JAKARTA -- The death toll of Monday's earthquake in west Indonesia has jumped to 268 and 151 others are still missing, a local official said on Tuesday.

"The number of the death toll has reached 268 people now," Head of the National Disaster Management Agency Suharyanto told a press conference.

The 5.6-magnitude quake which hit Indonesia's West Java province on Monday also left 1,083 people injured and forced 58,362 others to flee home as the tremors of the quake destroyed over 21,000 houses and infrastructure facilities, he said. (Indonesia-Earthquake-Death)

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SYDNEY -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 jolted 18 km SW of Malango, the Solomon Islands at 02:03:07 GMT on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 15.0 km, was initially determined to be at 9.812 degrees south latitude and 159.596 degrees east longitude.

According to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System, tsunami waves reaching 0.3 to 1 meter above the tide level are possible for some coasts of the Solomon Islands. (Solomon Islands-Earthquake)

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TOKYO -- Japan's space agency on Tuesday said it has given up on a plan to land its Omotenashi space probe on the Moon's surface.

The news comes following the ultra-small, unmanned lander failing to maintain stable communications with controllers on Earth, and as a result, it was unable to correct its trajectory after its launch last week, sources close to the matters said.

They explained that the problem became known after the probe, regarded as being one of if not the world's smallest lunar lander, lifted off atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week. (Japan-Space Probe)

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TOKYO -- Japan's health ministry granted emergency approval to Japanese drugmaker Shionogi & Co.'s COVID-19 drug on Tuesday, making it the first domestically developed oral medicine against the virus.

The oral drug, Xocova, for coronavirus patients with mild symptoms, was given fast-track approval in Japan by a health ministry panel. The move comes as the country has recently seen a rebound in the number of daily coronavirus cases.

Two other oral medications for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms, both developed by foreign pharmaceutical firms, have already been authorized for use in Japan. (Japan-COVID-19 Drug)

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JAKARTA -- At least eight people were killed and 20 others hospitalized in a single-vehicle road accident in Indonesia's Central Java province on Monday evening.

The accident took place in Bumiharjo Village in Wonogiri regency at around 20:30 local time when a minibus carrying passengers lost power while driving up a hill. (Indonesia-Road Accident)

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KABUL -- Two people were killed in a blast that struck a car in Police District 4 of Afghan capital Kabul city on Monday, a local television channel Tolonews reported Tuesday.

Quoting an unnamed security official, the private media outlet reported that the blast took place in Parwan-e-Si locality of Police District 4 on Monday evening, killing two people.

In a similar incident, a blast rocked Taluqan city, capital of northern Takhar province, on Monday evening, leaving no casualties, provincial police spokesman Abdul Mubin Safi said. (Afghanistan-Blast)