Latest Southeast Asia News
RSS-
Philippines rejects Taiwan murder claims
MANILA (AFP) - The Philippines on Saturday rejected Taiwan's allegations that its coastguards had intentionally murdered a Taiwanese fisherman whose death has triggered a major diplomatic spat.The 65-year-old fisherman was shot dead by Philippine coastguards who said his vessel intruded into Philippine waters.Chen Wen-chi, head of the Taiwan team investigating the May 9 incident, said most ...
-
Myanmar youths speak out on democratic transition
Paper Edition | Page: 10 For Thinzar Yi, a member of Myanmar's Youth Forum (MYF), a visit to Jakarta was an apprehensive affair.News on the Internet about demonstrations in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta concerned her."I saw pictures of demonstrators in front of the Myanmar Embassy holding signs saying 'we want jihad' and honestly I was concerned for my ...
-
JuD leader found murdered in Pakistan
JuD spokesman Yahya Mujahid claimed unidentified men kidnapped Bashir while he was on his way to the group's office at Chauburji. He said the kidnappers had not demanded any ransom. "On Friday, Bashir's body was found in a canal in Sheikhupura with multiple wounds, including gunshot wounds," Mujahid said. JuD chief Hafiz Saeed demanded the arrest of the ...
More Southeast Asia News
RSS-
The Elders slam Sri Lanka for lacking reconciliation
'The Elders', a council of retired global leaders led by Desmond Tutu has slammed Sri Lanka, based on its report, for lacking post-war reconciliation. They also expressed their disappointment over its slow pace of improvement in allowing "proper media reporting". "The ongoing persecution and disappearances of human rights activists, journalists and government opponents ...
-
Philippines man killed by store security for alleged theft of sandals
On April 12, 23-year-old Mario Ducayag was killed by store security guards in the Philippines city of Cebu, after being accused of stealing a pair of sandals that cost less than a thousand pesos ($US25). A secondary school graduate, Ducayag was unemployed and had two children, one of them three years old, to support. Like millions of Filipinos confronting the bleak choice of long-term ...
-
AFP cuts in Jakarta silly opposition
The coalition says the federal government's decision to cut two people-smuggling related federal police positions in Jakarta is ...
-
Azerbaijani ambassador presents credentials to Vietnamese President
Azerbaijani ambassador to Vietnam Anar Imanov has presented his credentials to President of this country Truong Tan Sang. The ambassador conveyed greetings of President Ilham Aliyev to Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang. The Vietnamese President, in turn, asked the diplomat to convey his greetings and best wishes to President Ilham ...
-
Mary Buffett Reflections of a Modern Thailand
When I was growing up, my parents encouraged me to travel globally because so much history happens outside of our borders. The great conflicts of the past century occurred not in Kansas or Illinois, but in faraway places like Europe and the Pacific. While it's wonderful to get lost in those great European cities, it is even more exciting to see the new green shoots of opportunity emerge in ...
-
US proposes $75.4 million aid to Myanmar
Myanmar government to continue with its reforms, US has proposed USD 75.4 million for fiscal 2014 in aid to the South East Asian country, a substantial increase of USD 28.8 million from 2012. However, some US lawmakers have expressed concerns over such a decision by the Obama administration arguing that this increase in US aid to Myanmar is premature given the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in ...
-
Pakistan summons Afghan envoy over border post firing
Pakistan on Thursday summoned Afghan Charge d'Affaires and lodged protest over unprovoked firing on a border check post, the Foreign Ministry said. The Foreign Ministry said that two soldiers were injured in firing by Afghan troops late Wednesday. "The Afghan Charge d'Affaires was summoned to the Foreign Office today for conveying protest of the Government of Pakistan on an ...
-
Scientists Race to Contain Malaria New Discoveries More Resistance
Two new medical discoveries are raising hopes of containing malaria - the mosquito-borne parasitic disease that each year infects more than 200 million people and claims an estimated 660 thousand lives. Meantime, the World Health Organization is warning about dire consequences if a drug-resistant form of malaria spreads beyond southeast Asia. Artemisinin has helped cut global malaria deaths ...
-
Palace calls SBY critics on freedom award narrow-minded
Paper Edition | Page: 4 A presidential spokesman said on Friday that howls of protest against a plan by the US-based Appeal of Conscience Foundation (ACF) to honor President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for upholding religious freedom would not change the fact that the President deserved the award. "The ACF is a credible organization. Thus, the statements from certain people claiming ...
-
Disgraced taxman wants to be justice collaborator
Paper Edition | Page: 4 A tax official recently named suspect for accepting bribes from a steel company said on Friday that he wanted to be a justice collaborator and expose graft at the tax office.Eko Darmayanto, the taxman, said after being questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that he knew of top officials at the tax directorate general embroiled in graft."I will ...
-
Maarif Institute fights radicalism
Fajar Riza Ul-Haq, the executive director of the Maarif Institute for Culture and Humanity, says that Indonesia was built on the principle of pluralism, giving people of all creeds equal rights. This principle, however, has been in jeopardy. Over the past 10 years, Fajar said, Indonesia has been slowly doing away with pluralism and has turned more sectarian and exclusive. The persecution of ...
-
Sex lies and PKS
Paper Edition | Page: 1 Efforts by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) to distance itself from Ahmad Fathanah were stymied after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) presented evidence linking the graft suspect to the Islamist party's top officials. Agriculture Minister Suswono, himself a senior PKS politician, for example, changed his testimony while in the witness chair at the ...
-
Health minister to depart for WHA
Taipei, May 17 (CNA) Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta was scheduled to depart Friday to attend the 66th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, during which he is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart for the first time since 2010.Chiu said arrangements were being made for him to meet with Li Bin, minister of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, when they ...
-
Thai Spring launches online campaign against PM Yingluck
The speech Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra delivered in the Mongolian capital recently has sparked widespread discussions nationwide. Many have been asking if it is appropriate for the prime minister to cite domestic political conflicts in a speech. Others are questioning her decision to mention the coup that ousted her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, as well as the attack on a ...
-
Southern China rains kill 55 leave 14 missing
The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs website says at least nine provinces have had storms and some flooding and landslides since Tuesday. It says Guangdong province has been hit the hardest, with 36 deaths and 10 missing people, followed by Jiangxi province, where six people are reported dead and four more ...
-
Conn. commuter trains collide 60 go to hospitals
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Two commuter trains serving New York City collided in Connecticut during Friday's evening rush hour, sending 60 people to the hospital, including five critically injured and one very critically injured, Gov. Dannel Malloy said. There were no reports of ...
-
Obama Burmese President to Discuss Reform Progress Challenges
WHITE HOUSE -- Obama, Burmese President to Discuss Reform Progress, Challenges Burma's President Thein Sein holds talks on Monday with President Obama at the White House. The discussions will focus on progress in reforms, barriers toward greater democratization and next steps in the changing U.S. - Burma relationship. November 2012. Barack Obama becomes the first serving U.S. president ...
-
British tourist Cheznye Emmons 23 killed in Indonesia after drinking spiked gin
Cheznye Emmons, from Great Wakering, Essex, was travelling through Indonesia with her boyfriend Joe Cook, 21, when she started feeling ill after drinking from a bottle marked as gin from a local ...
-
Rupiah falls victim to uncertainty on fuel prices
Paper Edition | Page: 1 The rupiah spiraled into another precipitous depreciation cycle this week as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's dithering over fuel subsidies propagated anxiety in the market. The rupiah closed at 9,757 to the US dollar, the weakest five day performance since April 5, according to Bloomberg. The currency previously touched 9,845, the lowest level since Jan. 10. ...
-
Government recognizes customary forests
The government was due to begin mapping areas defined as customary and state forests following the Constitutional Court's ruling that rendered the government's ownership of customary forests void, a top forestry official has said. On Thursday, the court decided to scrap the word "state" from Article 1 of the 1999 Forestry Law, which says "customary forests are state ...
-
Three convicted killers finally put to death in Cilacap prison
Paper Edition | Page: 2 The Attorney General's Office (AGO) announced three convicted murderers were executed at Nusakambangan Penitentiary in Cilacap, Central Java, early on Friday morning."The executions were carried out at 0:00 a.m.," junior attorney for General Crimes Mahfud Manan said in Jakarta on Friday, as quoted by Antara news agency.Suryadi, one of the convicts, from ...
-
Jatigede Dam to be in operatation by 2014
Paper Edition | Page: 3 The Public Works Ministry is accelerating the Rp 4 trillion (US$408 million) Jatigede Dam project in Sumedang, West Java, as part of the government's food security program.The government is working with Chinese state-run company Sinohydro Corporation to complete the project.The ministry's water resources director general Mohamad Hasan says the construction, ...
South East Asia Digest
-
Southeast Asia's growing prominence in world trade
Southeast Asia has been, for many centuries, a major part of world trade and the recent recession has not hampered this position as the region is recovering much faster than many more developed countries.
Southeast Asia, although geographically large, covering an area of around 5 million square miles, is comparatively small economically in relation to the number of people that inhabit the area. The Southeast Asian region is home to over 500 million people and yet the region’s GDP is just US$1.5 trillion, or around US$2,500 per person annually. Read more
News from around our Network
