Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
Hundreds of Rohingya are missing from a refugee camp in Indonesia and are believed to have been trafficked to neighbouring Malaysia, officials and sources said Thursday. Just 112 refugees remain at the makeshift camp in Lhokseumawe on Indonesia’s northern coast this week, well down from the almost 400 that arrived between June and September last
Vietnam recorded its first coronavirus outbreak in almost two months on Thursday, with more than 80 new cases reported as authorities began testing tens of thousands of people to contain the spread. The infections were detected in northern Vietnam, with one cluster linked to a case of the more contagious coronavirus variant first spotted in
One of the world’s most active volcanoes, Indonesia’s Mount Merapi, erupted Wednesday, belching out huge clouds of smoke and ash that billowed down the sides of its rumbling crater. The volcano, near Indonesia’s cultural capital Yogyakarta, shot hot ash into the air around three dozen times throughout the day. Some of it travelled as far as three
The Mekong river is a life line of millions of people in six countries. In the past few years, however, life has been very difficult for people who depend on the river. 2018 was one of the river’s driest years. Many researchers tried to find the explanation, and the focus landed on China. The Mekong’s
Three Singapore campaigners launched an appeal Monday against a court’s decision to uphold a law banning sex between men, the latest effort to overturn the colonial-era legislation. A holdover from British rule of the city-state, the law is rarely enforced but activists say it still jars with the affluent country’s increasingly modern and vibrant culture. Others, however,
Myanmar’s long-delayed Dawei mega-project experienced yet another setback after contracts with Thailand’s construction giant Italian-Thai Development were cancelled recently. The ambitious, but controversial Dawei Special Economic Zone (DSEZ) project seeks to transform the sleepy coastal town into Southeast Asia’s largest industrial and trade zone – covering an area of about 200 square kilometres and incorporating
Indonesia’s seventh seed badminton player Jonatan Christie has been knocked out of the Thailand Open in a mesmerising high-intensity upset against India’s HS Prannoy, who hung on despite a late shoulder injury. Christie started out strong in the three-set marathon against the world number 28, claiming the first set 21-18 before Prannoy fired back in
Malaysia has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over European Union rules affecting the consumption of palm oil-based biofuels, according to a document published Tuesday. In the complaint, dated January 15, Malaysia charges that the EU, and in particular its member states France and Lithuania, had imposed restrictive measures on the use of palm oil that
Myanmar on Monday announced it was cancelling contracts with a Thai industrial giant to work on a controversial deep sea port project. The Dawei mega-project was touted as a way to encourage foreign investment in Myanmar as it emerged from decades of military rule, but it has been hit by numerous setbacks, including funding struggles
Beijing’s top diplomat pledged Saturday to donate half a million coronavirus vaccine shots to the Philippines, Manila officials said — despite growing resistance there to Chinese-made jabs over concerns about their efficacy. President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration is scrambling to lock in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines for the country’s 110 million people, after being criticised for
Medics battled exhaustion and the risk of Covid-19 as they raced Monday to treat scores of people injured by a devastating earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island. At least 81 people were killed and thousands left homeless by the powerful 6.2-magnitude quake that struck early Friday, reducing buildings to a tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks
A powerful earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island has killed at least 60 people, authorities said Sunday, with thousands left homeless as rescuers raced to find anyone still alive under mountains of rubble more than two days after the disaster. But monsoon rains were challenging the search effort, as hundreds of injured overwhelmed the only local
