In a statement issued late Thursday, the foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations urged "all parties for an immediate cessation of violence" in Myanmar, which has been roiled by conflict since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup.

Wang arrived at around 11 a.m. at the Defense Ministry's headquarters in Central Jakarta shortly after wrapping up his session with Foreign Minister Retno.

The meetings come after Prabowo visited Beijing this month where Chinese President Xi Jinping praised relations with Jakarta, laying out a vision for regional peace as tensions rise in Southeast Asia.

Wang Yi is scheduled to attend the China-Indonesia High-Level Dialogue Cooperation Mechanism meeting in Labuan Bajo on Friday to discuss further bilateral cooperation in more detail.

US President Joe Biden hosted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington last week where the three leaders jointly expressed their "serious concerns" over China's actions in the South China Sea. 

During his visit to Jakarta, Wang is also scheduled to chair the fourth meeting of the China-Indonesia High-Level Dialogue Cooperation Mechanism.

The bulk of the new spending, part of a A$330 billion decade-long budget, will only kick in after five years, and ultimately take defense spending to 2.4 percent of GDP by 2034 from just over 2 percent today.

The United States and the Philippines will conduct joint naval drills beyond the 12 nautical miles of the Philippines' territorial waters for the first time since the annual exercise started in 1991, in areas of open sea that are claimed by China, the newspaper reported. 

"Since the weather is extremely hot, it is not only for Aung San Suu Kyi ... For all those, who need necessary precautions, especially elderly prisoners, we are working to protect them from heatstroke," junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun said in comments reported by four media outlets. 

Often dubbed the world's largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long expanse, home to a stunning array of biodiversity including more than 600 types of coral and 1,625 fish species.

Wong is due to take over from Lee on May 15.

Wang's trip will kick off on Thursday, April 18 and wrap up on April 23, foreign ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said.

The cycle between the two is hugely important for farmers worldwide. El Nino generally brings hotter, drier weather to eastern Australia and Southeast Asia and wetter conditions to the Americas, while a La Nina has the opposite effect.

The 51-year-old will succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on May 15, making him just the second non-member of Singapore’s founding family in nearly six decades to lead the affluent city-state.

Scholz touched down in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing on Sunday morning, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said, accompanied by a large delegation of ministers and business executives.

At least four people were wounded in the attack, including Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church, when a man lunged at him with a knife during a service live-streamed on Monday.

Thousands of people have been killed in the anti-narcotics campaign started by Duterte in 2016 and continued under Marcos.

Wong, 51, is currently the deputy prime minister and finance minister of Singapore, and has been prime minister-in-waiting since 2022.

The epicentre of the quake, which hit at 0656 local time (2056 GMT), was roughly 110 kilometres (68 miles) east-southeast of Kimbe on the island of New Britain, at a depth of 64 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said. 

The Asia and Oceania trip has been on the papal agenda for some time, but there had been doubts on whether the 87-year-old pontiff would embark on it given his increasing frailty and a record of skipping engagements due to health problems.

Five women and one man were killed during Joe Cauchi's Saturday afternoon rampage, which took place in a bustling shopping center in Sydney's Bondi Junction neighborhood.

Beijing on Friday criticized the United States, Japan and the Philippines and defended its actions in the South China Sea as "lawful" after US President Joe Biden hosted a trilateral meeting in Washington.

Pope Francis will visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore in September, the Vatican announced on Friday, an ambitious trip that could test the 87-year-old's increasingly fragile health.

India is the fastest-growing major economy, but there are still not enough white-collar jobs for its educated youth.

Thailand's foreign minister arrived for a visit to the Myanmar border on Friday, the ministry said, following days of clashes that have dislodged junta troops from their positions in a vital trade hub in the neighboring country.

A national election in the Solomon Islands, the first since Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare signed a security pact with Beijing, will be watched next week for its potential to jolt the United States-China rivalry in the South Pacific.

An Israeli man, who was arrested in Malaysia last month carrying six guns and dozens of bullets, pleaded not guilty in a Kuala Lumpur court on Friday to charges of unauthorized trafficking and possession of firearms, his lawyer said.