Incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he decided to hold a state funeral for Abe in order to "defend democracy," but critics point out the former leader, who was not welcoming of views inconsistent with his own, did much to hurt Japan's democratic policy-making process.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, who had expressed willingness to meet bilaterally with Wang Yi on the fringes of the U.N. General Assembly, told reporters before wrapping up his five-day trip in New York that talks did not materialize due to scheduling conflicts.

ASEAN foreign ministers intend to meet in Jakarta next month ahead of another regional summit without Myanmar, after agreeing that there was insufficient progress by the junta to honor a consensus to achieve national reconciliation.

Voting began at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will continue until 11 p.m. (2100 GMT) when exit polls will be published.

With just days to go until the first-round vote on Oct. 2, Lula is ahead in the polls against President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right populist who has sought to discredit Brazil's electronic voting system. Critics fear Bolsonaro may follow the example of former US President Donald Trump and refuse to accept an electoral defeat.

After a week of pressure at the United Nations General Assembly, Russia's foreign minister took the General Assembly rostrum to deliver a fiery rebuke to Western nations for what he termed a "grotesque" campaign against Russians.

With talks long-stalled, nuclear-armed North Korea has doubled down on its banned weapons programmes, even revamping its laws earlier this month to declare itself an "irreversible" nuclear power.

Super Typhoon Noru was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 195 kilometres (121 miles) an hour after an unprecedented "explosive intensification", the state weather forecaster said. 

Rapid urbanisation has seen these cities draw heavily on groundwater to service their burgeoning populations, according to research by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU), published in the journal Nature Sustainability last week. 

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was one of many high-ranking officials, including ex-premier Najib Razak, charged with corruption in 2018 when the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party was voted out from power due to widespread anger over graft.

Marcos took office in June, succeeding Rodrigo Duterte, whose foreign policy was largely defined by his pivot to China. The Biden administration is apparently hoping to improve ties with the new leader of the Southeast Asian nation to better counter Beijing.

His mention of a two-state solution, the first by an Israeli leader in years at the United Nations General Assembly, echoed US President Joe Biden's support in Israel in August for the long-dormant proposal.

Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the pandemic had interrupted the free flow of people, goods and capital that had helped the nation flourish.

Boeing agreed to the penalty to settle charges it "negligently violated the antifraud provisions" of US securities laws, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement, saying the company and its leader "put profits over people."

In an address to the UN General Assembly in New York, David Panuelo said Micronesia had the "gravest concern" about Japan’s decision to release the so-called Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) water into the ocean.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong described her New York sitdown with State Councillor Wang Yi as "constructive" but cautioned against talk of a quick normalisation of ties.

Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said a "sophisticated" actor was behind a cyberattack, which gained access to information about up to 9.8 million users.

The island has largely kept its borders closed and implemented strict quarantine rules throughout the coronavirus pandemic, keeping infection numbers low at the expense of being internationally cut off.

Yoon, a political novice who took office in May, is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, and chatted on Wednesday with Joe Biden during a photo op at the Global Fund where the US President had just pledged $6 billion.

Iranian media and a local prosecutor said four people were killed in the last two days, bringing the total death toll according to official sources to eight, including a member of the police and a pro-government militia member.

Putin announced the call-up of 300,000 reservists -- more than the nearly 200,000 mustered to invade Ukraine in February -- after his troops have lost significant parts of territory seized early in the war.

The rescue of the victims, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, comes amid raids across Cambodia this week on cybercrime compounds suspected of trafficking people into the country to work in illegal gambling and scam call centres. 

Malpass appeared at an event hosted by the New York Times at Climate Week in New York City on Tuesday and was asked whether he believes that the "manmade burning of fossil fuels is rapidly and dangerously warming the planet." Malpass tried at first to dodge the question but later said: "I don't even know. I'm not a scientist."

Putin ordered Russia's first wartime mobilisation since World War Two on Wednesday, shocking citizens with what Western countries described as an act of desperation in the face of a losing war effort, and announced moves to annex swaths of Ukrainian territory while threatening to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia.

Just 35 of the approximately 230 whales discovered on the beach the day before were still alive, the state's wildlife service operations manager, Brendon Clark, told journalists at the scene.

Indonesia has raised the alarm on a potential fertilizer shortage that could jeopardize the food security of billions of people worldwide, as tougher Russia sanctions are sought even amid fears of disastrous harvests next year.

In a Tweet on her official account on Wednesday that was later deleted, Marcos' press secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said they were expected to discuss trade, investment and strengthening ties. A US source familiar with the plans also confirmed the meeting had been arranged.