India was still a British colony when Queen Elizabeth II was born in 1926, but it had been independent for nearly five years by the time she became Britain's monarch in February 1952.

A Hong Kong court on Saturday sentenced five speech therapists to 19 months in prison over children's books deemed to be seditious, in a case that rights defenders say marks a major blow to free speech amid a tightening of civil liberties in the Chinese territory.

North Korea has passed a new law declaring itself a nuclear weapons state in a move leader Kim Jong Un says is "irreversible."

Humanitarian agencies have warned Pakistan is in need of long-term aid as the death toll from its catastrophic flooding continues to climb.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has temporarily stepped aside as the country's leader but remains its defense minister, according to a government spokesman.

Asia's richest man has launched a hostile bid to take over an influential broadcaster in India and gain a firmer footing in the country's vibrant media space.

At least 32 people have died since Friday in flash flooding and landslides triggered by heavy monsoonal rains in two of India's northern states.

North Korean state media has released images purporting to show last week's missile launches with a warning that the so-called "reckless military hysteria" of the United States and its allies is moving the Korean peninsula towards "unstable confrontation."

International travelers have been flocking back to the popular resort island of Bali as the Covid pandemic subsides, prompting hopes that Indonesia's battered tourism industry is on the road to recovery.