The family of Chinese shuttler Zhang Zhi Jie has requested more time before Indonesian authorities and the  PBSI send his body back to China.

The Myanmar crisis has dogged ASEAN and dented its credibility as the junta pays lip-service to ASEAN's calls to implement its "five-point consensus", whereby all sides cease hostilities and start dialogue.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a statement after his talks with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Vientiane that the pair had discussed issues of cooperation within ASEAN "in detail".

Navigating regional tensions sparked by the United States-China rivalry and the unabated territorial dispute in the South China Sea have become important talking points in the early days of the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Vientiane, with top diplomats urging the bloc to remain united in dialogues with external partners.

One crew member of the MT Terra Nova was killed when the tanker capsized in Manila Bay, nearly seven kilometres (4.3 miles) off Limay municipality in Bataan province, as it sailed to the central city of Iloilo.

The global average surface air temperature rose to 17.15 degrees Celsius — 0.06 degrees higher than Sunday's marginal record according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which has been tracking such patterns since 1940. 

The ruling comes just weeks after a Cambodian court sentenced a group of environmental activists to up to eight years in jail for plotting against the government and insulting the king.

The typhoon -- the strongest to hit Taiwan in eight years -- had already forced authorities on the island to close schools and offices, suspend the stock market and evacuate thousands of people.

Due to the delay, the top US diplomat will no longer attend the funeral on Friday of Vietnam's late leader Nguyen Phu Trong.

Addressing the meeting of the SEANFWZ Commission during the ongoing ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the Foreign Minister has urged ASEAN states to do more in pushing for a nonnuclear world, noting the weakening commitment among nuclear-armed states to noproliferation and disarmament deals.

The typhoon also triggered flooding and landslides in the nearby Philippines, where authorities said four people were killed south of the capital Manila.

Hopes are not high that the talks in Vientiane will result in significant progress on the South China Sea issue, such as a code of conduct (COC) for nations operating in the body of water, but analysts warn that ASEAN must at least refrain from backpedaling on its existing position.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the event where he will "discuss the importance of adherence to international law in the South China Sea", according to the US State Department.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said the man was charged with one count of child trafficking, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail.

Blinken and Austin will hold security talks with US allies Japan and the Philippines. Blinken will also visit Singapore and Mongolia, and stop in Vietnam for the funeral of Nguyen Phu Trong, head of the ruling Communist Party, who died last week.

The resupply arrangement followed talks with Beijing this month when the countries agreed to "de-escalate tensions" and increase the number of communication channels to resolve maritime disagreements between them.

Trong was educated in the Soviet Union and was regarded as a Marxist-Leninist ideologue, but he nonetheless nurtured ties with the United States.

The Indonesian diplomatic corps is readying itself for a week of ministerial-level meetings on ASEAN in Vientiane next week, amid simmering tensions in the region and several unresolved negotiations critical to Southeast Asia’s security. 

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday met with visiting Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape to emphasize the importance of cooperation in security and development, amid simmering tensions in the region and Jakarta’s increased emphasis on maintaining ties with its Pacific island neighbors.

A preliminary examination found no evidence of injuries related to a fight or theft but suggested all six had ingested a toxic substance, police said. 

A "smart bandage" developed by a research team from the Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering may help diabetic patients measure their blood sugar level and other indicators without the need to prick their fingers; an innovation that could pave the way for noninvasive health monitoring.

The police chief of Rote Island told AFP the migrants landed last month in two boats they said they had been forced to board after an Australian vessel intercepted their wooden craft.

In written remarks ahead of his attendance at a NATO summit in Washington DC this week, Kishida also signaled concern over Beijing's alleged role in aiding Moscow's two-year-old war in Ukraine, although he did not name China.

"The Pacific Fleet Sovershennyi corvette, together with a detachment of PLA (People's Liberation Army) Navy warships ... conducted training to inspect a suspicious vessel during a joint naval patrol in the Philippine Sea," TASS cited the press service as saying. 

The Reciprocal Access Agreement, or RAA, provides the legal framework for the deployment of Japanese troops and equipment in the Philippines, and vice versa. 

Japan, wary about possible future US policy changes in the region, was seeking to play a larger role in security, analysts said.

Philippine defence minister Gilberto Teodoro and Japanese foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa signed the deal in a ceremony in Manila witnessed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, presidential communications secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a message. 

According to an official schedule published by the Vatican on Friday, the Asia voyage will include 16 speeches and three masses held in stadiums in the capital cities of Jakarta, Singapore and Papua New Guinea's Port Moresby. 

The Australian student visa has become one of the most expensive in the world after the government decided to increase the cost of student visa applications from A$710 (US$477) to A$1,600 in a bid to lower migration rates into the country in the academic field.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi on Wednesday met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and her counterpart Mohamad Bin Haji Hasan in preparation for the annual bilateral dialogue between the two countries, with negotiations on border disputes and citizen protection at the forefront of the working visit.