Washington has long been Taipei's most important ally and biggest arms supplier -- angering Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory.

The men -- the last behind bars among nine Australian smugglers who were jailed in Indonesia in 2005 -- flew into Darwin on Sunday under a secretive deal between the two countries.

An FBI official told reporters during an impromptu briefing that the agency was working with 50 local, state and federal partners to look into increased reports. The official said less than 100 of the over 5,000 reported sightings had turned out to merit further investigation, and all of the large fixed-wing reported sightings so far involved manned aircraft.

Two Army cadets have become the latest TNI members to graduate from a military academy in a foreign country, as part of a policy to enhance defense cooperation that has been running since 1998. 

Thai foreign minister Maris Sangiampongsa will hold the separate consultations on Dec 19 and 20, after Thailand in October offered to host informal talks to find a way out of the crisis that has gripped Myanmar since a 2021 military coup.

Washington's relationship with Phnom Penh has been deteriorating for years, with China pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure investment under Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen.

Yoon has been suspended from office while South Korea's Constitutional Court deliberates on the vote, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo taking over as interim president.

For 45 years, the landmark US-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA) has yielded cooperation across a range of scientific fields, creating a framework for agency exchanges and giving the US access to Chinese data useful in areas such as monitoring earthquakes, weather and influenza.

Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso, 39, was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin, in a case that sparked uproar in the Philippines.

Families with children mixed with armed and uniformed Islamist fighters to celebrate the first Friday prayers since Assad's overthrow, later streaming into the Old City's streets and squares.

Two hundred votes are needed for the measure to pass, meaning opposition lawmakers must convince eight ruling People Power Party (PPP) colleagues to defect.

Indonesia stands ready to evacuate an additional 97 of its citizens from Damascus following the arrival of 37 returnees in Jakarta on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry has said, adding that the government continues to communicate intensively with various stakeholders as Syria faces uncertain days ahead. 

White House spokesperson John Kirby said earlier the US would continue to provide additional packages for Ukraine "right up to the end of this administration."

Since the shock collapse of Assad's government over the weekend, Israel has moved troops into the buffer zone on the Syrian side of the dividing line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and has conducted hundreds of airstrikes to destroy Syrian army weapons and equipment.

Indonesia welcomed on Thursday the adoption of a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a document Jakarta co-sponsored with several Muslim-majority countries and which received overwhelming support from UN members.

Brisbane-based law firm JGA Saddler filed a class action against each mining giant this week, alleging widespread and systemic sexual harassment and discrimination at Australian mine sites.

Yoon, staring down an impeachment vote in parliament on Saturday, vowed to "fight with the people until the very last minute".

VOA has reach around the world, with programming in a slew of African, Asian and European languages, including Somali, Dari and French.

The number of Indonesian workers in the Japanese construction sector is expected to surpass the number of Vietnamese workers in the coming years, a Japanese construction association has said.

The resolution -- adopted by a vote of 158-9, with 13 abstentions -- urges "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" -- wording similar to a text vetoed by Washington in the Security Council last month.

Mangione has been charged with murder for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a father of two, in a brazen shooting on Dec. 4 outside a Manhattan hotel before an industry conference.

Speaking at Russia's flagship AI conference, Putin said the new AI Alliance Network would include national associations and development institutions in the field of AI from BRICS countries and other interested states. 

Austin told Katz that Washington was monitoring developments in Syria and that it backed a peaceful, inclusive political transition, according to the Pentagon. He added that the US would continue its mission to prevent the Islamic State militant group from re-establishing a safe haven in Syria.

The two-day meeting gathered editors from eight countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam to discuss effective ways to share video content among Asia News Network (ANN) newsrooms.

Analyses by Indonesian and German research bodies suggest that Indonesia has enough policies on the conservation of environment and climate that are in line with economic development, but lags behind in their implementation and enforcement. 

In exchange for Iran's help with the Russian war effort in Ukraine, Moscow is giving its ally fighter aircraft, missile defense and space technology, Biden concluded in a national security memorandum issued on Tuesday.

The Republican tycoon's incoming cabinet officials are worth an estimated $11 billion, and with Trump himself and outside advisors like world's richest man Elon Musk included, that figure rises to a mind-boggling $340 billion.