ASEAN IN FOCUS

Streets turned into rivers as Typhoon Gaemi hits Philippines

  MANILA, July 24, 2024 (AFP) – Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering flooding in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi (local name: Carina) intensified the seasonal monsoon. In the densely populated capital, rescuers were deployed across the city to help evacuate people from low-lying homes after downpours turned streets into rivers. People clutched flimsy umbrellas as they waded through thigh-deep murky water or used small boats and shopping […]

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Harris leads Trump in new poll after Biden dropout

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2024 (AFP) – Vice President Kamala Harris is narrowly beating rival Donald Trump in a national presidential poll released Tuesday, one of the first conducted since US President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign. Harris holds a two-point lead over Trump, 44 percent to 42 percent, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll. It was conducted in the two days after Biden announced Sunday he was dropping out of the race and endorsing his […]

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Malacañang suspends work and classes in Metro Manila due to typhoon Carina

(EAGLE NEWS) Malacañang Palace has ordered the suspension of work in government offices and classes at all levels in Metro Manila on Wednesday, July [Date] due to heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon, or habagat, enhanced by Typhoon Carina. The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced the cancellation, citing the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) recommendation. However, government agencies responsible for basic and health services, disaster response, and other vital operations will […]

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Philippines ‘to assert our rights’ after China sea deal

MANILA, July 22, 2024 (AFP) – Manila insisted Monday it will continue to “assert our rights” over a hotspot South China Sea reef, after reaching a deal with Beijing for resupplying Filipino troops stationed on a grounded warship. The Philippine foreign ministry also rejected suggestions by China that the “provisional arrangement” announced Sunday required Manila to give Beijing “prior notification” and verification of deliveries to the BRP Sierra Madre on Second Thomas Shoal. China claims […]

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Asian markets drop as Biden drops out of White House race

HONG KONG, July 22, 2024 (AFP) – Asian markets fell Monday as Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the US presidential race fuelled fresh uncertainty, while traders appeared to be unmoved by China’s decision to cut interest rates in a bid to boost the country’s stuttering economy. After last weekend’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump — and the following Republican convention — boosted bets he would win November’s election, investors were trying to work […]

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Philippines and China de-escalate tensions with resupply “arrangement”

By Pam CASTRO MANILA (AFP) – The Philippines and China have agreed on an “arrangement” for resupplying Filipino troops stationed on a South China Sea reef, Manila said Sunday, after a series of escalating confrontations in the disputed waters. A remote outpost on Second Thomas Shoal has been a focus of clashes between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to almost the entire South China […]

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Vietnamese leader Nguyen Phu Trong has died: party

HANOI, July 19, 2024 (AFP) – The general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong, considered the country’s top leader, died on Friday aged 80, his party said. In a statement, it said Trong — who had led the party since 2011 — passed away on Friday “due to old age and serious illness” at a military hospital in Hanoi. The announcement came a day after the party announced Trong would hand the reins […]

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Sacked hotel worker arrested over killings of two Australians, Filipina

MANILA, July 17, 2024 (AFP) – A disgruntled former hotel employee has been arrested over the killings of two Australians and a Filipina in the Philipines, a government official and police said Wednesday. The bodies of a man and two women were found in a hotel room in Tagaytay city, south of Manila, on July 10, with their hands and feet bound and packaging tape over their mouths. The suspect was identified from CCTV footage […]

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Bangladesh turns back fleeing Myanmar soldiers at border

TEKNAF, Bangladesh, July 16, 2024 (AFP) – Bangladesh stopped dozens of Myanmar security personnel from crossing into its territory to flee advancing rebel forces, a local government official based near their river border said Tuesday. Clashes have rocked Myanmar’s western frontiers since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since the country’s 2021 military coup. Hundreds of Myanmar troops have taken refuge in India and Bangladesh […]

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DEVELOPING STORY: Six found dead in Bangkok hotel room: senior police officer

BANGKOK, July 16, 2024 (AFP) – Six people believed to be Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans were found dead in a hotel room in central Bangkok on Tuesday, a senior police officer said “Hotel staff found their bodies in a room around 5:00 pm (1000 GMT) today,” the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He denied initial reports that the six had been killed in a shooting, saying the investigation was currently focused on a “link […]

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Myanmar alliance says agreed 4-day ceasefire with junta in Shan state

YANGON, July 14, 2024 (AFP) – An alliance of Myanmar ethnic minority armed groups said Sunday it had agreed a four-day ceasefire with the junta in northern Shan state following clashes in which its fighters seized territory from the military along a strategic highway to China. The area has been rocked by fighting since late last month, when the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance renewed an offensive against junta troops along the road to China’s Yunnan […]

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Eleven dead in northern Vietnam after landslide buries van

HANOI, July 14, 2024 (AFP) – A landslide triggered by heavy rains buried and killed at least 11 people who were travelling in a van in northern Vietnam, the country’s disaster management authority said on Saturday. Northern Vietnam has entered its rainy season, with heavy downpours and flooding making travel along mountain roads treacherous. The landslide hit the 16-seater van around 4:00 am local time (2100 GMT) as it drove through Bac Me district in […]

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