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.

Rescuers struggled through mud and debris for a sixth day, as the number of missing people soared to nearly 4,500 since tsunami-like glacial floods roared down from the China-Nepal border, creating an "unimaginable" disaster.

The information, which came from Ukrainian authorities, was being verified with several ministries and government institutions, the foreign ministry in Jakarta said in a statement.

Indonesia has for weeks battled wildfires that have led to school closures and thousands of people requiring medical treatment, with smoke also drifting across to Malaysia and Singapore.

The unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud and debris on the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday – blamed on a glacier collapse – killed more than 900 people and nearly 5,000 are still missing.

Indonesia has urged the Muslim world to establish a mechanism to hold Israel accountable for its actions against Palestinians.

Sanchez said it was "evident" that the two countries had used the crisis to criticise the Spanish government, as they were at odds with Madrid over its position on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Nickel-based batteries used by many South Korean manufacturers face increasing competition from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which contain no nickel and are generally cheaper to produce.

Indonesia maintains a neutral foreign policy, what it calls "free and active," as it walks a diplomatic tightrope seeking good relations with both Washington and Beijing.

Among points agreed during the meeting in Auckland was New Zealand’s support for Indonesia to fund food security and nutrition programs in eastern Indonesia aimed at tackling stunting issues in the regions, according to statements issued by both countries’ foreign ministries.

North Korea's defense minister has been dismissed as part of a reshuffle of the country's military leadership, state media reported Sunday.

China on Sunday said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were missing on the Tibetan side of a border crossing with Nepal following a mudslide which tore through the Himalayan region, while the death toll in Tibet has reached 16 people.

Andy Burnham has enjoyed a honeymoon first month as UK leader, but the hard trade-offs involved in governing are about to get real for the prime minister as parliament returns from its summer break in the coming days.

The issue of fisheries, a pillar of Iceland's economy and over which Reykjavik wants to retain exclusive control, would have to be hammered out with Brussels, which this time around appears more willing to compromise.

The deluge of ice and mud caused huge lakes to form, and one of these formations has become a direct threat to emergency workers scouring the region for survivors.

Haakon automatically succeeded to the throne Friday after his father, King Harald, passed away peacefully earlier in the day. He is due to swear an oath before the government later Friday.

The ministry outlined plans for a civilian-military center for drones and robotics, consisting of a tech hub and a military command.

Many of the missing are foreign tourists, including trekkers in the Himalayan nation, as well as scores of Hindu pilgrims to Tibet's sacred snow-capped Mount Kailash.

During their annual foreign and defense ministers' meeting on Aug. 26, the two neighbors pledged to deepen cooperation with a particular view to enhancing security in the Indo-Pacific amid rising global power rivalry and food and energy shocks from the Mideast war.

The head of the Red Cross and the United Nations on Tuesday warned that autonomous weapons that can kill people without human involvement could soon be used in conflicts and called for urgent negotiations to restrict their use.

The US president's abrupt decision to cut back military drills with South Korea last week, which he described as hostile to Pyongyang, has reinforced fears that Trump's unpredictability could strain alliances that have long maintained peace in the region, government officials and security experts said.