A pardons board chaired by Malaysia's king before he ended his reign last week halved a 12-year jail sentence and cut fines for Najib, who is imprisoned for graft and money laundering related to the scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The board did not give a reason for its decision. 

Duterte on Jan. 30 called for the independence of his hometown island Mindanao in the southern Philippines as his alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr disintegrated last week over disagreements around efforts to amend the constitution.

An armed faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), led by Egianus Kogoya, kidnapped Mehrtens on Feb. 7, 2023 after he landed a small commercial plane in the remote, mountainous area of Nduga. The group threatened to shoot Mehrtens if talks about Papuan independence were denied. 

"We've seen that the Chinese commitment in defence or investment comes with a high cost. That's what we'd say to PNG," United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma told the Sydney Morning Herald in an interview published on Monday.

The incident was the second reported breakout from a Malaysian detention centre in as many years. In April 2022, 582 ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar escaped an immigration depot in northern Kedah state. Six of those migrants were killed after being hit by vehicles on a highway.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has announced policy measures to strengthen ties and collaboration with the world.

Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads over a raft of issues, from chips to tariffs, but both have been alarmed by the growing assertiveness of China's military in the Pacific.

Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Roy Trinidad, said on Thursday the third phase of modernisation reflected a shift in strategy away from internal to external defence.

The Southeast Asian bloc must find ways to make its security forum go beyond dialogues in contributing to global and regional conflict prevention and resolution, experts have concurred.

The monarchy plays a mostly ceremonial role in Malaysia, but its influence has grown in recent years, prompting the king to wield rarely-used discretionary powers to quell political instability. 

On Sunday, Duterte's brother, who is the mayor of Davao city, urged Marcos to resign over his supposed failings to address crime and a foreign policy that "endangers the lives of innocent Filipinos", while her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, called the incumbent president a "drug addict".

"An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing here experienced an in-flight emergency over the West Sea and crashed at approximately 8:41am (2341 GMT) today," the military said in a statement.

The case pertains to allegations that Khan had made public contents of a secret cable sent by the country's ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad. 

Major trade partner China approached PNG in September with an offer to assist its police force with training, equipment and surveillance technology, PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko told Reuters on Monday. 

The two Southeast Asian countries have competing claims over some parts of the South China Sea, a conduit for $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade that China claims almost in its entirety.

ASEAN foreign ministers backed efforts by the new special envoy appointed by Laos and expressed confidence in his resolve to “find a Myanmar-owned and led solution” toward peace and unity.

In a statement after an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) retreat, the ministers gave support for efforts by the new special envoy on the crisis, from Laos, in "reaching out to parties concerned" and expressed confidence in his resolve to help the Myanmar people.

After detecting a mock enemy submarine and confirming its coordinates from a helicopter crew, the warship fired torpedoes and depth charges - anti-submarine warfare weapons, the agency reported, the Interfax news agency reported.

Amid jostling between Washington and Beijing for influence in the Pacific, the biggest Pacific Islands nation, Papua New Guinea (PNG), has previously said Australia and the United States are its security partners, while China is an important economic partner.

The comment about the high-speed railway between both countries, seen by some as a "fiscal trap" for Thailand, came after Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in Bangkok.

Myanmar's ruling generals remain barred from key meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over their failure to implement a peace plan agreed with the bloc two months after a 2021 coup that unleashed chaos in the country. 

On his first visit to Indonesia since his return the the premiership in July of last year, Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao also thanked Jakarta for its support of the country's membership in ASEAN.

The two Southeast Asian countries have competing claims over swathes of the South China Sea, an important waterway for fishing and global trade that China claims almost in its entirety.

The 26-year-old model, who was born in Ukraine and looks Caucasian, has lived in Japan for more than 20 years and is a naturalised citizen. Over the years, Japan has further opened its doors to foreigners as a way to reverse its declining birthrate, one of the lowest in the world.

Lai, from Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the current vice president, will take office on May 20. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, believes he is a dangerous separatist and has rejected his offers of talks.

The US Navy said the destroyer USS John Finn transited through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that was "beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state".

The 43-year-old led the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) to win the most votes in last year's general election, but was blocked from becoming prime minister after he was suspended as an MP in July.

The veteran politician announced he was stepping down as representative for a Sydney suburb next month, after 16 years in parliament.

Na'imah Abdul Khalid, the 66-year-old wife of businessman Daim Zainuddin who served as finance minister twice between 1984 and 2001, pleaded not guilty at a court in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Reiterating the international body has no jurisdiction, Marcos told reporters the government is monitoring the ICC investigators' presence in the country and has ordered agencies not to assist their probe.