Some Iranian sources have said that they have had little real help from Moscow in the biggest crisis for Iran since the United States-backed Shah was toppled in the 1979 revolution.

The Standard Gauge Railway, built from 2013 to 2019, connects the Kenyan port of Mombasa to its capital Nairobi, and on to the lake town of Naivasha, but China refused further lending before it could be extended to Uganda as planned.

The heat has been toppling records this week and was set to continue into the weekend across western cities and expanding eastward.

The cost of petrol rose more than 20 percent in Vietnam on Friday after the government announced an overnight hike amid fears of oil and gas shortages caused by the Middle East war.

Myanmar's parliament will start the process to elect a new president on March 30, officials said on Friday, a vote many analysts expect will be won by the head of the junta that seized power in a coup in 2021.

Israel launched a fresh wave of attacks on Iran on Friday, a day after President Donald Trump told it not to repeat its strikes on Iranian natural gas infrastructure, which sharply escalated the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Protesters heckled and booed Prime Minister Anthony ​Albanese on Friday during a visit to Australia's largest mosque for Idul Fitri prayers, voicing anger over his stance on ally Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sailed smoothly past a potential clash with Donald Trump over Iran on Thursday, though the US president whipped up a bit of a storm about Pearl Harbor.

Six major international powers said Thursday they were ready "to contribute to" ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, though three stressed that any initiative would take place post-ceasefire.

Speaking to reporters following a meeting in Riyadh of foreign ministers from the region, Prince Faisal said that Iran "tries to pressure its neighbours" with attacks.

The attack was reportedly a retaliation after Tehran accused Israel of striking its facilities in the massive South Pars gas field on Wednesday.

Two flights from Indonesia bound for Dubai were rerouted on Monday after drone incidents disrupted operations at the Dubai International Airport, as the war in the Middle East shows no sign of easing.

Trump had been set to travel to Beijing from March 31 to April 2 for the first trip there of his 14-month-old second term. The trip will now take place in "about five or six weeks," Trump said. The White House did not specify a date.

Beijing is a close partner of Iran and has urged the United States and Israel to cease their attacks on the country, while also criticizing Tehran's strikes against Gulf states housing US military bases.

The three countries said that together with other unnamed partners they were exploring setting up a new mechanism by 2027 which would speed up investment and boost demand for defense kit, a statement from Britain said on Tuesday.

Crowds gathered outside as family members sought news of their loved ones, including Baryalai Amiri, a 38-year-old mechanic, whose brother was admitted as a patient about 25 days ago.

The regional war has also steadily pulled Iraq further into the fighting, after the country has long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran.

An alliance of leading media in Asia, the Asia News Network, has announced that applications are now open for its 2026-2028 journalism fellowship program that aims at building a Malay news network.

Trump threatened to delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month if Beijing does not assist with reopening the strait.

The Foreign Ministry in Jakarta has condemned Israeli attacks in Lebanon, as the war in Iran spills across more borders.

The ships take a longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope in the southern tip of Africa following the outbreak of the war caused by unprovoked United States-Israeli attacks on Iran. 

The US president, in an interview with NBC News, said he thought Tehran was keen to come to the table but that Washington would fight on for better terms and might bomb targets on Iran's oil hub Kharg Island once, again, "just for fun".

Global oil prices have surged by 40 percent as Iran has choked off the vital sea passage and attacked Gulf energy facilities since US-Israeli strikes launched the war on Iran.

Jakarta decided to postpone the summit of eight Muslim-majority developing countries grouped under the D8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, which was scheduled to be held in mid-April, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Trump's trip, his first to China in his second term, is aimed at sealing a trade war truce the two leaders shook hands on when they met in South Korea in October.

Trump had also threatened to hit the island's oil infrastructure if Tehran did not allow passage for ships via the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally pass.

The election has been dominated by Balendra Shah, the former mayor of ​Kathmandu, the capital, whose rap music critical of the establishment gained him near-rockstar-like fame on social media.