A comedian's powerful monologue addressing some of India's most sensitive issues including rape and farmers' protests has split opinion in the country, with right-wing activists calling for his arrest while supporters rally to his defense.

Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte declared on Thursday in a televised speech that an unnamed candidate for next year's presidential election was a cocaine user.

In Shanghai's sprawling Jiangnan Shipyard, workers are fitting the catapults that will separate China's latest and most advanced aircraft carrier from its two outdated sister ships.

The Philippines' defense chief said on Sunday a military resupply mission for the country's troops stationed on an atoll in the South China Sea will resume this week, after it was aborted last week when it was blocked by Chinese coast guard.

Former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan, whose iron-fisted rule of the country following a 1979 military coup sparked massive democracy protests, died on Tuesday at the age of 90, his former press aide said.

The Solomon Islands imposed a 36-hour lockdown in the capital, Honiara, after protesters calling for the Prime Minister to resign looted stores and set fire to buildings, including in the Pacific nation's Parliament.

The Solomon Islands government has advised all public servants to stay at home as violent protests continued for a third day on Friday, with crowds gathering at the Prime Minister's residence.

Japan plans to add $6.75 billion to its already record annual military spending in a rush to bolster air and maritime defenses as it becomes more concerned about threats posed by China and North Korea.

India has formally repealed three contentious farm laws that sparked more than a year of protests, nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pushed into a rare policy reversal that saw the legislation withdrawn.

• She was sold to a stranger so her family could eat as Afghanistan crumbles

As a child, Wishma Rathnayake was fascinated with "Oshin," a popular 1980s' television drama about a young girl who rises from poverty to head a Japanese supermarket chain.

A court in Myanmar has sentenced deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison on charges of incitement and breaking Covid-19 rules, in the first verdict against the Nobel Peace Prize winner since the military seized power in February.

Russia and India signed a flurry of trade and arms deals during President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, including one that will see India produce more than 600,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

The Tokyo Metropolitan government will start a system that effectively allows same-sex marriage in Japan's capital from April next year, the Kyodo news wire reported Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike as saying on Tuesday.

An Indian Air Force helicopter crashed Wednesday in the southern state of Tamil Nadu with Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Bipin Rawat on board, according to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

• Facebook sued for $150 billion over violence against Rohingya in Myanmar

South Korea will soon roll out a pilot project to use artificial intelligence, facial recognition and thousands of CCTV cameras to track the movement of people infected with the coronavirus, despite concerns about the invasion of privacy.

High school students in India will be given full marks for a national exam question criticized as "blatantly misogynist" by the country's opposition party.

Tens of thousands of people have evacuated their homes in the Philippines as the archipelago braces for Super Typhoon Rai, known locally as Odette, which is expected to pass through the southern and central portions of the country on Thursday afternoon.

Ten years ago, the world watched as a young Kim Jong Un solemnly walked beside his father's hearse on a snowy morning in Pyongyang as distraught North Koreans wailed in grief.

The death toll from Super Typhoon Rai has climbed to at least 75 people, local officials reported Saturday, after the storm wreaked havoc across the Philippines late last week.

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year surpassed 300 on Tuesday as humanitarian agencies warned the true scale of destruction remains unknown, partly because rescue workers are unable to access some disaster-hit areas.