At least 15 people are killed and another four injured in attacks by suspected Muslim rebels in Thailand's violence-wracked south, an army spokesman says, the largest death toll in years.

At least 17 people, including seven children, died when a crowded bus swerved off the road and plunged into a river in central Nepal on Sunday, officials said.

People are losing precious years of their lives due to pollution, India’s Supreme Court said yesterday and slammed authorities for their failure to curb pollution in Delhi-NCR.

At least one person was killed and 17 wounded yesterday in a grenade blast at a crowded market in Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city Srinagar, police and doctors said.

An Indian construction worker died while being taken hostage with several compatriots by insurgents in Myanmar’s conflict-scarred Rakhine state, rebels and the government said yesterday.

Thailand reopens the cave where 12 young footballers and their coach were trapped last year in a saga that captivated the world.

Dressed demurely in black leggings and unflattering baggy t-shirts, rather than their trademark low-cut bikini tops, WWE superstars Natalya and Lacey Evans starred in the first ever women's wrestling match in Saudi Arabia, the latest unlikely event in the kingdom as it attempts to shrug off an ultra-conservative image.

North Korean state news agency KCNA says another test of super-large multiple rocket launchers a day earlier had been a success, but the test drew protests from neighbouring Japan and South Korea.

A 6.6-magnitude quake struck the southern Philippines, geologists say, causing injuries and damaging buildings in a region still reeling from a previous deadly tremor.

A Nepali mountaineer has smashed the record for summiting the world's 14 highest peaks, according to a post on his social media account.

China’s Communist Party elite kicked off a key meeting in Beijing yesterday, as the country’s leadership faces pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, a protracted trade war, and a slowing economy.

Myanmar’s army said it had rescued 14 people seized by insurgents in restive Rakhine state after Arakan Army rebels reported many dead in military attacks on boats carrying soldiers and police said it had taken prisoners.

India has taken up Pakistan’s denial of use of its airspace to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flight with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, government sources said yesterday.

After India’s biggest firework party of the year, Delhi awoke to a pollution hangover yesterday with the capital forced to breathe hazardous levels of toxic particles.

Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday said he could not give a guarantee about anyone’s life, referring to the Islamabad High Court proceedings last week in which the bench had asked government representatives to “take responsibility” for incarcerated former premier Nawaz Sharif’s health.

Scores of workers were racing against time yesterday to try to rescue a two-year-old boy trapped for more than 72 hours down a 26-metre (85-feet) well in south India, officials said.

Pakistan has again denied India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi permission to fly through its airspace due to “ongoing grave human rights violations” in Indian-administered Kashmir.

North Korea yesterday said the United States must not exploit the “close personal relations” between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump as negotiations over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal remain deadlocked.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets yesterday at pro-democracy protesters who defied authorities to hold a rally on Hong Kong’s scenic harbourfront, the latest flashpoint in months of political unrest gripping the city.

Young, aspirational and poor Vietnamese are risking their lives to travel to Europe, taking on large debts to join well-worn trafficking routes in the hope of a better future thousands of miles from their rural homes.