North Korea fired two suspected cruise missiles yesterday, Seoul said, its fifth weapons test this year as Pyongyang flexes its military muscles while ignoring US offers of talks.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday confirmed he had invited Myanmar’s junta chief to a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), on the condition he makes progress on a peace plan he agreed to last year. 

At least 19 people have died after a karaoke bar in Indonesia's West Papua was set ablaze following a brawl between rival gangs of youths in the area, police in the provincial capital of Sorong said on Tuesday.

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 96, has been admitted to a specialist heart hospital for the third time in the space of a few weeks, a spokesperson said yesterday.

Myanmar's military has arrested three people working for the independent news portal Dawei Watch, an editor at the publication said on Thursday (January 20), the latest detentions under a media crackdown that has occurred since last year's coup.

The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the UN, is scheduled to hold public hearings of the case concerning genocide against the Rohingyas in Myanmar, from February 21-28.

Public trust in governments running the world’s democracies has fallen to new lows over their handling of the pandemic and amid a widespread sense of economic pessimism, a global survey has found. 

Indonesia's parliament has approved a bill to relocate the nation's capital from Jakarta to Kalimantan on Borneo, House Speaker Puan Maharani said on Tuesday.

North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) yesterday from an airport in its capital city of Pyongyang, South Korea’s military reported, the fourth test this month to demonstrate its expanding missile arsenal.  

The Taliban have dismissed about 3,000 members accused of abusive practices from its hardline Islamist movement in a widespread “vetting process” launched since coming to power, an official said Saturday.

Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “indispensable” in restoring democracy to the military-ruled country and must be included in any peace talks, regardless of her conviction, the Philippines’ foreign minister said yesterday.

Thailand has reported its first death from the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant, a health official said.

Singapore’s leader said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) should continue excluding Myanmar’s junta from its meeting until it cooperates on an agreed peace plans.

A Myanmar junta court has hit ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi with five new corruption charges related to the alleged hiring and purchase of a helicopter, sources close to the case told AFP.

North Korea fired at least two ballistic missiles yesterday, its third test in less than two weeks, just hours after criticising a US push for new sanctions over the previous launches as a “provocation” and warning of a strong reaction.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the United States and the World Bank to unfreeze Afghan funds, locked since the Taliban’s return to power, to prevent “the nightmare unfolding in Afghanistan” from getting worse.

Myanmar junta has ordered all military personnel not to answer letters related to arrest warrants or summons from the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the Argentinian judiciary on the human rights violation of the Rohingyas and other communities in the country, according to Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK).

An Indonesian woman has been flogged 100 times in Aceh province for adultery while the male involved, who denied the accusations, received just 15 lashes.

A 34-year-old man was on Thursday (Jan 13) charged in a district court with attempting to bribe a nurse to falsely record that he had received his second vaccination dose.

North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea yesterday, with South Korea’s military warning the second such weapons test in less than a week showed clear signs of progress.