ASEAN IN FOCUS

At least two dead and dozens injured after Indonesia quake

MATARAM, Indonesia (AFP) — At least two people were killed and dozens injured Sunday after an earthquake on the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok triggered a landslide, officials said. The 5.5-magnitude quake is thought to have caused the landslide at the Tiu Kelep waterfall in the north of the island. “Two people died in the landslide in the Tiu Kelep waterfall after the earthquake, one of them is a Malaysian,” a disaster agency spokesman told […]

Smuggler arrested in Indonesia with over 2,000 endangered turtles

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AFP) — An Indonesian man has been arrested for trying to smuggle 2,000 endangered pig-nosed turtles, police said, marking the latest wildlife-trafficking arrest as the Southeast Asian nation battles the vast trade. Authorities in Papua province said they seized 2,227 of the palm-sized turtles which were stuffed into boxes on a boat docked in the remote town of Agats. “Officers saw a port worker carrying three big boxes and got suspicious,” Papua police […]

Vietnam woman in N. Korea murder case has release bid rejected: prosecutor

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (AFP) — A Vietnamese woman charged with assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother lost her bid for immediate release Thursday as Malaysian authorities refused to drop a murder charge, days after her Indonesian co-accused was freed. “In reference to the representation submitted on March 11 to the honourable attorney-general, we got an order to proceed with the case,” lead prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad told the High Court in Shah Alam, outside Kuala […]

Over 100 Malaysian schools shut after toxic waste dump

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Over 100 schools in Malaysia have been closed after the dumping of toxic waste into a river caused hundreds of people to fall ill, including many children, authorities said. A lorry is believed to have dumped the waste in southern Johor state last week, sending hazardous fumes across a wide area and causing those affected to display symptoms of poisoning such as nausea and vomiting. Over 500 people, many of […]

Singapore aviation regulator bans use of Boeing 737 MAX in its airspace

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore’s civil aviation regulator Tuesday banned the use of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in its airspace following a deadly Ethiopia plane crash at the weekend. The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 went down minutes into a flight to Nairobi on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. It was the same type of jet operated by Lion Air which crashed in Indonesia in October, killing 189 passengers and crew. The […]

Malaysia court frees Indonesian in Kim Jong Nam murder case

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (AFP) — A Malaysian court Monday freed an Indonesian woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother after prosecutors withdrew the murder charge against her. Siti Aisyah had been accused alongside Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam of killing Kim Jong Nam by smearing VX nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017, in a brazen Cold War-style hit that shocked the world. “Siti Aisyah […]

Thailand to start testing medical marijuana on patients

  BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand is poised to start its first tests of cannabis oil on patients, a health official said Friday, as excitement swirls around a new industry that could create money-making avenues for entrepreneurs while offering relief for suffering patients. Marijuana has been used as a traditional herb for centuries in Thailand but was banned decades ago. The junta’s rubber-stamp parliament voted in December to legalise it for medical purposes. Thailand is […]

Death toll from Indonesia mine collapse rises to 16

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — The death toll from last week’s collapsed gold mine in northern Indonesia has risen to 16, as hopes to find survivors fade, an official said Wednesday. Eighteen people have been pulled alive but injured from the illegal mine on Sulawesi island, but it is unclear how many were inside when the accident happened last Tuesday. Painstaking rescue efforts have been hampered by steep terrain, unstable soil and dangerously narrow mining shafts. […]

PHL to raise the bar in fight vs human trafficking as it hosts ASEAN consultative meeting, says Año

  (Eagle News) — The Philippine government has set its eyes on raising the bar in the fight against trafficking in persons (TIP) as it hosts the consultative meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-member countries in Panglao, Bohol which starts Tuesday, March 5, 2019. During the recent security briefing, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año instructed top government officials involved in the preparation to provide international guests with the […]

Seven dead, dozens buried in Indonesia mine collapse

NORTH SULAWESI, Indonesia (AFP) — At least seven people have died and dozens more are still trapped beneath the rubble of an illegal gold mine that collapsed in Indonesia, officials said Thursday, as rescuers frantically searched for survivors. Some 19 miners had been plucked to safety since Tuesday night’s accident and rescuers are communicating with some still buried, raising hopes for more survivors. But the rescue effort at the remote site on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island […]

Dozens buried in Indonesia gold mine collapse: official

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — One person was killed and dozens more were buried in the collapse of an illegal gold mine in Indonesia, the country’s disaster agency said Wednesday. Rescuers on the island of Sulawesi scrambled to find survivors in the rubble after the collapse triggered a landslide on Tuesday evening, the agency said. At least one person had been found dead and 15 others were injured in the Bolaang Mongondow region of North Sulawesi, […]

Nuclear weapons on menu at Trump-Kim dinner

by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un meet Wednesday in Hanoi for the second date in an unlikely friendship that the US president hopes will push North Korea’s reclusive leader closer to reaching a deal on his nuclear arsenal. Trump touched down late Tuesday on Air Force One after flying half way around the world from Washington, while Kim arrived earlier, following a two-and-a-half-day train journey […]