The number of vessels allowed through the waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will be progressively lowered from 36 per day to 32 by mid-September.

Australia's weather forecaster said temperatures in the New South Wales capital, were set to hit 33 degrees Celsius, nearly 13 degrees above average.

Voters and election officials still do not know what rules may govern millions of mail ballots, as Trump asks the Supreme Court to revive curbs blocked by a federal judge and as states scramble to prepare for changes that could come after voting has begun.

At the start of Operation Iron Wall, Israeli military, police and other forces entered the camps and killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged infrastructure, according to the UN rights office.

The two were among hundreds of hydropower workers who had been missing since a wall of mud and debris swept through the region on August 26 after a vast glacial and rock collapse on a mountain on the China-Nepal border.

Sarawak, in Kalimantan, has been heavily affected by fires on the Indonesian side of the island, with haze forcing school closures in some parts of the state.   

Jakarta pushes cooperation, governance reform and tech as a public good.

President Prabowo Subianto has pitched a shared economic future between Jakarta and Moscow, expressing hopes to host his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Indonesia while touting his administration’s “realist, pragmatist” approach to international cooperation.

The operation, which also aims to bolster water reserves in anticipation of dry weather, targets three hydroelectric dams and 13 water catchment areas, Sarawak's Disaster Management Committee said.

Trump said his military was prepared to attack Iran "any time we want" after extensive US bombardment of sites across the country left at least 19 Iranians dead.

President Prabowo Subianto is in Vladivostok this week for an economic forum and bilateral talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in his fourth visit to the country since taking office less than two years ago.

On Wednesday morning, seven air monitoring stations across the metropolitan area of Philippine capital Manila recorded “unhealthy levels” of PM2.5 pollutant particulate, according to the country’s Environment and Natural Resources Department (DENR).

The 5,000 sailors and Marines on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, arriving from the war in the Middle East, are headed for the Thai resort of Pattaya, a rest-and-recreation stop for US troops since the Vietnam War.

The United Nations Environment Programme said bringing temperature rises back to below 1.5C was "possible but highly uncertain," and would require rapid emission cuts as well as interventions to remove carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the fact that nearly all participants agreed to the chair's statement suggested "there has been no impact" from Russia's attendance.

The United States and Australia on Wednesday announced a combined US$580 million in funding for the Pacific Islands, as both nations battle China for influence in the region.

The US and Iran found themselves back in a war footing on Wednesday after the most significant exchange in weeks, with Washington threatening even more devastating strikes while Iran protested an attack that it said killed five and wounded dozens of civilians at a wedding.

The Lincoln, with roughly ​5,000 sailors and Marines aboard, has set a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to ​Democratic lawmakers.

South Korea remains open to jointly developing future defense systems with Indonesia despite setbacks in the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet program, a Korean diplomat has said, describing the experience as an asset that strengthened mutual trust between the two countries.

At least eight Indonesians are alleged to having fought for Russia in the war in Ukraine, seven of whom came to Russia using tourist visas, according to reports issued by the Ukrainian authorities.

Japan is set to deploy three helicopters to help Indonesia battle forest and peatland fires in Kalimantan at Jakarta’s request, as smoke from the blazes spread across Southeast Asia and pressure mounts on the government to accept more international assistance.

The measures include age-verification, parental controls, faster takedowns of harmful content and closer cooperation with law enforcement, he said. 

Indonesia has intensified efforts to contain haze from forest and land fires across six provinces in Kalimantan and Sumatra islands. The haze has caused respiratory illnesses and forced thousands of schools to move classes online, including in neighbouring Malaysia.

US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to hit Iran "hard" after the two foes traded fire for the first time in weeks, as his Treasury secretary vowed to keep up a pressure campaign aimed at hobbling Tehran's economy.

Myanmar's junta chief-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing will make an official visit to Vietnam from Sept. 4 to 6 at the invitation of Vietnamese President To Lam, state media in both countries reported on Tuesday.

Australia said Tuesday the Pacific bloc will decide for itself who attends its annual summit, after China raised objections to Taiwan's presence on the sidelines.

The United States' move to welcome Russia back to a meeting of G20 countries on Monday while denying some journalists access to the gathering dismayed some finance leaders present, deflecting from its bid to focus talks on global economic growth.