The country vaccinated more children in 2025 and reduced the number of "zero-dose" children, though millions worldwide still lack lifesaving vaccines due to conflict, poverty and vaccine hesitancy.

A Chinese coast guard vessel fired a water cannon at a Philippine government fisheries vessel in Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, scoring an indirect hit, a Philippine Coast Guard official said on Thursday.

Protests snowballed on Monday after police fired tear gas and baton-charged tens of thousands of demonstrators as they tried to march to parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session.

The draft statement expected to emerge from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathering in Manila will repeat calls for self-restraint in a Middle East conflict that has carried economic ripple effects throughout the region.

Top diplomats from Asia, Europe and North America met on Thursday for the security-focused ASEAN Regional Forum, where ministers were expected to call for a peaceful settlement of renewed and intensifying hostilities in the Middle East.

Two Indonesian women are believed to be held by scam operators in Myanmar, prompting the Foreign Ministry to renew its warning against looking for jobs abroad through unofficial channels

As top diplomats of ASEAN member states met with their key partners in Manila on the second day of the bloc’s Foreign Ministers Meeting, Indonesia calls for ‘real benefits’ in partnership beyond ceremonial engagements.

Indonesia's decision to join a new China-led artificial intelligence organization has raised questions over how Jakarta intends to navigate the intensifying technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington, even as the government insists it remains committed to working with both.

Meeting with Wang in Manila on the sidelines of a regional gathering led by the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, Rubio told reporters that both sides had differences, but their job was to manage them, adding there were areas of potential cooperation. 

Rubio's remarks came as the region is grappling with a series of overlapping claims by China and ASEAN member states in the South China Sea, another crucial maritime route for global trade.

A Chinese submarine fired the ballistic missile fitted with a dummy warhead earlier this month, reaching far into the Pacific Ocean.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday on the sidelines of a regional gathering led by the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, where the two top diplomats are expected to discuss a possible September summit between their leaders.

South China Sea and Myanmar have dominated agenda for ASEAN top diplomats in Manila amid renewed push for progress in the bloc’s two long-standing issues

Risks have increased in recent days, with Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis announcing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front in the conflict and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.

Scam gangs defrauded Asia-Pacific residents of at least US$88 billion in 2025, a United Nations office said on Tuesday, with transnational crime groups rapidly evolving tactics to stay ahead of law enforcement.

The Philippine military accused the China Coast Guard of clubbing a Filipino sailor with a baton on Monday as they approached a grounded vessel that has long served as a Philippine garrison.

Hoping to avert a recurrence of transboundary haze ahead of the peak of the El Niño climate phenomenon, Singapore is rallying behind multilateral initiatives with its fire-prone neighbors, including Indonesia, which has already seen a surge in forest fires across several provinces this year.

Indonesia will use this week's ASEAN foreign ministers' meetings in Manila to push for a more resilient, forward-looking and strategically independent regional bloc, arguing that Southeast Asia must strengthen its internal cohesion as geopolitical rivalries and global conflicts increasingly spill into the region.

Wang will also have bilateral talks with Philippine counterpart Maria Theresa Lazaro, foreign ministry spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial told a briefing.

"Most of their interactions took place through online messages. They also met on the sidelines of public events," wrote Wong. 

Current bilateral trade amounts to NZ$4 billion (US$2.34 billion), shared evenly with New Zealand and Indonesia if services, including tourism, are included.

Questions have begun to mount over a shift in ASEAN’s approach toward closer engagement with Myanmar’s military government nearly five years after the coup, with critics expressing concern that the bloc risks emboldening the junta despite its repeated failure to comply with the group’s peace roadmap.

The Indonesia-Singapore Defense Alumni (Persahan) was launched in conjunction with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Day reception. 

China can say that ASEAN countries acquisced on China's claim that there are no high seas in South China Sea if ASEAN countries do not lodge formal protest with the United Nations Secretary General. 

"According to preliminary information, the two vessels departed from Myanmar's Rakhine State in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers, reportedly including some who had travelled from refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh," the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency said in a joint statement, saying more than 500 were feared dead.

Australia will enact laws to regulate how artificial intelligence data centers use power and water, and to protect creative copyright, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday.

Key priorities in the agreement include cooperation in science and technology as well as investment in agricultural technology, education and the strengthening supply chains for electric vehicle batteries.