Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
An ocean liner on a “cruise to nowhere” was forced to make an earlier-than-scheduled return to Singapore Wednesday after a coronavirus case was detected onboard, reports said. The cruises, starting and ending in Singapore, with no stops, were launched last year as part of the travel industry’s attempt to bounce back from a pandemic-induced crunch.
HANOI (Reuters) – The United States has “deep concerns” about the military coup in Myanmar and called on Southeast Asian nations to take action to end violence and restore democracy in the country, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. The Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) has been leading the main diplomatic effort on member country Myanmar since a Feb. 1 coup plunged it into turmoil. During a video conference
A Malaysian coronavirus vaccination center was temporarily closed Tuesday after more than 200 workers tested positive for Covid-19, authorities said, as the country’s cases set a new daily record. The Southeast Asian nation is battling a serious outbreak driven by highly infectious variants and has been under a strict lockdown since the start of June.
ASEAN should move forward with its appointment of special envoys to help mediate a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar without having to wait for consent from the Myanmar military junta, a former senior Thai diplomat said yesterday. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, a former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, admitted that it’s
MANILA (Reuters) – All 96 passengers of the Philippine Air Force plane that crashed on Sunday killing 47 people have been accounted for, military chief Cirilito Sobejana said on Monday. Forty nine military personnel were injured in the crash, Sobejana told Reuters. The Department of National Defence said on Sunday three civilians on the ground were also killed, and four civilians
Jakarta, Indonesia (AFP) – Indonesia will impose “emergency” coronavirus restrictions this week to battle an alarming surge in infections, President Joko Widodo said Thursday, as the country scrambles to avoid a collapse of its overwhelmed healthcare system. Widodo said the new restrictions, starting Saturday, would last more than two weeks in the capital Jakarta and across hard-hit
Amidst the political and economic turmoil, brought on by the military coup in February, Myanmar is facing yet another threat. Cases of COVID-19 have increased rapidly since May 27th, averaging around 220 new cases per day, with over 10% of the population infected. Today, the country reported new high, with over a thousand new cases.
A junta trial of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi will run longer than scheduled, her lawyers said Monday, with the prosecution still to call nearly two dozen witnesses. The coup-ousted leader, who is under house arrest, faces an eclectic raft of charges in a trial her legal team had expected would be wrapped up by
June 24 – Suddenly, there are many new accounts, disguised as both established media and general users, appearing on social media platforms, such as Facebook, spreading false information. One piece of news is that Major Tun Tauk Naing, the representative of the Mandalay’s People Defence Force (PDF), has been arrested. Mandalay PDF has since denied
Last week Thailand joined other 35 UN members in abstaining from a major UN Security Council resolution on the situation in Myanmar. The country did so with a heavy heart because it did not have any problem with the substance and demands in the resolution proposed by Liechtenstein. However, in recognition of the reality and
What started as a largely bloodless attempt by the Tatmadaw (military) to take the reins of power in the nation, on its “correct” path, due to alleged voting fraud committed by the winning National League for Democracy (NLD), quickly erupted into a bloodbath over the span of just five months. In the early days, people
MANILA (Reuters) – President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to jail people who refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus as the Philippines battles one of Asia’s worst outbreaks, with over 1.3 million cases and more than 23,000 deaths. “You choose, vaccine or I will have you jailed,” Duterte said in a televised address on Monday following reports of low turnouts at several vaccination sites in the capital Manila.
