Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
At least 70 people were missing and one confirmed dead on Wednesday following a landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar, a member of the rescue team told AFP. “About 70-100 people are missing in a landslide that happened around 4:00 am” at Hpakant mine in Kachin state, said rescue team member Ko Nyi.
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob is scheduled to make an official visit to Thailand, from December 28th to 30th, according to an informed government source. The source, who asked not to be identified as both sides are still working on the details, said that Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah will arrive
Manila (AFP) – The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has surged to 208, the national police said Monday, making it one of the deadliest storms to hit the country in recent years. At least 239 people were injured and 52 were missing after Typhoon Rai ravaged the southern and
More than 30,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Malaysia on Sunday as the country battles some of its worst flooding in years. The tropical Southeast Asian nation often sees stormy monsoon seasons towards the end of the year, with flooding regularly prompting mass evacuations. Downpours since Friday have caused rivers to overflow, submerging
More than 100 people have been killed in the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, official tallies showed Sunday, as efforts to deliver water and food to devastated islands ramped up. More than 300,000 people fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Typhoon Rai ravaged the southern and central regions of the archipelago.
The Thai military lodged a protest note with the Myanmar government, via the local Thai-Myanmar Border Committee (TBC) yesterday (Thursday), over the landing of a mortar-type shell on Thai soil in Mae Sot district of the western province of Tak. The shell, which is believed to be a mortar round, landed in a sugarcane plantation
Dapa, Philippines (AFP) – Thousands of people in the Philippines fled their homes and beachfront resorts as super typhoon Rai slammed into the country Thursday, with a charity warning the storm could hit coastal communities “like a freight train”. Rai was packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) an hour as it made landfall on
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday said he will appoint his country’s foreign minister, Prak Sokhonn, to be the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ special envoy to Myanmar, beginning January 1st, 2022 Cambodia in October took over as the coming year’s chair of the 10-member regional bloc, which is referred to as ASEAN. Hun Sen
US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has cut his Southeast Asian tour short and cancelled appointments in Thailand tomorrow (Thursday), over COVID-19 concerns following a confirmed COVID-19 infection in a member of the travelling press corps. Blinken was in Indonesia yesterday and arrived in Malaysia today, when a journalist tested positive for COVID-19 upon
(AP) — A local freelance photojournalist in Myanmar has died in military custody after being arrested last week while covering protests, colleagues and a friend of his family said Tuesday. Soe Naing is the first journalist known to have died in custody since the army seized power in February, ousting the elected government of Aung
Jakarta (AFP) – A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, with monitors briefly warning of the possibility of hazardous tsunami waves before lifting the threat. The epicentre was north of the island of Flores in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province, where the quake sparked terror after hitting in the late
Manila (AFP) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday withdrew his candidacy for the 2022 Senate race, the government elections monitor said, a month after he made a last-minute entry into the contest. “The President has filed his withdrawal from the Senatorial elections,” James Jimenez, spokesman for the Commission on Elections office, said on Twitter. Duterte,
