Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar increased lockdown measures in its biggest city on Thursday after reporting another record daily rise in coronavirus cases, with 120 new infections taking its overall cases past the 2,000 mark. Health authorities expanded a stay-at-home order to nearly half of the townships in greater Yangon, a city of at least
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi pulled out of the first event of her election campaign on Monday, citing a worsening outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country. The Southeast Asian nation reported 100 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the biggest daily increase since detecting its first infection in March, followed
The former chief interrogator and top torturer for Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime died early Wednesday in hospital in Phnom Penh. He was 77. Kaing Guek Eav, better known by his alias Duch, had served as the head of the infamous Tuol Sleng prison and was later convicted of crimes against humanity by a UN-backed war
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia reported 1,821 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing its infection total to 141,370, data from government’s COVID-19 task force showed. The Southeast Asian country also added 57 new deaths, taking its fatalities to 6,207, the highest coronavirus death toll in Southeast Asia.
PENANG, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s former finance minister pleaded not guilty Monday to a second corruption charge related to a $1.5 billion undersea tunnel project and slammed the case as a trumped-up charge by the new government. Lim Guan Eng, 59, was first charged Friday with soliciting 10% of potential profits in 2011 as
BANGKOK (Reuters) – The inter-governmental Mekong River Commission on Friday urged China and Southeast Asian countries to share more data on hydropower dam operations, as water flow in the Mekong hit record low levels for a second consecutive year. A report by the commission attributes the low water level to two years of reduced rainfall
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s former finance minister and senior opposition leader Lim Guan Eng was charged with corruption on Friday relating to soliciting a bribe for a $1.5 billion infrastructure project, state news agency Bernama reported. Lim, arrested on Thursday night, pleaded not guilty to the charge. Anti-graft officials have said he will face
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A court in Myanmar on Thursday sentenced the Canadian pastor of an evangelical church to three months imprisonment after finding him guilty of violating a law intended to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Myanmar-born David Lah was charged with flouting a ban on large gatherings by holding a religious
Starting August 1st, Malaysians will be joining their counterparts in places such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Victoria in Australia where face masks are mandatory in public spaces to stem the tide of Covid-19 infections, The Star reported. It said those who do not comply with the new rule will face a fine of up
BEIJING (AP) — China is tightening travel restrictions in the Xinjiang capital amid a COVID-19 outbreak in the northwestern city. People arriving in Urumqi from regions considered to have high infection risk must undergo a two-week quarantine. Others arriving from less risky areas most show proof of good health. Locals “in principle” must stay in
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court sentenced former Prime Minister Najib Razak to serve 12 years in prison on Tuesday after finding him guilty in the first of several corruption trials linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund that brought down his government two years ago. Najib, 67, was
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian former prime minister Najib Razak, fighting dozens of charges over a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1MDB, faces his first verdict on Tuesday in a landmark case that tests the country’s efforts to stamp out corruption and could have big political implications. Najib was voted out in a historic
