At least 34,651 cases of rape were reported across India last year, statistics released by the country's National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) have revealed.

The Philippines is in the midst of a brutal war on drugs sanctioned by the controversial President Rodrigo Duterte, which has seen almost 2,000 killings in a matter of weeks. The BBC's Jonathan Head explores the country's dark underbelly of dealers and assassins through the story of one woman trapped in a chilling predicament.

The Philippines has recorded about 1,900 drug-related killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven weeks ago and launched a war on narcotics, far higher than previously believed, according to police figures.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has announced he will take a week of leave after he shocked a live television audience Sunday, swaying and gripping the podium two hours into his address. 

Police have arrested a popular but controversial Malaysian singer, after complaints that his most recent music video "insulted Islam".

A former top military general has been jailed for life for corruption in China, the latest in President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive in the armed forces.

Tigers at a wildlife park in Beijing have killed one woman and injured another after the pair left their vehicle, Chinese media have reported.

Heavy rain in China has killed at least 154 people and forced tens of thousands from their homes, according to state media reported.

A 14-member Ghanaian delegation has arrived in Korea to learn of the Korean development experience and how it can be beneficial to Ghana.

Eight people have died after they lift they were in fell 18 storeys in an apartment building. None of the people in the construction lift survived the fall on the building site in eastern China, authorities said today.

The Longkou city government in Shandong province said on its official microblog page that the elevator fell from the 18th storey of the building under construction.

Eight people who were in the elevator when it fell Friday were immediately taken to hospitals but none survived, the government said.

Despite improvements in recent years, work safety remains a problem in China, where regulations are routinely ignored and cost-cutting by management often lead to accidents.

Japan's Emperor Akihito has announced his intention to abdicate in the coming years, public broadcaster NHK reports. The 82-year-old, who has had health problems in recent years, did not cite a reason for his decision.

An explosion ripped through a busy commuter train in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, late on Thursday injuring at least 24 people, police say.

Twenty foreign hostages have been killed at a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital, the army has said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group that ended after a 10-hour siege when commandos stormed the building.

Rodrigo Duterte has been sworn in as president of the Philippines, after a landslide election victory in May.

A tornado has killed 51 people in eastern China and injured dozens more, state media say.