The Friday's flogging was the first instance of a Sharia court-ordered whipping taking place outside of a court setting in Malaysia.

The move to establish a dedicated system is aimed at helping authorities set up protocols to handle unknown pathogens, in contrast to the lower level of preparedness five years ago when the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 first emerged.

The impeachment of Han, the acting president since Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14 for declaring martial law on Dec. 3, has pushed South Korea's once-vibrant democratic success story into uncharted territory.

Taiwan is  providing various incentives to entice tourists to visit the island, including those from Indonesia, such as a lucky draw, SIM cards and halal establishments.

The Batu Secret Zoo in Batu city, East Java is involved in international breeding programs for tapirs and giraffes with a Japanese zoo association. 

"As for concrete bilateral events, I can say that the appropriate plans are actively being drawn up," ambassador Igor Morgulov told RIA.

The push to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who has been acting president since Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14, has thrown South Korea's once-vibrant democratic success story into uncharted territory and watched with concern by allies.

The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea. It crashed Wednesday near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

"We can confirm that we have been subjected to a cyber attack and are addressing the situation," a Japan Airlines spokeswoman told AFP.

Yoon's repeated defiance of the summons and failures to appear for questioning have sparked criticism and calls from the opposition for his arrest, citing concerns over potential destruction of evidence.

New Vietnamese internet rules requiring Facebook and TikTok to verify user identities and hand over data to authorities came into force on Wednesday, in what critics say is the latest attack on freedom of expression.

The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found.

The US Department of Defense on Wednesday announced the repatriation of Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep to Malaysia. 

The talks among ASEAN members in Thailand may expedite the work for peace in war-torn Myanmar, analysts have said amid calls from human rights groups for the bloc to stand firm against the junta.

Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso landed at daybreak, then was immediately transferred to prison following a repatriation deal between the two countries over a decade in the making.

Leaders from five pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) will apply at their schools lessons learned from participating in a cultural exchange program in Japan .  

The 7.3-magnitude quake struck at a depth of 57 kilometres (35 miles), some 30 kilometres off the coast of Efate, Vanuatu's main island, at 12:47 pm (0147 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey.

The story, headlined "Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy" looked at top-range houses called Good Class Bungalows and claimed many purchases did not have legal filings, adding that said such deals were harder to track.

Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina domestic worker who was sentenced to death 14 years ago in Indonesia, is scheduled return to her home country on Wednesday as part of a prisoner transfer agreement between Jakarta and Manila.

The Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it was preparing for this week’s Bangkok meeting slated to discuss the Myanmar crisis, adding that ASEAN’s commitment to an inclusive dialogue remained unchanged despite the absence of any Naypyidaw representatives at the formal talks.

Washington has long been Taipei's most important ally and biggest arms supplier -- angering Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory.

The men -- the last behind bars among nine Australian smugglers who were jailed in Indonesia in 2005 -- flew into Darwin on Sunday under a secretive deal between the two countries.

Two Army cadets have become the latest TNI members to graduate from a military academy in a foreign country, as part of a policy to enhance defense cooperation that has been running since 1998. 

Thai foreign minister Maris Sangiampongsa will hold the separate consultations on Dec 19 and 20, after Thailand in October offered to host informal talks to find a way out of the crisis that has gripped Myanmar since a 2021 military coup.

Washington's relationship with Phnom Penh has been deteriorating for years, with China pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure investment under Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen.

Yoon has been suspended from office while South Korea's Constitutional Court deliberates on the vote, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo taking over as interim president.

Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso, 39, was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin, in a case that sparked uproar in the Philippines.

Two hundred votes are needed for the measure to pass, meaning opposition lawmakers must convince eight ruling People Power Party (PPP) colleagues to defect.

Brisbane-based law firm JGA Saddler filed a class action against each mining giant this week, alleging widespread and systemic sexual harassment and discrimination at Australian mine sites.

Yoon, staring down an impeachment vote in parliament on Saturday, vowed to "fight with the people until the very last minute".