India declares onset as up to 280mm of rain falls in 72 hours in Kerala, while downpours hit south-west Thailand

The monsoon season has officially begun in parts of Asia, marking the start of a period of enhanced rainfall vital to the region’s economy.

The south-west monsoon begins each year as a consequence of a growing temperature difference between the Asian land mass and the Indian Ocean. Through spring, the land heats up more rapidly than the surrounding sea, creating a pressure difference that draws moisture-laden ocean air inland. Once this contrast reaches a critical point, the humid air pushed over the continent rises, condenses into cloud and unleashes intense rainfall across the region.

Police and hunters in Utsunomiya, 100km north of the capital, resume their search for animal that is not usually seen so close to Tokyo

A city in Japan has closed all its 94 primary and secondary schools after a bear was spotted in the municipality for the first time.

Officials in Utsunomiya, a city of half a million people about 100km (62 miles) north of Tokyo, took action after a medium-sized black bear – estimated to be about one-metre-long – was seen near a park in the city on Saturday. The bear was spotted again on CCTV running just in front of two startled young men in the city centre, in the early hours of Sunday.

People told not to enter damaged buildings for fear of aftershocks from magnitude-7.8 quake

At least 37 people have died and hundreds have been injured after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook part of the southern Philippines early on Monday, collapsing buildings and triggering tsunami alerts.

The quake hit early in the morning about 20km (12.4 miles) off the coast of Sarangani province, with tremors felt strongly across Mindanao and 420km away in the city of Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Kim Jong-un welcomes Chinese leader on visit to renew relations strained amid Pyongyang’s closeness with Russia

Xi Jinping has arrived in North Korea for a two-day trip, his first in nearly seven years, as China’s leader looks to revitalise ties with his junior ally.

Footage published by China’s Xinhua state news agency showed an Air China plane carrying Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, touching down at Pyongyang’s Sunan international airport.