The Philippines is ready to help the United States as it prepares to defend against threatened attacks by North Korea, a Foreign Ministry official said April 5, Reuters reported.

Members of the Royal Sulu Army, a Filipino group whose takeover of a village in Sabah state led to clashes with security forces that have killed 56 Filipinos and nine Malaysian security personnel, will not be allowed to meet with officials from the Philippines, Malaysia's foreign minister said March 13, AP reported.

Nearly 300 Filipinos have fled from Malaysia's Sabah state to Mindanao in the Philippines as conflict goes on between the Royal Sulu Army militant group and Malaysian security forces in Sabah, Xinhua reported March 6.

Indonesia has evacuated more than 600 of its citizens who were working in a palm oil plantation in Malaysia's Sabah state, Xinhua reported March 6.

A leader of the armed Filipino group Royal Sulu Army said March 5 that Malaysian security forces are using air and ground assets in a full-scale offensive against the group in Sabah, Xinhua reported.

At least six Malaysian policemen were killed in an ambush in Sabah state, where security forces are in an ongoing standoff with the Royal Sulu Army, an armed group of Philippine nationals, Xinhua reported March 3.

The Taiwanese coast guard announced March 1 that it would stage a live-fire exercise near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, PTI reported.