The rare bilateral visits to Southeast Asian nations mark a high-profile personal diplomatic outreach for Xi. Earlier this week, the Chinese president pledged to deepen "all-round cooperation" with China's neighboring countries.

The US sale of three nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under AUKUS is facing new doubts as Trump's tariffs take hold, and amid concern in Washington that providing the subs to Canberra may reduce deterrence to China.

Xi will visit Vietnam from April 14-15, and Malaysia and Cambodia from April 15-18, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. 

Indonesia’s top diplomat on Thursday played down concerns that President Prabowo Subianto’s plan to evacuate 1,000 injured Palestinians from Gaza was a permanent relocation, as the President flew off to meet key regional players amid the latest escalation of the Middle East conflict.

Ambassador Xiao Qian urged Australia and other trading partners to "jointly respond to the changes of the world" in an opinion piece written for a Sydney newspaper. 

Trump has long complained about inadequate water pressure in American bathrooms which he blames on federal water-conservation regulations.

Before departing for Abu Dhabi as part of his Middle East tour, President Prabowo Subianto said that Indonesia is ready to temporarily evacuate a total of 1,000 injured Palestinians and orphaned children.

The state visit will go from April 15 to 17, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said.

About 20,000 extra troops were deployed to the region in 2022 under then-president Joe Biden, reinforcing NATO's eastern flank after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Prabowo said he has instructed his foreign minister to quickly discuss with the Palestinian side and other parties about how to evacuate impacted Palestinians to Indonesia.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which count on the United States as their main export market, were among those slapped with the toughest levies by President Donald Trump.

The extraordinary public spat came after Navarro described the Tesla boss and so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief as "not a car manufacturer" but "a car assembler" who relies on imported parts.

With increased contact between the international community and Myanmar’s junta government following a deadly 7.7-magnitude earthquake in late March, ASEAN should consider intensifying its political efforts in Naypyidaw by unifying its Myanmar agenda and building better rapport with local actors, experts have said. 

Third Deputy Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno dismisses concerns that the currently vacant Indonesian ambassador to the United States post will affect the upcoming high-level negotiations on the new trade tariff policy introduced by US President Donald Trump.

In a letter to Harvard last week, the government listed conditions that Harvard must meet to receive federal money, including a ban on protesters wearing masks to hide their identities and other restrictions.

"Everybody is talking about it," JP Flores, a doctoral student in genetics at the University of North Carolina, told AFP.

In Europe, it was the hottest March ever recorded by a significant margin, said the Copernicus Climate Change Service, driving rainfall extremes across a continent warming faster than any other.

President Prabowo Subianto said on Monday that Jakarta would “remain calm” and use diplomacy to address the tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, as Indonesia wants an equal relationship with the US.

Low-cost airlines have opened routes linking Madrid and Paris to Dakhla in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony largely controlled by Morocco but claimed for decades by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.

President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday made a brief visit to Putrajaya to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, discussing several ASEAN-related issues including the new United States trade tariffs.

"Enhancing combat readiness and elevating joint mission effectiveness" would be central to the Cope Thunder exercise, Philippine Air Force commander Arthur Cordura said Monday at a ceremony to launch the drills.

President Prabowo Subianto jetted off to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday as he intensified communications with world leaders amid international trade uncertainty stemming from the United States’ sweeping import tariffs.

Opponents of the Republican president's policies -- from government staffing cuts to trade tariffs and eroding civil liberties -- rallied in Washington, New York, Houston, Florida, Colorado and Los Angeles, among other locations.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday the junta was restricting aid supplies to quake-hit areas where communities did not back its rule.

The United States has traditionally been at the forefront of disaster relief, but President Donald Trump has dismantled the US humanitarian aid agency, with workers receiving dismissal notices just as the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck last week.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the military would bolster its presence inside Gaza to fight militants and "destroy [...] terrorist infrastructure", with unspecified "large areas" to be "incorporated into Israeli security zones".

A new batch of humanitarian aid from Jakarta arrived in Naypyidaw on Thursday to help the ASEAN neighbor with post-disaster efforts, following the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck on March 28.