South Korea's Supreme Court yesterday ruled that moral and religious beliefs are valid reasons to refuse the country's mandatory military service, in a case that has implications for hundreds of conscientious objectors.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Seoul "soon", the South's President Moon Jae-in said yesterday, amid a rapid diplomatic thaw on the peninsula despite stalled nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

A video purporting to show panicked passengers aboard an Indonesian Lion Air plane before it crashes into the sea has gone viral with millions of views on social media, and multiple news outlets around the world report it as fact.

Indonesia steps up a search for an airliner that plunged into the sea with all 189 aboard feared dead, deploying underwater beacons to trace its black box recorders and uncover why an almost-new plane crashed minutes after take-off.

Indonesian divers resume a search for an airliner that crashed with 189 people on board, as "pinger locators" try to zero in on its cockpit recorders and uncover why an almost-new plane went down in the sea minutes after take-off.

The Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet that crashed in Indonesia flew erratically during a flight the previous evening when it experienced a "technical problem", according to data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

Twenty-six-year-old Kezia Saroinsong bows her head in grief while standing silently in front of the Halim Perdanakusumah Airport maintenance office in East Jakarta, waiting for the latest update on her brother, Hizkia Jorry Saroinsong, 23.

Princess Ayako yesterday married commoner Kei Moriya at a traditional ceremony at Tokyo's Meiji Shrine, to become the latest female royal to leave Japan's imperial family.

The death toll from a mining accident in east China rose to 21 yesterday after rescuers pulled two more bodies from the mine following a nine-day search, state media said.

Japan and India yesterday agreed to upgrade diplomatic and military ties, with Tokyo also offering low-interest loans as the two countries seek closer ties to balance China's weight in the region.

In an unusual development, more than 2,200 cars are found registered in the name of a former judge in Pakistan.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena suspended parliament yesterday to forestall a challenge against his surprise ouster of the prime minister, deepening a sudden swell of political turmoil in the island nation.

Suspected Hindu radicals yesterday attacked a spiritual retreat founded by a preacher who backed letting women enter a renowned

The return of Mahinda Rajapaksa to power in Sri Lanka has been the subject of speculation for some time. The question was when and

A Myanmar judge frees on bail three journalists from the country’s largest private newspaper detained on incitement charges after publishing an article that raised questions over government spending.

A knife-wielding woman attacked and injured 14 children at a kindergarten in China's southwestern Sichuan province yesterday, authorities said.

Thousands of Sri Lankan refugees living in India are ready to return to their homeland decades after fleeing civil war, according to a rights group that said returnees will receive a plot of land and other assistance.

China and Japan yesterday pledged to forge closer ties as both countries stood together at an "historic turning point", signing a broad range of agreements including a $30 billion currency swap pact, amid rising trade tensions with Washington.

China and Japan pledges to forge closer ties as both countries stand together at an "historic turning point", signing a broad range of agreements including a $30 billion currency swap pact, amid rising trade tensions with Washington.

The two Koreas were removing the last remaining firearms and guard posts yesterday from a Cold War era truce village where armed soldiers have stared each other down for decades, Seoul's defence ministry said.