Developing countries rounded on the United States and its allies at emergency climate talks yesterday, accusing the world's richest nations of stalling a deal aimed at preventing runaway global warming.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry of Indonesia has removed three popular songbirds from the newly revised protected species lists following protests from bird owners.

The United Nations says a substantial progress remains urgently needed in three key areas including addressing the root causes of the Rohingya crisis and a clear pathway to citizenship for Rohingyas who are eligible.

Bangladesh plans to raise the Rohingya issue in the upcoming 73rd UN General Assembly and urge the international community to unite and mount more pressure on Myanmar to resolve the lingering crisis.

Regional lawmakers welcome the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which ruled that it could exercise jurisdiction over the alleged crime of deportation of the Rohingya population, despite Myanmar not being a party to the Rome Statute.

Myanmar's government spokesman will no longer answer phone calls from media, he said yesterday, one day after the International Criminal Court ruled it had jurisdiction to investigate crimes against the country's Rohingya Muslim community.

Myanmar “resolutely” rejects a ruling by the International Criminal Court (ICC) empowering the tribunal to probe alleged crimes against the Rohingya even though the Southeast Asian nation is not a member of it.

WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh highly appreciates Bangladesh's all-out support in the full range of care, including good health care, for Rohingya people living here.

The United States says it will continue to press Myanmar to create the conditions necessary to allow safe, voluntary and dignified return of Rohingyas to their homes in Myanmar from Bangladesh.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday denounced the caning of two women convicted of having lesbian sex in violation of strict Islamic laws, after the punishment sparked a storm of criticism.

The International Criminal Court ruled yesterday it has jurisdiction over alleged deportations of Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity.

Facebook said yesterday it will invest over $1 billion to build a data centre in Singapore, its first in Asia, powered by renewable energy and adapted to the city-state's tropical climate.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt says he would host talks at the UN this month over allegations Myanmar's military committed genocide against the Rohingya minority, warning the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali yesterday said they are expecting to begin the Rohingya repatriation soon by sending the first batch of over 3,000 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.

Malaysian immigration police have rescued 65 Bangladeshi workers, believed to be victims of human trafficking, from the dormitory of a foreign worker recruitment company in Bandar Baru Nilai and arrested two Malaysians over the incident.

A Philippine mayor on President Rodrigo Duterte's list of allegedly narcotics-linked officials was shot dead in his own office yesterday.

US Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called on Myanmar's government to reverse a court ruling that imprisoned two Reuters journalists for seven years and to release them immediately.

A district in Indonesia's deeply Islamic Aceh province has banned men and women from dining together unless they are married or related, an official said yesterday, saying it would help women be "more well behaved".

About 50 Rohingya Muslim refugees gathers in a muddy sports field in a camp in Bangladesh to protest against the conviction in Myanmar of two Reuters reporters, who were arrested while covering the plight of their community.

US Vice President Mike Pence calls on Myanmar's government to reverse a court ruling that imprisoned two Reuters journalists for seven years and to release them immediately.