"We're working at a pace to delivering the optimal pathway to Australia acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability," Marles said in an interview. 

Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir highlighted Jakarta’s ‘good neighbor’ policy that entails mutual responsibility and respect with neighboring countries, which was responded to by his Singaporean counterpart with the city-state’s commitment to resolving differences.

Jakarta cut pipelined gas to Singapore by about 8 percent as of Saturday, saying it was safeguarding domestic supplies. The move came days after an energy minister threatened to review export contracts with countries "that are not cooperative and do not treat Indonesia with mutual respect". 

Tensions continue to mount as an Indonesian senior minister takes a fresh swipe at Singapore over a gas supply cut, widening a diplomatic spat that stems from the regional haze crisis.

Indonesia is battling its most intense forest and land fires since 2015 as a severe El Niño drives up temperatures and reduces rainfall, leaving its forest and peatland vulnerable to fire.

Taiwan's fire department said the death toll remained at 1, a man swept away by waves from the island of Liuqiu, with 527 injuries during the heavy wind and torrential rain.

Over the past week, Singapore issued notices to 10 foreign-based companies, insisting that they deploy fire fighting teams, stop burning or starting new fires in Indonesia and submit information about their links with associated companies in Indonesia and Singapore.

Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong discussed regional resilience and multilateralism on Thursday, as Jakarta and Canberra sought to deepen their strategic partnership amid growing global uncertainty.

The transboundary haze crisis from Indonesia's uncontrolled wildfires has triggered a fresh public spat between Indonesian officials and politicians and their counterparts from Malaysia and Singapore over responsibility for the blazes and the role of foreign corporate interests.

Indonesia has announced "administrative sanctions" against dozens of firms and criminal proceedings against 125 individuals and corporations. But previously prosecuted firms have gotten away with not paying fines or carrying out forest restoration. 

Israel has beefed up its ties with the Pacific, with tiny Nauru opening an embassy in Jerusalem last month, joining a handful of nations bucking international pressure to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the holy city.

Opposition group Perikatan Nasional (PN) is facing growing rifts of its own between the conservative Islamist party PAS - which has the most seats of any single party in Malaysia's 222-member parliament - and the Malay nationalist party Bersatu, with both vying for leadership of the coalition.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized multilateralism and Jakarta’s role in upholding international order during his two-day visit to Indonesia, as he entered the final stretch of his decade-long tenure at the helm of the world body.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is in Indonesia this week for a two-day visit, during which he met President Prabowo Subianto to discuss bilateral cooperation and will pay tribute to Indonesian peacekeepers killed while serving under the UN flag.

The notices tell the companies to deploy fire fighting teams, stop burning or starting new fires and submit their action plans to Singapore's National Environmental Agency.

Dipke was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace and will be called before a Special Executive Magistrate on Saturday, broadcasters NDTV and India Today said.

Closed schools, shuttered sports centers and mass mask handouts. Indonesian wildfire haze has caused a regional pollution crisis and prompted growing frustration in neighbors, including Malaysia.

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has vowed to take action against companies found responsible for fires in neighboring Indonesia that have plunged the region into an air pollution crisis.

Toxic transboundary haze makes Petailing Jaya in Malaysia look like it is in misty highlands despite being located less than 100 meters above sea level, says a resident.

The blazes in Indonesia have burned through hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and plantations on Borneo and Sumatra islands, sickened local residents and sent thick haze across the region.

Najib, 73, has been in prison since 2022 after Malaysia's top court upheld his conviction for graft and money laundering linked to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state fund he co-founded while premier in 2009. He denies wrongdoing. 

The exercise involved 21 vessels from Indonesia, the Philippine and Japan testing their operational readiness, cooperation and joint response in facing a marine pollution incident.

Forest and land fires that have raged for months in Indonesia have in recent weeks caused thick haze in Singapore and in Malaysia, which closed schools in several states last week after air pollution hit unhealthy levels

Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir has pledged to steer Indonesia’s diplomatic corps toward bolstering the country’s domestic resilience and regional standing, arguing that a stronger home front would give Jakarta a louder voice on the world stage. 

Singapore again ranked the world's most polluted city on Monday, according to Swiss-based air quality monitor IQAir, as the fires on Borneo and Sumatra islands, intensified by a turbo-charged El Nino weather phenomenon, keep emitting toxic haze.

North Korea on Monday fired multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast, Seoul's military said, after weeks of mounting friction over a landmine explosion along their heavily fortified border.

An intensifying El Nino broke a temperature record in a key zone of the Pacific in September, the EU's climate monitor said Monday, in another sign the weather pattern is gaining exceptional strength.