• First images emerge of Tonga after eruption

The first contactless aid flights arrived in disaster-hit Tonga on Thursday, as the coronavirus-free Pacific island nation takes precautions to keep the virus out of its borders in the wake of a devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami.

A 57-year-old Tongan man being hailed a real-life Aquaman for surviving 27 hours at sea after Saturday's devastating tsunami struck his island said he went under nine times before latching onto a log and making it to safety.

China sent 39 warplanes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said, the largest such incursion this 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.

More than 20 Covid-19 cases have been identified aboard an Australian navy ship sailing to disaster-hit Tonga, complicating aid efforts to the virus-free Pacific island nation as Japan halted its relief mission due to a separate outbreak among crew members.

Images have emerged of a US Navy F-35C stealth fighter crashing into the South China Sea earlier this week.

North Korea fired what is presumed to be a ballistic missile into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Since the turn of the year, North Korea has ramped up missile tests in defiance of international law at a frenetic pace that many who keep a close eye on the rogue state expect to continue.

After one year of military rule in Myanmar, millions of people are resisting a return to repression and isolation.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes leaders from around the world for the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on Friday, it will be his first time meeting foreign counterparts face-to-face in more than 400 days. And at the top of his guest list is Russia's Vladimir Putin.

The highest glacier on the world's tallest mountain is losing decades worth of ice every year because of human-induced climate change, a new study shows.

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