South Korea on Friday sentenced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for sending military drones into North Korea in 2024 in a bid to "heighten inter-Korean military tensions and manufacture a national crisis" enabling him to declare martial law. Yeol was in February given a life imprisonment sentence – which he is appealing – for leading an insurrection with his martial law declaration.

Taiwan said that Chinese vessels "openly intruded" on disputed waters around Itu Aba island in the South China Sea on Thursday, staying for 15 minutes before the Taiwanese coast guard expelled them. The island is claimed by Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Azerbaijan’s opposition leader Ali Karimli, a former secretary of state, goes on trial in Baku on Wednesday for an alleged "attempted coup". Karimli spoke to FRANCE 24 from prison, where he slammed the charges against him as "entirely fabricated and politically motivated" and warned that he risked assassination.

Pakistan on Wednesday launched deadly air strikes on Afghanistan after a period of relative calm following months of fighting at the beginning of the year. Pakistan's government said 26 "militants" were killed while Afghan authorities said at least 12 people, including children, died in provinces near the border.