Thailand issued fresh warnings about scorching hot weather on Thursday as the government said heatstroke has already killed at least 30 people this year

Extreme heat scorched parts of South and Southeast Asia yesterday, prompting schools across the Philippines to suspend classes and heat warnings in the Thai capital.

The Maldives will press on with Chinese-backed construction and evict Indian troops from the strategically placed atoll nation, President Mohamed Muizzu’s office said yesterday, two days after his party’s stunning parliamentary victory.

Myanmar junta troops have moved back into a vital border town they were ousted from by an alliance of ethnic rebels and anti-junta fighters this month, military sources told AFP yesterday.

Unknown gunmen killed two customs officers in western Pakistan, officials said yesterday, following the killing of five other customs officials in the area in recent days.

Clashes between the Myanmar junta and armed ethnic groups have broken out again near a vital trade hub close to Thailand's border, an armed group spokesperson and the Thai army said Saturday, following a week of relative calm

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has warned that intensified fighting in Rakhine State between the military and the Arakan Army, alongside tensions being fuelled between the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine communities, pose a grave threat to the civilian population

At a damaged temporary shelter in western Indonesia, Rohingya men slick their hair with gel while women apply make-up and colourful hijabs to look the part for prayers at the start of Eid-al-Fitr festivities

Some 200 Myanmar military personnel withdrew to a bridge connecting the border town of Myawaddy to Thailand on Thursday following a days-long assault in the area by anti-junta rebels, according to an ethnic armed group spokesman and local media

The junta is using a conscription law that only applies to Myanmar citizens, although the Rohingya have long been denied citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law

A suspended minister of the Maldives has apologised after her social media post against opposition party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which had a symbol resembling Ashok Chakra, sparked a row.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said dialogue was needed to resolve heightened friction between arch-rivals Pakistan and India during a meeting in Riyadh with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Sri Lanka does not see any need to re-open talks on a contentious island ceded to it by New Delhi 50 years ago, the foreign minister has said, after the low-key territorial squabble turned into a hot-button election issue in India.

Opponents of army rule in Myanmar said yesterday they carried out drone attacks on two military targets in its capital Naypyitaw, attacks which, if confirmed, would be a major blow to the image of a junta struggling to govern.

Pakistan’s ruling coalition seized a majority in Senate polls yesterday, unofficial results showed, after the election commission delayed the vote in a province controlled by loyalists of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan.

Japan’s royal family is now on Instagram -- but don’t expect any candid selfies from its official account, which went live yesterday in a cautious social media debut for the ancient monarchy.

Nine children were killed in a blast in southeastern Afghanistan that was caused by a landmine laid during the country’s decades of conflict, a provincial official said yesterday.

Over 300 lawyers yesterday urged the Pakistan Supreme Court (SC) to take notice of allegations of interference in the judiciary by the intelligence apparatus under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, adding that any government-led commission “would be bereft of necessary independence and powers” to probe the claims.

Malaysia has arrested an armed man at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, its top police official said, describing the 36-year-old as a suspected Israeli spy

Sri Lanka’s prime minister said yesterday that China has pledged to develop the island nation’s strategic deep sea port and the capital’s airport after talks with his counterpart in Beijing.