The Muslim-majority nation of about 175 million people is due to elect a new parliament in less than two months' time -- a transition many hope will help the country recover from nearly two years of instability and reclaim its position as a South Asian development success story.

The Taiwan arms sale announcement is the second under US President Donald Trump's current administration, and comes as Beijing ramps up its military and diplomatic pressure against Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the aim of the meeting is to convince Thailand and Cambodia to stop escalating tensions along the disputed border

The Philippine coastguard said over the weekend that three Filipino fishermen were injured and two fishing vessels damaged when Chinese coastguard ships cut their anchor lines and fired water cannon near the Sabina Shoal on Friday, actions the Philippine defense secretary denounced as "dangerous" and "inhumane".

"I don't rule it out, no," he told NBC News in a phone interview.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump ordered a complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers attempting to leave Venezuelan waters, and those arriving, as Washington massed troops and warships in the region.

US troops have carried out more than 20 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since early September, killing more than 80 people as Trump escalates a military buildup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.

Nick Reiner, 32, was detained hours after the bodies of the 78-year-old actor-director and his wife, 70-year-old Michele Singer Reiner, were discovered in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on Sunday, with multiple reports that they had been stabbed to death or had their throats slit.

This year's prize represented a "gross misappropriation" of funds and the "facilitation of war crimes" under Swedish law, according to the complaint posted by WikiLeaks on social media.

The vessel carrying five people sank on Sunday morning "in a rocky area of Insua Island" in the northern municipality of Caminha, Portugal's National Maritime Authority said in a statement.

Romania's last confirmed case of leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, was detected 44 years ago.

More than 25 countries are expected to send representatives to the conference, which will include sessions on the command structure and other issues related to the Gaza force, according to United States officials.

South Africa, this year's host country, was not invited to join the meeting of the G20 deputy sherpas, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

Negotiations on consolidating the US-backed truce in the war in Gaza are at a "critical" moment, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has said.

Israel said it would open the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt exclusively to allow residents to exit the Palestinian territory "in the coming days", a claim denied by Egypt which insisted that the key crossing be opened in both directions.