Def Jam, the label behind superstars from LL Cool J to Jay-Z and Rihanna, is snapping up rap stars from the untapped Southeast Asian market where streaming platforms are flourishing.

The leaders of eight South Asian nations are set to discuss via video conference a strategy to stop the spread of COVID-19. Over 120 cases have so far been reported across the region.

In Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, people ignored physical distancing rules to celebrate Eid, the most important Muslim holiday. With COVID-19 infections on the rise in South Asia, this could lead to a catastrophe.

People in East Asia seem to be less likely than those in many other parts of the world to die of the coronavirus. But the explanations that have been put forward do not all hold water, as Martin Fritz reports from Tokyo.

An Asian trade deal almost a decade in the making is set to be signed on Sunday. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will cement China's position as the main influence on trade in the region, leaving the US on the sidelines of two huge trade deals after Donald Trump pulled it out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2017. Plus, investment bank Goldman Sachs has made progress in appointing more women and people from minority backgrounds as partners - but the majority of promotions are still given to white men.

Ten ASEAN nations, plus five other Asia-Pacific countries have signed the world's biggest trade deal in terms of GDP. The pact is expected to drive economic growth in a region hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Asia's top wingsuit athlete Zhang Shupeng takes a look across a mountain range in central China before leaping head first into the void...

As a sexual minority within a conservative religion, LGBT Muslims in South Asia are supporting each other on social media platforms in a climate of fear and discrimination.

With veteran diplomat Kurt Campbell as President Joe Biden's pick for Indo-Pacific coordinator, the US has a chance to refresh its approach to China by building better coalitions in Asia.

Grace a robotic medical assistant was created to relieve the burden on the frontline medical staff who have been overworked due to the pandemic. The robot is designed to interact with people in isolation.

The UN's top human rights official condemned Myanmar's ruling military junta and said it was using "disproportionate force" against the opposition.

EU members "have their geo-strategic calculations in mind, and will likely favor countries that are friendly or important to European interests," says one ASEAN expert in response to the bloc's global vaccine drive.