Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
Voters in Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, turned up in large numbers Sunday to vote in nationwide elections that are expected to return to power the party of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won the last elections in 2015 in a landslide, ending more than five
BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s citizens go to the polls Sunday in an effort to sustain the fledgling democracy they helped install just five years ago. There are about 37 million registered voters, though turnout is expected to suffer because of a recent surge in coronavirus cases. In 2015, excitement was high over the opportunity
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine officials on Saturday ordered evacuation of thousands of residents in the southern part of the main Luzon island as a category 5 storm that is the world’s strongest this year approaches the Southeast Asian nation. Typhoon Goni, with 215 kph (133 miles) sustained winds and gusts of up to 265 kph
Three people died and a dozen others are missing after a typhoon triggered flooding across the central Philippines, officials said Tuesday, with thousands still sheltering in evacuation centres. Typhoon Molave struck Sunday, inundating low-lying villages and farmlands, knocking down power lines and destroying hundreds of houses as it crossed the archipelago. The typhoon is now
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin faced calls to resign on Monday as doubts swirled over the support that he commands, after the king rejected his request to declare a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus epidemic. Muhyiddin had requested emergency rule amid a fresh spike in infections in Malaysia and a global pandemic that
Singapore has temporarily halted the use of two influenza vaccines as a precaution after some people who received them in South Korea died, becoming among the first countries to publicly announce a halt of the vaccines’ usage. South Korea reported that 48 have died as of Saturday after getting flu shots, but said it would
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s king on Sunday rejected a proposal by embattled Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to declare a state of emergency to fight a new outbreak of the coronavirus. The plan by Muhyiddin, which involves suspending Parliament, has sparked national outrage, with critics slamming the move as an undemocratic means for him
Malaysia’s rulers met on Sunday to discuss what sources have said is a proposal by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to impose a state of emergency amid a political crisis in the Southeast Asian nation. Muhyiddin on Friday asked the king to impose emergency rule that would include suspending parliament, the sources with direct knowledge of
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is seeking the king’s assent on Friday for the monarch to declare a state of emergency, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The proposed emergency will include a suspension of parliament, which was scheduled to reconvene in November, one of the sources said. The sources did not
Malaysia’s national palace has postponed audiences with the king for allies of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, senior opposition leaders said on Wednesday, amid a fresh tussle for the country’s premiership. Anwar had on Tuesday met with King Al-Sultan Abdullah to prove that he has a “convincing” parliamentary majority to form a new government, sparking a
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he presented the king Tuesday with evidence that he has enough support among lawmakers to topple the prime minister and form a new government, an assertion the palace rejected. Anwar said he showed he has the support of over 120 lawmakers, which would allow him to unseat Prime Minister
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines on Sunday deported a United States Marine convicted of killing a transgender woman in the Southeast Asian country in 2014, after he was granted an absolute pardon by President Rodrigo Duterte. Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton left Manila’s international airport at 9:14 a.m. local time (0114 GMT) aboard an American
