SEOUL -- The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States held phone talks Thursday over the recent missile tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Seoul's foreign ministry said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong talked over phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the DPRK's recent series of missile launches, expressing "strong concern" over the advancement in the DPRK's missile capability. (South Korea-U.S.-DPRK Missile Test)

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COLOMBO -- Nine foreign nationals were arrested as the Sri Lanka Navy seized a foreign fishing trawler carrying heroin in the international waters off the country's southern coast, the navy said in a statement on Thursday.

The foreign vessel was intercepted on the high seas about 2,000 km off Dondra, Southern Province on Wednesday in a special operation the navy carried out in coordination with the Sri Lanka Police and intelligence agencies, according to the navy. (Sri Lanka-Drug)

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KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia kicked off its vaccination drive for children aged five to 11 years old on Thursday in a bid to protect the age group from COVID-19.

The move to vaccinate the age group came as 147,282 were infected in the past six months, with 26 deaths recorded, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in his speech at the launch of the vaccination drive here. (Malaysia-Children-Vaccination)

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SUVA -- The resilience and strength of the Tongan people will help the South Pacific island nation get through impact of the recent volcanic eruption and tsunami as well as the current COVID-19 challenges, Tonga's Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said on Thursday.

"Tongans are resilient people. We have dealt with disasters before and our strength is the fact that we stand together, and then I believe that will get us through these challenges. We will stand together and we will work together and we will get through this together," the prime minister was quoted as saying by RNZ Pacific, a division of Radio New Zealand (RNZ). (Tonga-PM)