Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sailed smoothly past a potential clash with Donald Trump over Iran on Thursday, though the US president whipped up a bit of a storm about Pearl Harbor.

Trump had been set to travel to Beijing from March 31 to April 2 for the first trip there of his 14-month-old second term. The trip will now take place in "about five or six weeks," Trump said. The White House did not specify a date.

Crowds gathered outside as family members sought news of their loved ones, including Baryalai Amiri, a 38-year-old mechanic, whose brother was admitted as a patient about 25 days ago.

An alliance of leading media in Asia, the Asia News Network, has announced that applications are now open for its 2026-2028 journalism fellowship program that aims at building a Malay news network.

Trump's trip, his first to China in his second term, is aimed at sealing a trade war truce the two leaders shook hands on when they met in South Korea in October.

The election has been dominated by Balendra Shah, the former mayor of ​Kathmandu, the capital, whose rap music critical of the establishment gained him near-rockstar-like fame on social media.

Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin announced a plan for Indonesia and Australia to develop trilateral security cooperation agreements involving Papua New Guinea and Japan, as well as a defense training facility in North Maluku.

South Korea's transport ministry cut construction costs and approved improper airport safety structures for more than two decades, the state auditor said in a report on aviation safety management after a Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people.

Thailand and Vietnam have encouraged public employees to work from home and take up other energy-saving measures as the Middle East war disrupted oil supplies and sent fuel prices swinging.

Australian police helped two more members of the Iranian women's soccer delegation slip their minders to claim asylum, but one has changed her mind and decided to go back to Iran, the country's interior minister said on Wednesday.

Even as governments move to limit the impact on fuel prices, lines have formed at petrol stations in countries including Vietnam, Pakistan and the Philippines, although the situation remains stable elsewhere.

Five players, including captain Zahra Ghanbari, slipped away from the team hotel under the cover of darkness to claim sanctuary from Australian officials.

Authorities said the decision applies to all public and private universities across the country, a move that officials said will not only reduce electricity consumption but also ease traffic congestion, which leads to fuel wastage.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the island under its control.

The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring websites which disseminate pornography to verify users are over 18. App stores must also run age checks before allowing downloads of software labelled 18+.

The neighbors have clashed along the frontier since February 26, when Afghanistan launched a border offensive in retaliation for Pakistani air strikes.

Steinmeier had been due to fly to Jakarta on Sunday for the six-day trip, with an onward flight to Manila scheduled for Wednesday.

The Transformation Partnerships for Indonesia’s Clean Energy Transition report was prepared by Synergy Policies and the Foreign Ministry’s Foreign Policy Strategy Agency over 11 months to examine how foreign policy could aid Indonesia’s shift to clean energy.

Security analysts and regional military attaches are watching China's budget closely as it scrambles to modernise the military by 2035, while stepping up deployments across East Asia and purging the top brass to tackle graft.

Off Sri Lanka, an Iranian ship that had been on a friendly visit to India was suddenly sunk by a US submarine, the first such torpedoing since World War II. The attack killed at least 87 people, Sri Lankan officials said, with 61 remaining missing. 

Hundreds were crowded at Ngurah Rai International Airport, many dressed in shorts, flip-flops and summer dresses, their expressions dour.

The Southeast Asian country, which is one of the world's top chip exporters, signed an agreement with the firm last March to boost production of high-end semiconductors, as the US-China tech trade war shook global markets.

If convicted by the Senate at trial, Duterte would be removed from office and disqualified from holding any future government position.

Pakistan described its actions as a response to cross-border assaults, while Kabul denounced them as a breach of its sovereignty, saying it remained open to dialogue but warned any wider conflict would result in serious consequences.

For years, Islamabad has blamed Afghanistan for attacks inside Pakistan aimed at overthrowing the government, claiming the Taliban shelter Tehreek‑e‑Taliban Pakistan fighters.

AFP reporters in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead until dawn, as Pakistan launched air strikes on the Afghan capital and the southern power base of the Taliban authorities.

Judges Jeremy Poon, Anthea Pang, and Derek Pang said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had "erred".