Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese touted his country's defense cooperation with Indonesia during a visit to Jakarta on Thursday, his first trip abroad since his reelection.

Malaysia's premier Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday he discussed the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with Russian President Vladimir Putin, days after the UN's aviation agency blamed the 2014 tragedy on Moscow.

Roughly half the world's population is already at risk of contracting the two diseases, which were once mainly confined to tropical regions.

Putin on Sunday proposed direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday "without any preconditions". Late on Wednesday, the Kremlin said the delegation would include presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin - but Putin's name was not on the list.

President Prabowo Subianto made a surprise visit to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at his hotel in Jakarta on Wednesday night, in a gesture of friendship ahead of their bilateral talks.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Qatar Airways had placed a "record" order for 160 planes from Boeing, as he signed a raft of deals in Doha alongside Qatar's emir.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday to discuss defense cooperation and global trade, after arriving in Jakarta on his first international visit since his reelection.

During President Prabowo Subianto's day trip to Bandar Seri Begawan, he discussed with Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah various regional and ASEAN issues, including support for closer regional integration and a unified approach to recent pressing challenges.

The Foreign Ministry said it continues to “closely monitor” the security situation in Libya following a new outbreak of armed clashes in Tripoli, urging its citizens in the North African country to stay vigilant and maintain contact with the Indonesian embassy for the foreseeable future. 

Scorching heatwaves fueled by global warming are increasing the risk of dangerous complications during pregnancies across the world, a report warned on Wednesday.

Cambodia has long been a staunch ally of China, receiving billions of dollars in investments, and Washington has voiced concerns that Beijing is using a Cambodian naval base it renovated on Gulf of Thailand to expand its influence in the region.

Tributes poured in from across Latin America on Tuesday following the death of Uruguay's former president Jose "Pepe" Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics.

Burgeoning commerce in recent years has helped grow Beijing's influence in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region of strategic significance for the United States. 

President Prabowo Subianto is set to receive a royal honor during his visit to Brunei on Wednesday.

The United States and China slashed sweeping tariffs on each others' goods for 90 days on Wednesday, after a temporary ceasefire in a brutal trade war that roiled global markets and international supply chains.

An Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday killed a well-known Palestinian journalist whom it accused of working with Hamas and was recovering in hospital from an earlier strike, the territory's health ministry said.

Harvard University expanded its lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's moves to cut off billions of dollars in federal funding to the Ivy League school on Tuesday after officials said they are terminating an additional US$450 million in grants.

"Our position is well known. You know that Russia was not a country that took part in the investigation of this incident, so we do not accept any biased conclusions," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

As dawn broke, the heaviest fighting in decades between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan reached a crescendo, after nearly three weeks of escalating tensions.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump lavished effusive praise on Saudi's de facto ruler, calling him "an incredible man" and a "great guy," and made no mention of human rights concerns in the country.

Following the diplomatic tradition of picking an Asian country, especially Indonesia, for his first bilateral visit, newly reelected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will talk about strengthening economic cooperation with President Prabowo Subianto in his two-day visit to Jakarta.

Indonesia kicked off the first day of its hosting of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC) conference with the war in Gaza in focus, as legislators from across the Islamic world renewed calls for Palestinian independence.

The latest initiative from the international research group focused on the vital role of journalists and the media in communicating policies and issues to the public in Southeast and East Asia.

The Trump administration welcomed on Monday 59 white South Africans it granted refugee status in the US, having deemed them victims of racial discrimination, while drawing criticism from Democrats and stirring confusion in South Africa.

An Israeli-American hostage was released from 19 months of captivity in Gaza during a brief pause in fighting on Monday and reunited with his family, but Israeli strikes on the battered enclave soon resumed.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was sworn in for a second term on Tuesday, alongside his ministers, after a landslide win at a national election he said had returned the largest center-left Labor government since federation in 1901.

Newly reelected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit Jakarta on May 14-15 for the Australia-Indonesia Annual Leaders’ Meeting, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.