President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine's forces were swiftly recapturing more territory especially in the south of the country as Putin's seven-month invasion unravels.

"I am announcing a pardon of all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana," Biden said.

The Treasury Department designated a company and three Myanmar nationals, including businessman Aung Moe Myint who has allegedly facilitated various weapons purchases on behalf of the Southeast Asian nation's military.

"That remains to be seen," the US leader told reporters when asked if he'd use the G20 gathering in Bali, as an opportunity to talk directly with Putin.

The official confirmed to Reuters the gunman killed his wife and child and himself during the incident and said at least 12 people were injured in addition to the 34 casualties.

Solomon Islands -- a sprawling archipelago in the South Pacific -- is the unlikely epicentre of a major diplomatic tussle in which the United States and Australia are seeking to limit China's influence. 

Southeast Asia analysts offer up a number of priority issues for Indonesia to consider as Jakarta prepares to take up the chairmanship of ASEAN next year.

An election is not due until September 2023, but Ismail is under pressure from some factions of his ruling coalition to hold the vote earlier for a stronger mandate and due to infighting.

The projectiles fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone and flew between 350 and 800 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 50 to 100 km, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters.

With Russian forces retreating from front lines in the south and east, Zelenskiy said in a late-night video address on Wednesday that Novovoskresenske, Novohryhorivka and Petropavlivka to the northeast of Kherson city had been "liberated".

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the comments made by Laura Cooper, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs, were "extremely dangerous" and are "evidence of direct US involvement in the conflict".

In the public notice, Sepang district police chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said the police are seeking the next of kin of Kim Chol, the name in the passport used by Kim Jong Nam when he entered Malaysia in February 2017, "to surrender his possessions in the form of cash."

Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines, which run from Russia to Germany on the bed of the Baltic Sea, were ruptured last month in what Moscow said was an act of "international terrorism".

The country's power grid malfunctioned at around 2 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Tuesday, leading to blackouts across 75-80 percent of the Bangladesh, Bangladesh Power Development Board official Shameem Hasan told Reuters.

Some brought champagne to celebrate, while one man protested with a Soviet flag as the bronze bust of the leader, in a pensive pose with his chin in his hand, was lifted off its pedestal and driven away on a lorry.

Under the bill, regulators can order social media platforms to block "egregious content" including posts advocating violence and terrorism or depictions of child sexual exploitation.

"Which @elonmusk do you like more?," Zelensky tweeted, offering two responses: one who supports Ukraine, one who supports Russia. 

The Solomons' foreign minister, Jeremiah Manele, was quizzed by reporters in New Zealand about his country's reported qualms over the joint statement, signed in Washington last week.

The missile led to a rare activation of the J-Alert system, which appeared on screens showing national broadcaster NHK and warned residents in the north and northeast of the country to seek shelter.

On the battlefield, Putin suffered a stinging setback on Sunday with Ukrainian forces claiming full control of Russia's eastern logistics hub of Lyman, their most significant gain in weeks. 

Lula, the veteran leftist seeking a presidential comeback, had 48.4 percent of the vote to 43.2 percent for the far-right president with more than 99 percent of polling station results in, according to the Superior Electoral Tribunal.

"We're committed to helping Taiwan develop the capability to defend itself," Austin said in an interview with CNN.

Washington is pressing a diplomatic offensive to counter Chinese influence across the Asia-Pacific.

Britain's new monarch, who took the throne when his mother Queen Elizabeth II died last month, had intended to deliver a speech at the November 6-18 gathering, the Sunday Times reported.

Putin was defiant during his address to Russia's political elite, telling the West that the internationally condemned maneuver was irreversible and urging Ukraine's emboldened army to negotiate a surrender.

The former army chief, who came to power in a 2014 military coup, was suspended last month while the court examined a legal challenge mounted by opposition parties who argued he had reached his term limit in power.

The 96-year-old monarch died at her Balmoral Castle estate in the Scottish Highlands.