Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia's Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand faced large-scale devastation after a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait fuelling heavy rains and wind gusts for a week. There were 336 dead in Indonesia, 170 in Thailand, and two deaths reported in Malaysia.

Indonesia must step up as a key architect of the next world order rather than be a bystander, foreign policy experts said on Saturday as the world enters a period of unprecedented change, marked by shifting power dynamics and the need for new multilateral solutions to global challenges.

Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition won just one of the 20 seats it contested in Sabah, down from the seven it held previously in the eastern state on Borneo island.

Among people who died in the Wang Fuk Court housing complex fire are some of the city's 368,000 foreign domestic helpers, mostly women contracted from low-income Asian countries like the Philippines and Indonesia, who live with their employers, often in cramped spaces.

The fire started on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly engulfed seven of the eight 32-storey blocks at the complex, which were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh and layered with foam insulation for the renovations.

At least two other Indonesians have been identified among the hundreds of people injured in the fire that engulfed the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po district, Hong Kong, one of whom has been discharged from the hospital, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

Heavy rains across Indonesia, Malaysia and southern Thailand have inundated cities, trapped thousands and caused deadly landslides.

The toll from floods and landslides rose to 19 in North Sumatra, which has been battered by heavy rain for days, with dozens still missing.

Indonesia has called for stronger collaboration among the Developing 8 (D8) nations in the media and strategic communications in the digital ecosystem, as the developing world faces increasingly complex global challenges just months before Jakarta assumes the bloc’s leadership.

The remarks come amid the countries' worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Over 24 hours after fire broke out in the eight-building housing estate with 2,000 units, flames were still visible in some windows as crews sprayed water on the blackened exteriors.

The Japanese government will issue around 11 trillion yen (US$70 billion) in additional bonds to help fund an economic package, even as its tax revenue for this fiscal year is expected to rise to a record high.

This year’s visit comes as Indonesia aims to reach high-income status by 2045 amid global tensions and trade disruptions.

The growing popularity of Jeju Island’s haenyeo may not be enough to save the fate of a centuries-long tradition, which has seen the number of its practitioners dwindling over the years. Yet, the female divers march on to save it from extinction.

The digital economy, including the development of artificial intelligence and cooperation to bolster the fight against transnational crimes surrounding online scams, is among the sectors to be prioritized in the expansion of cooperation between South Korea and Southeast Asian nations.

The purchase of US defence equipment is India's first under Washington's foreign military sales programme since ties soured in August after President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent as punishment for New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil. 

The two were at the helm of the vessel and are suspected of waiting too long to override the autopilot, allowing the ship to run into an uninhabited island in a busy passage approaching the southwestern port of Mokpo, the coast guard officers said.

All 267 passengers and crew were safely brought to a nearby port after the ferry crashed on an uninhabited island off of South Korea's southwestern coast.

From December 10, Australia will force social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, to remove users under the age of 16 or face hefty fines.

Beijing earlier this year partially eased restrictions on Japanese seafood imports imposed in the wake of Tokyo's decision to release treated wastewater from its the crippled Fukushima power plant into the sea in 2023.

For the first time in the nearly two decades he has lived in Thailand, the 42-year-old Myanmar refugee is able to work legally.

Australia's prime minister said he would not block Turkey hosting the 2026 UN climate conference, indicating Canberra may step aside to solve a diplomatic feud overshadowing this year's talks. 

The meeting was the third of its kind between the four ministers, with previous sessions held in 2015 and 2021

The highly anticipated ruling, which was broadcast live on national television, came less than three months before the first polls in the South Asian country of 170 million people since her overthrow in August 2024.

In 2006, Thaksin sold shares Shin Corp, a telecommunications firm he founded, to Singapore's Temasek, raising concerns about a conflict of interest as well as allegations of tax evasion.

The advisory issued by Japan's embassy in China came as a senior Japanese foreign ministry official travelled to Beijing to hold talks on Tuesday with his Chinese counterpart to try and tamp down tensions.