Under the shadow of civil war and questions over the election’s credibility, the initial round of Myanmar’s phased general election closed yesterday, with signs of low voter turnout for the first polls since a military coup in 2021.

The droves of young people who queued to cast ballots in past elections in Myanmar were conspicuous by their absence from yesterday’s military-run polls, with older voters dominating the turnout.

Campaigners, Western diplomats and the UN's rights chief have all condemned the phased month-long vote

China has announced fresh sanctions on 20 US defence firms, including a Boeing branch, over Washington’s latest arms sales to Taiwan, the island Beijing claims.

Myanmar heads to the polls on Sunday as it battles a civil war that has ravaged parts of the country as well as one of Asia’s worst humanitarian crises.

Thailand and Cambodia ended weeks of fierce border clashes yesterday with a second ceasefire in recent months in the worst fighting in years between the Southeast Asian nations.

At least 47 people were killed and more than a million displaced in three weeks of border clashes

It comes after three days of border talks

Malaysia and US investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad

Malaysia’s influential former premier Najib Razak was jailed yesterday for a further 15 years and fined $2.8 billion for power abuse and money laundering in the biggest trial of the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, a ruling that could have big political ramifications.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to step up production of missiles and construct more factories to meet his military’s growing need for the projectiles, state media said yesterday.

Myanmar's junta will stage the third and final round of its heavily restricted elections on January 25, a statement said Thursday, just days before polls open for the first batch of ballots

Violent tribal protests against illegal non-tribal settlement in a constitutionally protected hill region of Assam left two people dead Tuesday - as Sixth Schedule protections and land rights ignited a volatile fault line.

Taiwan is frequently hit by earthquakes due to its location on the edge of two tectonic plates

The UNESCO heritage site lies in Siem Reap city, just a two-hour drive from the Thai border, which for more than two weeks has been roiled by military combat that has killed dozens

Four Myanmar nationals caught in Bangkok yesterday with 10 heavy-lift cargo drones they allegedly planned to smuggle home will be deported to Myanmar, Thai police said.

Indian envoy was summoned by Bangladesh earlier today

The two countries set to negotiate truce terms after two weeks of deadly border clashes

Myanmar parliamentary candidate Kyaw Kyaw Htwe was once jailed by the junta for pro-democracy activism

Japan’s flagship H3 rocket failed to launch a geolocation satellite into orbit yesterday due to engine failure, the country’s space agency said.