Jakarta cites UNCLOS as Iranian-linked vessels pass through its waters amid United States blockade and rising regional tensions.

Malaysia's antigraft agency vowed on Wednesday to recover more high-value artwork linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal after putting four recently retrieved works on display at its headquarters.

Two seriously ill crew members on a cruise ship stricken by a deadly hantavirus outbreak will be evacuated via Cape Verde to the Netherlands, allowing the vessel to sail on to Spain's Canary Islands.

The US will pause escorting commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz barely a day after it began doing so, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday, citing a desire to reach a peace deal with Iran.

Topping the agenda for the ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, are joint regional responses to the United States-Israeli war on Iran and its impacts, focusing particularly on energy security and food supply resilience for member states.

Around 150 people are still stuck on the Hondius that was carrying mostly British, American and Spanish passengers on a trip that set off from Argentina in March and is now off the coast of West Africa.

The Thai cabinet's cancellation of the 2001 agreement, which seeks to develop a framework to jointly explore hydrocarbons in parts of the Gulf of Thailand where the claims of Thailand and Cambodia overlap, had long been expected and follows two rounds of armed conflict between the two countries last year. 

Trump gave scant details about his new effort, which he called "Project Freedom," to help stuck ships to travel through the strait when he announced it on social media, two days after a legal deadline under US law had passed for him to get authorization from Congress for the war.

Indonesia and Japan on Monday hailed a “historic milestone” in their security relations with the signing of a new defense cooperation agreement (DCA), reaffirming their commitment to maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific amid heightened anxieties over an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. 

Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said he would ink an agreement with his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi, although details of the pact were not shared publicly and there was no official confirmation that they had signed it.

After signing a landmark defence deal last month, the two nations agreed to strengthen energy, food and critical minerals supply chains. 

Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, and Iran's stranglehold on the strategic strait following US-Israeli attacks on Tehran has been a main point of contention.

"Gas plays a role in all our discussions because it fundamentally underpins the shared energy security between our countries," Australian top diplomat Penny Wong said before the talks.

Royal Commission due to deliver final report on Dec. 14, exactly one year after the Bondi Beach attack.

The purchase includes a squadron of F-35 multi-role stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin and another of F-15IA warplanes from Boeing, Israel's defence ministry said.

The Philippines' northernmost province, with about 20,000 residents, sits around 100 miles south of Taiwan, along the Luzon Strait, a strategic corridor on the frontline of the great power competition between the US and China for dominance in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The Pentagon announced the 5,000-troop reduction on Friday, but Trump told reporters Saturday "we're going to cut way down, and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000." He did not elaborate.  

Across Bangkok, aromas of garlic, chili and grilled meat drift from roadside stalls and carts, but tighter controls on vendors threaten livelihoods and the street food culture that defines the Thai capital.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged on Saturday to deepen ties with Vietnam, highlighting energy and critical minerals in talks with Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, and later urged Southeast Asian nations to bolster regional supply chains.

Trump's Republican Party faces the risk of a voter backlash over higher prices when the country votes in midterm congressional elections in November.

The Pentagon's announcement of the troop withdrawal follows a spat between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said on Monday that Iran was "humiliating" Washington at the negotiating table.

Trump and the pontiff have been at odds over US immigration enforcement and the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Wealthy countries and developing nations are at loggerheads over how the pandemic treaty, which was adopted last year, will work in practice.

More than 50 vessels had set sail from ports in France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking the blockade of Gaza and bringing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.

The trip is Takaichi's first to Vietnam since becoming prime minister in October.

Though the US and Iran have suspended hostilities since an April 8 ceasefire, the two countries remain at odds over a range of issues, including Iran's nuclear ambitions and control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Experts say curbs on criticism risk undermining democratic legitimacy as political consolidation limits opposition.