held on October 28-29 featuring leaders who will determine the strategic direction of the Indo-Pacific through a robust agenda.