During their annual foreign and defense ministers' meeting on Aug. 26, the two neighbors pledged to deepen cooperation with a particular view to enhancing security in the Indo-Pacific amid rising global power rivalry and food and energy shocks from the Mideast war.

The US president's abrupt decision to cut back military drills with South Korea last week, which he described as hostile to Pyongyang, has reinforced fears that Trump's unpredictability could strain alliances that have long maintained peace in the region, government officials and security experts said.

Malaysia's national disaster management agency and its meteorological department are currently preparing schedules for cloud seeding operations in shared border locations, to be coordinated with the Indonesian military.

The Malaysian prime minister and the Brunei sultan aim to use “the ASEAN mechanism” in a bid to find a solution for the recurring problem of transboundary haze from Indonesian wildfires.

The cancelation follows US President Donald Trump's surprise order to scale back a separate annual joint military exercise that ended last Friday, citing the cost and Seoul's refusal to take part in the Iran war.

Australia on Sunday confirmed its first case of H5N1 bird flu in a mammal, with the deadly virus found in a long-nosed fur seal in South Australia state.

Albanese's center-left government enacted laws in January for the gun buyback, tighter checks for gun licences and a crackdown on ​hate in the wake of the gun attack ​at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales state, on Dec. 14, 2025.

Among topics discussed in high-level talks between Foreign Minister Sugiono and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Jakarta was the joint development by both countries in the hotly disputed South China Sea.

Four vessels were detained or taken to port by authorities in Kiribati, Palau and Papua New Guinea for illegal fishing or breaches of fishing licenses.

Wang will participate in the Comprehensive Strategic Dialogue (CSD) meeting with his Indonesian counterpart on Friday morning to talk about several issues, including the economy, before reconvening for a 2+2 meeting involving defense ministers of both countries.

Hui Ka Yan, once Asia's richest man, pleaded guilty in April to eight charges, including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud, illegally taking public deposits, illegally extending loans, fraudulently issuing securities and bribery.

Australia passed legislation on Thursday that will force tech giants to pay millions of dollars in levies if they fail to strike commercial deals with local media outlets for news on their platforms.

Myanmar's military chief met Thursday with Thailand's top general in Bangkok in his first foreign trip since assuming the role, as his coup-staging armed forces shake off their pariah status.

Visiting after reports of a joint naval drill between Indonesia and China in waters off Taiwan, an analyst says Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to Jakarta may reinvigorate both countries’ ties after a few years of relatively subdued relations.

Trump abruptly announced on Sunday that he had ordered the Pentagon to scale back "inappropriate and hostile" military drills with South Korea.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday instructed the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" joint military exercises with long-term Asian ally South Korea, citing the cost of the drills and Seoul's refusal to take part in actions against Iran.

Australia's most populous state will start a gun buyback scheme in November, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Saturday, launching a reform promised after last year's mass shooting at Bondi Beach.

The move comes after nationwide protests triggered by the leak of a key medical entrance examination paper and a series of other recruitment scandals.

Lee's proposal came as North Korea this week denounced upcoming annual US-South Korean military drills, warning of stronger deterrence measures.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday the AUKUS defense pact remained "full steam ahead" after an overnight call with US President Donald Trump, adding that he had urged Trump to fully exempt Australia from all tariffs.

At least four people died in eastern Japan after "unprecedented" heavy rain that left thousands stranded at Narita airport overnight and snarled up roads and rail services, authorities said Friday.

Indonesia has seen an alarming surge in land and forest fires over the past month, with thick haze from burning in Kalimantan reaching neighboring Malaysia and prompting authorities there to close more than 100 schools.

The island, known in Russia as Iturup and in Japan as Etorofu, is one of four in the Kuril chain close to Japan's main islands seized by Moscow in the days after Japan's surrender in World War Two. Tokyo has maintained its claim to them, making their return a condition for concluding a formal peace treaty that would unlock closer economic ties.

Changes made after discussions between government and opposition would also require digital platforms to strike deals with at least eight media companies, up from six in an earlier draft.

First Admiral Tunggul, a Navy spokesperson, said the exercises were not intended for "war fighting", but were merely "passing exercises", which is consistent with Indonesia's non-aligned foreign policy.

Beijing deploys warships, fighter jets and coast guard vessels around Taiwan on an almost daily basis to assert its claim of sovereignty.

The vessel, being built at the defense ministry's Song Thu Shipyard in Danang City, will also have most of its weapons and military equipment developed or assembled in the country, the Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper said late on Monday.

With extreme weather and natural disasters becoming more common across Southeast Asian nations, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn has sounded the alarm over the “urgent” challenge posed by climate change, which he said threatened the region’s safety, food security and economic resilience.

Typhoon Dolphin is set to make landfall on China's east coast overnight Sunday, bringing torrential rain and powerful winds, as authorities brace for flooding and landslides across a broad swathe of eastern China.

The Thai teen behind a deadly school shooting outside Bangkok had an air gun confiscated by a teacher last year and had watched violent content online, police said on Sunday, as the government promised new safety protocols for schools.