Analysts have said that factors like elections in the US and Indonesia, as well as doubts over Laos’ ability to lead consensus-driven ASEAN, would likely complicate efforts to navigate the region’s most urgent issues.

Hasina's ruling Awami League has presided over exceptional growth in a country once beset by grinding poverty, thanks to a lucrative garment export industry supplying the world's top fast fashion brands. 

The airliner collided with a coast guard plane after landing at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening. All but one of the six people on the smaller aircraft were killed.

Beijing's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command a day before said a two-day deployment of its navy and air force, scheduled to end today, was carrying out "routine patrols" in the sea. 

At least 105 Indonesian nationals have been recorded among the more than 30,000 people staying in shelters after the earthquake, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday evening.

All 379 people aboard a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 escaped after a collision with a De Havilland Dash-8 Coast Guard turboprop that killed five of six crew on the smaller aircraft.

The 7.5-magnitude quake on January 1 that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, sparked a major fire and tore apart roads.

Last summer, large swaths of Asia, Europe and North America experienced deadly heatwaves, which scientists say are aggravated by rising global temperatures.

The images on broadcaster NHK showed the plane moving along the runway before an explosion of orange flames burst from beneath and behind it.

Lee, who was under treatment in Seoul after being stabbed in the neck on Tuesday, lost the tightest presidential election in South Korean history to Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022. The motive behind the attack was unknown.

The 7.5 magnitude quake that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, toppled houses, caused a major fire and tore apart roads.

The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck in the middle of the afternoon on Monday, destroying buildings, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and prompting residents in some coastal areas to flee to higher ground.

Waves as high as 1.2 meters (four feet) hit Wajima port in Ishikawa prefecture at 4:21 pm (0721 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said, after the US Geological Survey and other agencies registered a major 7.5 magnitude quake little more than 10 minutes earlier.

"All residents must evacuate immediately to higher ground," national broadcaster NHK said after the quake hit the Noto region in Ishikawa prefecture around 4:10 pm (0710 GMT).

Much of the world's population -- now more than eight billion -- is hoping to shake off high living costs and global tumult in 2024, which will bring elections concerning half the world's population and the Paris Olympics.

Australia's December-February summer is under the influence of the El Nino phenomenon, which usually brings above-average daytime temperatures, and can cause weather extremes ranging from wildfires to tropical cyclones and prolonged droughts.

Severe foggy conditions were expected in parts of northern province Hebei, central province Henan, eastern provinces Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong as well as in the municipalities Shanghai and Chongqing from Friday morning, the National Meteorological Centre said.

The Philippines is not provoking conflict in the South China Sea, its military spokesperson said on Tuesday, responding to China's accusation that Manila was encroaching on Beijing's territory.

The epicenter of the quake straddled the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai in an area where many of China's Hui people, a tight-knit ethnic minority characterized by its distinctive Muslim identity, are found.

Bangladesh is home to around a million members of the stateless and mainly Muslim minority, many of whom fled a military crackdown in Myanmar six years ago that is now subject to a UN genocide probe.

The deliberation comes after parliament last year debated similar draft laws and the previous government's same-sex civil union bill, but did not come to a final vote before the session ended.

The city's lowest temperatures on Thursday will be minus 4 to minus 6 degrees Celsius (21 to 24 degrees Fahrenheit) in Shanghai's suburbs, and temperatures will remain below zero all day throughout the city, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said in a post on its Weibo social media account. 

Kim's warning follows a meeting between South Korea and the United States last week in Washington, where they discussed nuclear deterrence in the event of conflict with the North.

The Constitutional Court is considering whether the former leader of the Move Forward Party (MFP) broke rules banning members of parliament from owning shares in media companies.

According to the indictment, Ardakani and his co-conspirators used foreign companies to evade US export controls on sensitive equipment.

Officials in impoverished Gansu province said the shallow tremor just before midnight had caused the deaths of at least 105 and injured almost 400 as of Tuesday morning.

The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, known as Jakim, said Monday that the new directive replaces a previous order which barred the businesses from writing Merry Christmas on their products.

The US-led UNC is a multinational military force and oversees affairs in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war.

About 100 were killed and scores more injured in Gansu province after the strong, shallow tremor struck, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing the provincial earthquake relief headquarters.

As Japan intensified its efforts to sway ASEAN toward its regional interests over the weekend, group chair Indonesia underlined that a partnership based on mutual trust, a “habit of dialogue” and lawfulness were key to a long-term partnership.