Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
Sept 2 (Reuters) – A court in Myanmar has jailed a former British ambassador and her spouse for one year for violating immigration laws, sources and media said on Friday, prompting concern from rights activists at secretive trials under military rule. Vicky Bowman, who runs a group promoting ethical business practices in Myanmar, and her
Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysia’s ex-premier Najib Razak, was found guilty of graft on Thursday and sentenced to 10 years in jail with a $216 million fine, just over a week after her husband began serving a 12-year term after his own corruption conviction. The 70-year-old has long been criticised by Malaysians for her
A Thai drug suspect was shot dead and three others were arrested in a drug bust in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Wednesday, according to Cambodian media. The Khmer Times reported that a shootout ensued as the Anti-Drug Department’s special force was conducting an anti-drugs operation and trying to stop a vehicle transporting
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, arrived in court on Thursday to hear the verdict on charges against her of seeking bribes in exchange forgovernment contracts, just days after her husband was jailed for corruption. Najib and his wife, who has faced criticism for her
A Cambodian psychiatrist treating victims of the Khmer Rouge and a French environmentalist cleaning up Indonesian rivers were among the winners Wednesday of the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award — considered Asia’s Nobel Prize. The annual award, established in 1957 and named after a Philippines president who died in a plane crash, honors those who have
On August 27th, the value of the Myanmar Kyat (MMK) to the US Dollar (USD) hit a record low at 3,400 MMK/US$1. Similarly, the price of the Baht strengthened against the MMK to a never before seen rate of 100 MMK/฿1. The price of gold bullion has also spiked, reaching a record high of over
Former United Kingdom Ambassador to Myanmar, Vicky Bowman, was reportedly arrested on the night of August 24th, when security forces went to her residence in Yangon, claiming that she needed to be questioned on suspicion of breaches of the immigration act, according to sources close to her family. BBC Myanmar reported that the UK embassy
Singapore’s decision to decriminalize sex between men is being hailed as a step in the right direction for LGBTQ rights in the Asia-Pacific region, a vast area of nearly 5 billion people with different laws and attitudes. Although many places have decriminalized sexual acts between people of the same sex, only a few allow same-sex
Malaysia’s highest court Tuesday upheld former prime minister Najib Razak’s 12-year jail sentence for corruption in the 1MDB financial scandal. “We find the appeal devoid of any merits. We find the conviction and sentence to be safe,” Chief Justice Maimun Tuan Mat said on behalf of a five-judge panel. “Based on the foregoing, it is
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced Sunday the country will repeal a colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex, though he maintained that the government will continue to “uphold” marriage as being between a man and a woman. “The government will repeal (the law) and decriminalize sex between men. I believe this is the right thing
According to documents leaked online, the military-regime in Myanmar is attempting to clamp down on mobile banking and electronic money transfers. The leaked documents, which went viral on social media, were dated August 15th, from the Central Bank of Myanmar, and they asked all banks and affiliated agents to gather all personal details of those
Despite a heavier than usual deployment of police and soldiers, activists in Yangon managed to carry out guerrilla protests in remembrance of the 88′ revolution. “I saw the kids that protested. They carried umbrellas with the No.8 written on them. It’s clever and brave, but very dangerous because the Kyauktadar Township Police Station is literally
