ASEAN IN FOCUS

Malaysia summons Chinese envoy to protest South China Sea incursion

  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia late Monday summoned Beijings’s envoy to the Southeast Asian country in protest after Chinese vessels entered its maritime economic zone in the disputed South China Sea. Kuala Lumpur summoned Chinese ambassador Ouyang Yujing “to convey Malaysia’s position and protest against the presence and activities of Chinese vessels, including a survey vessel, in Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone”, the foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry accused China of […]

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Six dead as Thai military battles rebels in restive south

NARATHIWAT, Thailand (AFP) — Six days of gun battles between soldiers and militants in Thailand’s restive south have left six people dead, the military said Monday, as troops hunt insurgents hiding in a swampy forest. Thailand’s three southernmost provinces have been in the grip of a 17-year conflict that has killed more than 7,000 people, the majority civilians, as militants in the Muslim-majority region fight for more autonomy from the Thai state. The pandemic had […]

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Trial of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi taking toll on her health: lawyer

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s health has suffered from her frequent appearances before a court run by the military junta that deposed her government, her lawyer said Monday. Suu Kyi went on trial in June, four months after she was taken into custody in a coup that plunged the country into turmoil. The 76-year-old faces a raft of charges, from sedition to illegally importing walkie-talkies, which could see her […]

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Philippine election season kicks off

  by Allison JACKSON Agence France Presse MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines’ election season kicked off Friday with TV celebrities, political scions and at least one inmate expected to be among thousands of candidates vying for posts from president to town councillor. A week-long registration process launches a typically noisy and deadly seven months of campaigning for more than 18,000 positions — but the raging pandemic and economic misery caused by Covid lockdowns could […]

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Seven killed in Indonesia landslide

PADANG, Indonesia (AFP) — Seven people were killed in a landslide triggered by torrential storms on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, authorities said, as they warned continuing rainfall could cause further ground movement on Friday. A day after the landslide hit two adjacent houses in Padang Pariaman district on Wednesday, seven bodies were pulled out of the mud, while another person was rescued alive with broken bones. “All victims have been found after we were […]

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Thai flood victims ‘start from zero’ after killer storm

LOPBURI, Thailand (AFP) — Watching his fridge float across the kitchen and bed disappear underwater was not how Samran Buachumsuk hoped to begin retirement at his newly built home in central Thailand. Flooding after tropical storm Dianmu has hit 31 provinces, killed seven people and inundated more than 215,000 households, authorities say. About 150 kilometres (93 miles) south, the capital is on alert — with floodwater expected to reach Bangkok late next week. In the […]

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Bangkok on alert as 70,000 homes flooded in Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thai authorities on Tuesday rushed to protect parts of Bangkok from floodwaters that have already inundated 70,000 homes and killed six people in the country’s northern and central provinces. Tropical storm Dianmu has caused flooding in 30 provinces, with the kingdom’s central region the worst hit, the Thai Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said. The level of the Chao Phraya River — which snakes through Bangkok after winding almost 400 kilometres […]

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Thailand to cut quarantine for vaccinated tourists

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand is to cut the quarantine for vaccinated travellers to seven days starting in October, officials said Monday, as it seeks to revive its battered tourism industry. Pre-pandemic Thailand attracted nearly 40 million visitors a year, but Covid-related travel restrictions have hammered the sector, contributing to the economy’s worst performance in more than 20 years. The kingdom is pushing to reopen despite still being in the grips of a deadly third […]

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Myanmar faces ‘alarming’ risk of escalating civil war: UN

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar is facing the alarming prospect of an escalating civil war as an uprising against the military junta widens, the UN’s human rights chief warned on Thursday. Michelle Bachelet told the United Nations Human Rights Council that time was running out for other countries to step up efforts to restore democracy and prevent a broader conflict. Myanmar has been in turmoil since Aung San Suu Kyi’s government was ousted by the […]

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Thousands flee Myanmar town after clashes with junta troops

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Thousands have fled a town in west Myanmar after days of fighting between anti-junta dissidents and the military, during which soldiers bombed civilian homes, residents and media said Wednesday. Myanmar has been in turmoil since Aung San Suu Kyi’s government was ousted by the military in February, sparking a nationwide uprising that the junta has tried to crush. Attacks on junta troops have increased after lawmakers ousted by the generals called […]

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ADB cuts Asia growth forecast on slow Covid vaccine rollout

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Asian Development Bank warned of “lasting scars” from the coronavirus pandemic as it cut its 2021 growth forecast for developing Asia on slow vaccination rates, surging infections and crippling lockdowns. A shortage of doses, which has hampered efforts to inoculate the vast region stretching from the Cook Islands in the Pacific to Kazakhstan in Central Asia, could worsen as evidence of waning vaccine protection increases demand for booster shots, the […]

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Philippines ‘learning crisis’ as kids face second year of remote schooling

  by Cecil MORELLA Agence France Presse MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Classrooms in the Philippines were silent Monday as millions of school children hunkered down at home for a second year of remote lessons that experts fear will worsen an educational “crisis”. While nearly every country in the world has partially or fully reopened schools to in-person classes, the Philippines has kept them closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the UN says. President […]

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