Japan will ease decades-old arms export rules, the government's top spokesman Minoru Kihara said on Tuesday, paving the way for the sale of lethal weapons overseas.

"What the Asia-Pacific region most needs is peace and tranquility, and what it least needs is the introduction of external forces to create division and confrontation," Guo Jiakun, a ministry spokesperson, said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

The warship passed through the strait, which borders Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, on Saturday, April 18, Indonesian Navy spokesperson First Admiral Tunggul told Reuters.

The war games will feature live-fire exercises in the north of the country facing the Taiwan Strait, as well as a province off the disputed South China Sea, where the Philippines and China have engaged in repeated confrontations.

Thousands of American and Philippine troops, joined for the first time by a significant contingent of Japanese forces, began annual military exercises Monday set against the backdrop of the Middle East war.

Victims of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades began government-supervised visits to their ravaged former homes on Monday for the first time since the November blaze, looking to retrieve personal items that might have survived.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast, South Korea and Japan said on Sunday, marking the latest in a flurry of launches by Pyongyang to accelerate efforts to boost its military capabilities.

Japan is deepening cooperation with United States allies in the Asia-Pacific region that, like Tokyo, are involved in territorial disputes with China.

More than one in seven of the estimated 6,500 Rohingya refugees who attempted the sea crossing last year were reported missing or dead.

The sentence has been cut by one-sixth, but it remains unclear whether the Nobel Peace Prize winner will be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest, the lawyer said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the deal, which fills 20 percent of the fertiliser needed for the planting season, was a "significant outcome for our farmers".

The new commitment follows pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration for Canberra to boost military expenditure as a share of total annual economic output.

The rights group recommends countries with democracies should slap sanctions on foreign leaders who favor transnational repression through forced returns of dissidents back to their home countries.

The trawler, carrying men, women and children, is believed to have sunk in severe weather after leaving Teknaf in southern Bangladesh for Malaysia, amid rough seas and strong winds.

The agencies quoted Lavrov as saying that the visit would take place in the first half of the year, while the Vedomosti newspaper cited sources as saying it would be during the week beginning May 18.

"We are elevating our relationship to a Major Defense Cooperation Partnership, in recognition of the strength and potential of our bilateral defense ties," Hegseth said in a statement on X.

Beyond immediate security concerns, ASEAN highlighted the broader implications of the conflict on regional stability, especially on energy and food supplies.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to Brunei and Malaysia to discuss energy and food security, his office said on Sunday, continuing regional efforts to shore up fuel supplies for a nation reliant on imports.

China on Sunday unveiled 10 new incentive measures for Taiwan, including easing tourist curbs, allowing in "healthy" television dramas and facilitating food sales, following a visit by the island's opposition leader.

Filipinos like their pares (traditional beef stew) served hot -- but the soaring cost of liquefied petroleum gas has made that prospect increasingly difficult since war erupted in the Middle East.

In a break with precedent, Iranian and US officials were meeting directly, alongside Pakistan, and not speaking through mediators who shuttled between rooms.

Around 20 percent to 25 percent of Indonesia's crude oil imports are sourced from the Middle East and the government has said it is boosting imports from other places such as Angola and Nigeria to ensure enough supply at home.

In his inauguration address to parliament, the former junta chief said peace and democracy was his priority, and his government would spur foreign investment, develop agriculture and form effective, long-term strategic plans.

The Philippine Coast Guard unveiled on Thursday its first dedicated command center in the Spratly island chain, a flashpoint in the disputed South China Sea that has been the site of repeated confrontations with Chinese vessels.

A wolf that escaped from a zoo in South Korea remained at large Thursday, authorities said, prompting a local school to close over safety concerns as the search continued.

Rohingya activists and legal advocacy groups are pinning their hopes on Indonesia’s new penal code to push forward a genocide case against Myanmar's newly-elected President Min Aung Hlaing, in what they say could be a long-awaited breakthrough for accountability.

Indonesian respondents overwhelmingly indicated a preference for China over the US at 80 percent amid a corresponding regional shift, with the majority of all respondents citing Trump's leadership and Washington's use of sanctions as top concerns.