The men were killed in an ambush in Enga Province, according to the Australian state broadcaster.

Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, who is leading the preliminary presidential election result based on quick counts by pollsters, has begun receiving congratulatory calls from world leaders.

Indonesia received congratulatory messages from officials and politicians from around the world for the high turnout during the 2024 general election. They also expressed their wishes to work with the elected government when they are sworn into office in October.

The nonagenarian has been in and out of hospital in recent years. He has a history of heart problems and has undergone bypass surgeries. 

Independent candidates loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan took most of the seats in Thursday's polls, scuppering the chances of the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from securing a ruling majority.

The Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was deployed in early February to patrol the waters around Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea, and deliver provisions to Filipino fishermen and ensure their safety.

Security engagements between the treaty allies have soared in the past year, at a time of tension in the South China Sea, where the Philippines and China have traded blame over a spate of run-ins over territory. 

Karolina Shiino's nomination in January first sparked debate after some right-wingers questioned the title being awarded to a naturalised Japanese citizen.

The Senate voted 92 to 5 to confirm Campbell, currently coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs on the National Security Council. He previously founded and led the Asia Group, a strategy advisory and capital management group.

Accusations of drug abuse, threats to split the country and rumours of a coup plot have destroyed the public facade of unity between the Marcos and Duterte families, which joined forces for the 2022 elections.

Thailand has some of the world's strictest royal defamation laws protecting King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family, with each charge bringing a potential 15-year prison sentence.

An initial contingent of 20 police will be flown into the country during the first quarter of 2024, Police Commissioner David Manning told AFP.

Thailand plans to establish a humanitarian safe zone later this month at its border with Myanmar, near the Mae Sot-Myawaddy crossing, to deliver food and medical supplies to local communities and 20,000 people displaced by fighting, said Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Thailand's vice foreign minister. 

The "Sentence for Enhanced Public Protection" (SEPP) aims to keep convicts who show signs that they might re-offend behind bars, even after their jail terms have ended.

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.