Like much of Southeast Asia -- where schools have recently been forced to close early and electricity usage has surged -- southern and central Vietnam have been scorched by devastating heat.

Philippine officials have said a coast guard ship and a fisheries vessel were damaged when Chinese coast guard vessels fired water cannons at them while on their way to the disputed Scarborough shoal on Tuesday to help Filipino fishermen at sea. 

The Philippine coast guard said its two vessels stood their ground at the Scarborough Shoal, a key battleground in the South China Sea, but one sustained damage from use of water cannon by two Chinese coast guard ships.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on the new leaders of Indonesia and Singapore to bring ties between the two countries to "greater heights", while President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo urged them to ensure the full implementation of both countries' milestone deals.

The meeting, a long-held tradition in which the countries’ leaders and ministers meet informally each year to discuss ways to strengthen ties, was the seventh and final one for both leaders, who will be leaving office in 2024.

Two years of talks towards sealing a landmark accord on prevention, preparedness and response hit the deadline last month with nothing agreed in terms of concrete wording. The next deadline is the May 27 start of the World Health Organization's annual assembly of member states. 

The annual leaders’ retreat between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his Singaporean counterpart Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be a swansong for the two outgoing leaders and the first meeting between their successors, president-elect Prabowo Subianto and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, respectively.

Extreme heat has scorched Southeast Asia in recent days, prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes and authorities to issue health warnings. 

The small airport near a wildlife sanctuary on the southern coast opened in 2013 but was immediately plagued by problems, and has been a running sore on state coffers since. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) came up with a peace plan in 2021 that Myanmar's generals agreed to, but it has only been partially implemented, causing fissures in the bloc and frustration from its most prominent members.

Blinken, in China for the second time in less than a year, met leading Chinese politicians in the capital Beijing, where US officials said he would directly raise crucial areas of difference including Russia, Taiwan and trade.

The unusual climate patterns combined with geopolitical challenges have disrupted global food supplies. Indonesian rice imports spiked this year after the global price for the commodity set a 15-year record high.

Blinken, paying his second visit to the rival country in less than a year, voiced hope for progress but said he would directly raise areas of difference, which are expected to include Russia, Taiwan and trade.

ASEAN must play a central role and be prepared to mitigate various security threats posed by geopolitical challenges, Indonesia said during talks in Hanoi where hundreds of diplomats and experts convened to discuss the group's future.

During the telephone call, the two also discussed the US-Indonesia defense relationship, as well as regional and global security issues.

Mahathir has condemned the questioning of his son by the country’s anti-graft agency, calling it “selective” and driven by his political rivalry with the sitting government. 

Everywhere, US allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former President Donald Trump returns to power in November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states.

A day before meeting Beijing's top brass, Blinken visited the bustling metropolis of Shanghai where he sampled local food, watched a basketball game and strolled along the city's famous Bund promenade on the busy Huangpu River.

Thailand circulated a proposal for Malaysia, Laos and Indonesia, to meet to address the long-running conflict said Nikorndej Balankura, adding that the meeting could be held in Thailand and "any ASEAN member may join".

Blinken's visit is the latest high-level contact between the two nations that, along with working groups on issues from global trade to military communication, have tempered the public acrimony that drove relations to historic lows early last year.

Fighting had flared as recently as Saturday in Myawaddy, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee in a single day as rebels fought to flush out stranded Myanmar government troops holed up at a border bridge crossing.

Australia's federal court late on Monday granted the country's cyber regulator, the eSafety commissioner, a two-day injunction requiring the social media platform to hide some posts on a knife attack last week against an Assyrian church bishop, Mar Mari Emmanuel, during a service at his church.

All 10 were crew members aboard the aircraft involved in the accident, which occurred at the Lumut naval base in the western state of Perak at 9.32 a.m. Tuesday morning (0132 GMT), the navy said.   

Biden had "appeared to imply his uncle was eaten by cannibals after his plane was shot down over PNG during WWII", Marape's office said in a statement late on Sunday.

Despite being in a disadvantaged area on the battlefield, Brigadier-General Soe Min That never yielded to the enemy after withdrawing from the Pha Song camp. He was killed by drones on the battlefield.

Junta sends in airstrikes to support 200 junta troops trapped along a river across from Mae Sot, Thailand.

The sea should not be an arena where countries can flex their "gunboat muscles", added Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China's second-highest-ranking military official.

"Sometimes you have loose moments," James Marape said in an interview after Biden's contentious remarks, adding that the relationship was stronger than "one blurry moment".

Nigeria's regulator recalled a batch of Benylin paediatric syrup last Wednesday, having found a high level of diethylene glycol in the product during routine testing.

The three-way AUKUS agreement runs counter to a South Pacific treaty banning nuclear weapons in the region, says Foreign Minister Wang Yi.