Fifty-two foreign prisoners were also to be released and deported

Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is leading after the first phase of a contentious general election, early results cited by state media showed, in the first vote since a 2021 coup.

Indian security forces killed 14 Maoist rebel fighters yesterday in two clashes, police said, as New Delhi steps up efforts to quash the long-running insurgency in the country’s central regions.

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced eight journalists and social media commentators yesterday to life imprisonment in absentia after convicting them of terrorism-related offences linked to online activity in support of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

"Actions by the accused fell within the ambit of terrorism under Pakistani law," says the court

Condoms and contraceptive pills now incur 13% VAT

The military grabbed power in a 2021 putsch

Farmers in northern Afghanistan have yet to make up for lost income since the Taliban government banned poppy production for opium three years ago, the United Nations said yesterday.

An Afghan Taliban official has visited Bangladesh and met Islamist leaders seeking to increase their political influence ahead of elections due in February, Islamist leaders in Dhaka said yesterday.

The prosecution team earlier this month sought a 15-year prison sentence for former First Lady Kim Keon Hee

Under the shadow of civil war and questions over the election’s credibility, the initial round of Myanmar’s phased general election closed yesterday, with signs of low voter turnout for the first polls since a military coup in 2021.

The droves of young people who queued to cast ballots in past elections in Myanmar were conspicuous by their absence from yesterday’s military-run polls, with older voters dominating the turnout.

Campaigners, Western diplomats and the UN's rights chief have all condemned the phased month-long vote

China has announced fresh sanctions on 20 US defence firms, including a Boeing branch, over Washington’s latest arms sales to Taiwan, the island Beijing claims.

Myanmar heads to the polls on Sunday as it battles a civil war that has ravaged parts of the country as well as one of Asia’s worst humanitarian crises.

Thailand and Cambodia ended weeks of fierce border clashes yesterday with a second ceasefire in recent months in the worst fighting in years between the Southeast Asian nations.

At least 47 people were killed and more than a million displaced in three weeks of border clashes

It comes after three days of border talks

Malaysia and US investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to step up production of missiles and construct more factories to meet his military’s growing need for the projectiles, state media said yesterday.