MANILA: Twelve militants have been killed in the southern Philippines during a gun battle with security forces that left seven soldiers wounded, the army said in a statement.

JAKARTA: Indonesia president Joko Widodo and his son, incoming vice-president Gibran Rakabuming Raka, are no longer members of the country’s largest party after they backed rival candidate and election winner Prabowo Subianto, a party official said on Tuesday.

MANILA: Nearly 17,000 Filipino and American troops kicked off a three-week joint combat training exercise in the Philippines on Monday that includes maritime drills in the South China Sea where Manila and Beijing have sparred over territorial claims.

JAKARTA: An Indonesian court today rejected in full a challenge from losing candidate Anies Baswedan for a re-run of February’s presidential election and to disqualify winner Prabowo Subianto and his running mate.

KALIMANTAN: Four years after Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced that he would move the nation’s capital from the main island of Java to Borneo, he led a tour of dozens of influencers through Nusantara, the new capital under construction.

MANILA: After admitting her relationship with Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte has soured, First Lady Liza Marcos also hinted at tension with her sister-in-law Sen. Imee Marcos.

BANGKOK: Clashes between the Myanmar junta and armed ethnic groups have broken out again near a vital trade hub close to Thailand’s border, an armed group spokesman and the Thai army said today, following a week of relative calm.

TAGULANDANG: Indonesian authorities were on alert today for more eruptions from a remote island volcano that forced thousands to evacuate this week, as nearby residents began clearing debris after molten rocks rained down on their villages.

JAKARTA: At least 32 families in Lumajang, East Java were voluntarily relocated to safer areas following an overflow of cold lava floods triggered by Mount Semeru last Thursday.

JAKARTA: China and Indonesia want to maintain peace and stability in the region, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday after holding talks with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Jakarta.