North Korea launched a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) towards the east on Friday, a South Korean defense ministry official told CNN.

President Joe Biden held a three-hour talk Monday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, their first in-person encounter since Biden took office and an opportunity that both sides appeared to hope would lead to an improvement in rapidly deteriorating relations.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday said the country will repeal the colonial-era Section 377A of Singapore's Penal Code, thereby decriminalizing gay sex in Singapore, but added that same-sex marriage will continue to be illegal in the city-state.

North Korea fired at least one unidentified ballistic missile on Thursday, that Japan said flew over its main island, landing in the Pacific Ocean, and South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said landed in waters off the east of the peninsula.

South Korean authorities were on Sunday investigating the crowd surge that killed at least 153 partygoers in Seoul, as the rattled nation attempts to come to terms with one of its worst-ever disasters.