Sri Lanka began advertising for hangmen this week, as the country's president pushes ahead with a hardline policy, modeled on the Philippines, to combat drug trafficking.

Canada urged Beijing on Tuesday to grant clemency to a Canadian sentenced to death for drug trafficking, after his sentence reignited a diplomatic dispute that began last month.

An employee of a Malaysian airline was among eight people arrested in Australia on charges of trafficking more than 14 kg (30 lb) of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, Australian authorities said on Wednesday.

A school teacher in northern Vietnam has received the death penalty for drug trafficking, state media reported Wednesday.

Sri Lanka has decided to re-enforce the death penalty as part of attempts to fight drug trafficking in the country, a senior cabinet minister said on Wednesday.

Duterte's son Paolo Duterte and son-in-law Manases Carpio appeared at a Senate inquiry on Thursday to answer accusations that they helped facilitate the shipment of crystal methamphetamine.