In an effort to eliminate marine plastic debris, the 10 member states of ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asia Nations) has adopted “The Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris in…
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(Photo) FILE: People wait to see the sunset from the top of Shwesandaw Pagoda in the ancient city of Bagan February 13, 2015/REUTERS (Soe Zeya Tun )
YANGON (Reuters) – UNESCO inscribed Myanmar’s ancient capital of Bagan as a World Heritage Site on Saturday, nearly a quarter of a century after the complex of Buddhist temples was…
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An economics professor at Chulalongkorn University has rebuked Future Forward spokeswoman Pannika “Chor” Wanich and advised her to equip herself with knowledge before making public comments “just for the sake…
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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is leaving for Osaka on Thursday to attend the G20 summit which has become a highly-anticipated event this week in the wake of the lingering trade…
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Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai – “It took many years, since there were just five founding members, to become a grouping of ten countries. This is not a matter of just…
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Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit – “ASEAN in a year in which Thailand plays a leading role can prove that we can move beyond the fortress of ignorance under…
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June 23, 2019 – Spouses of ASEAN leaders visited the National Museum of Royal Barges in Bangkok and witnessed a chanting demonstration for the Royal Barge Procession and enjoyed a…
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ASEAN leaders have accepted Thailand’s initiative to reinforce ASEAN’s leading role, in the conduct of relations with external partners in the region, by adopting the “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific”…
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Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha called on his counterparts in ASEAN to awaken to the sense of belonging in the ASEAN Community, or ASEAN DNA, and join hands and hearts…
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ASEAN leaders and their spouses, attending the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, will each be presented with a special souvenir from the Thai government, a silver lei (garland) crafted by top…
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Southeast Asian leaders gathered in Bangkok on Saturday determined to drive forward the world’s largest commercial pact, with the trade war between the US and China clouding the outlook for…
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BANGKOK (Reuters) – Southeast Asian nations vowed on Saturday to fight against plastic pollution in the ocean, as their leaders adopted a joint declaration during a summit in Bangkok. The…
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(Photo) FIFA
The 34th ASEAN Summit will tomorrow consider a proposal, from the ASEAN foreign ministers, for the regional bloc to submit a bid to host the football World Cup in 2034….
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BANGKOK (AP) — Southeast Asian leaders will commit to conclude a long-delayed regional trade pact this year despite lingering odds to fend off risks from a protracted U.S.-China trade war…
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Prime Minister Prayut Can-o-cha held bilateral talks with the leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok today. Government deputy spokesman Lt-Gen Werachon…
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As ASEAN leaders are now in Bangkok for the 34th ASEAN Summit, the opposition Pheu Thai party today called on them to apply pressure to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to…
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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is satisfied that Thailand remains on Tier 2 of the US State Department’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report and has vowed to continue tackling human…
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Thailand ranks 40th out of 162 countries surveyed on development progress relating to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), moving up 19 places from last year, according to the Sustainable…
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(Photo) Filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi arrives at Insein court before his trial in Yangon, Myanmar May 23, 2019/Reuters
YANGON (Reuters) – As Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi arrived at a Yangon court recently to face charges of defaming Myanmar’s military in Facebook posts, the ailing filmmaker was greeted…
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(Photo) Indonesia’s presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto speaks to his supporters after this week’s presidential election in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 19, 2019/ REUTERS
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Lawyers for Indonesia’s political opposition called on Friday for President Joko Widodo’s election victory to be annulled, telling the Constitutional Court it had been achieved through “systematic…
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(Photo) Residents and protesters hold lighted candles at the wake of Kian Loyd delos Santos, a 17-year-old high school student, who was among the people shot dead last week in an escalation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs in Caloocan city, Metro Manila, Philippines August 21, 2017./ REUTERS
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippine government attacked United Nations human rights experts on Saturday for “unpardonable intrusions”, after a call for an international investigation into killings linked to President Rodrigo…
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(Photo) In a Facebook post on June 6, 2019, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said he deeply regretted Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong’s remarks./AFP
PHNOM PENH/HANOI (Reuters) – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has accused Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of supporting genocide because of comments Lee made about Vietnam’s 1978 invasion of…
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Myanmar strongman, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has poured high praise on the late General Prem Tinsulanonda, saying he felt as if he had lost his father. Min…
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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday mooted the idea of a common trading currency for East Asia that would be pegged to gold, describing the…
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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia will send as much as 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste back to the countries it came from, the environment minister said on Tuesday, the latest…
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The Jakarta-based ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) released a statement yesterday (May 27) calling on the Thai authorities to end their harassment of Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit…
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“Friend Zone”, a romantic comedy about a handsome guy who has been in love with his best friend for over a decade, produced by a promising Thai director, Chayanop Boonprakop….
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Thai citizens in Indonesia have been warned by the Thai embassy in Jakarta to exercise extreme caution when travelling around Indonesia’s capital and to avoid areas where protests are being…
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Police in Jakarta clashed with some anti-Widodo protesters
JAKARTA, May 22 (Reuters) – Indonesia has introduced curbs on social media in a bid to prevent the spread of hoaxes, some calling for violent post-election attacks, and quell two…
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(Photo) Indonesian anti-riot police take a position to disperse the mob during an overnight-violent demonstration near by the Elections Oversight Body (Bawaslu) in Jakarta on May 22, 2019./AFP
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Six people died in civil unrest that gripped parts of Jakarta on Tuesday night after the election commission confirmed that President Joko Widodo won last month’s election,…
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(Photo) The signing was overseen by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (L) and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, who proposed the idea together in 2013/AFP
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore and Malaysia have agreed to suspend the construction of a billion dollar train project linking the city-state to the southern Malaysian state of Johor, their transport…
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(Photo) Indonesia’s Joko Widodo (C), who has won a second term as president, spoke to reporters with his running mate Ma’ruf Amin (R) in Jakarta three days before the official results were announced/AFP
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo comfortably won re-election in last month’s poll, an official count showed on Tuesday, throwing the spotlight on his opponent Prabowo Subianto who has…
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(Photo) AFP: Southeast Asia is in the grip of a fresh surge of paedophile activity with predators orchestrating and watching abuse on live-streaming sites and via webcams, paying for it with near-untraceable crypto-currency, victims and children’s charities warn
Southeast Asia is in the grip of a fresh surge of paedophile activity with predators orchestrating and watching abuse on live-streaming sites and via webcams, and paying for it with…
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Picture: (AFP) The festering diplomatic row is over tonnes of rubbish shipped to the Philippines from Canada in 2013 and 2014
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines is withdrawing top diplomats from Canada after Ottawa missed a deadline to take back 69 shipping containers full of trash, the latest move in a…
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BEIJING (Reuters) – China has a glorious history of being open to the world and it will only be more open, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday, in his first…
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HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam has stepped up its imprisonment of political activists, Amnesty International said in a report on Monday, intensifying a crackdown that has seen the number of prisoners…
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After a decade long ban on the export of Thai elephants, Thailand’s Foreign Trade Department has eased restrictions to pave way for the export of the protected species for non-commercial…
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Participants of INPUT 2019 register for the reception at Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel Monday night.
INPUT 2019, one of the world’s leading events for public broadcasters and documentary film producers, starts today in Bangkok with a documentary on the dramatic cave rescue at Tham Luang in…
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JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s president has decided to move the capital of the world’s fourth most populous country away from the crowded main island of Java, but has yet to…
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A tour guide has been arrested on charges of hunting protected marine species after he allegedly picked a bunch of anemone, along with anemonefish, from the sea for display to…
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JAKARTA (Reuters) – Ten days after Indonesia held the world’s biggest single-day elections, more than 270 election staff have died, mostly of fatigue-related illnesses caused by long hours of work…
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COLOMBO (Reuters) – The bodies of 15 people, including six children, were discovered at the site of a fierce overnight gun battle on the east coast of Sri Lanka, a…
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JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared victory on Thursday in the race to lead the world’s third-largest democracy, saying unofficial results showed his ticket had got 54 percent…
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has won a second five-year term, preliminary election results showed Wednesday, in a victory for moderation over the nationalistic rhetoric of his…
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JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesians began voting in the world’s biggest single-day election today as polling stations opened across the sprawling equatorial archipelago following a six-month campaign to choose a new…
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Subsequently, the 30-year-old former hair salon worker pleaded guilty to “causing injury” and was handed a three year and four month jail term effective from the date of her arrest…
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Incumbent President Joko Widodo (C-L in white) and his running mate for the upcoming election Ma’ruf Amin (C-R in white) parade during a campaign in Tangerang, in the Banten province on April 7
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Four days ahead of Indonesia’s general election, President Joko Widodo retains a double-digit lead over his challenger, retired general Prabowo Subianto, three opinion polls published this week…
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Officials and members of the public in Thailand’s 76 provinces today took part in a nationwide ceremony to draw sacred water from 108 water sources to be used during the Coronation of HisMajesty…
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Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong smiles as she is escorted by Malaysian police out of the High Court in Shah Alam on Monday.
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) — A Vietnamese woman accused of assassinating the North Korean leader’s half-brother will walk free in May after pleading guilty to a lesser charge, her lawyer said….
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Adultery and gay sex in Brunei will be subject to death by stoning from next week, authorities said, under a strict Sharia law that has been on hold for four years amid…
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Hanoi (AFP) — US President Donald Trump touted North Korea’s “AWESOME” future if his “friend” Kim Jong Un, whom he meets for a high-stakes dinner later tonight, agrees to give…
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KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia said today big power rivalry and foreign interference swirling around the Middle East is yet another reminder why Malaysia and ASEAN must…
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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Chinese negotiators agreed Friday to extend high-level trade talks through the weekend, and President Donald Trump said he hoped to meet next month at his…
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Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva today presented ten policies to upgrade the livelihood of the people in Bangkok by making the city “livable, beautiful, clean, safe and with opportunities”. He…
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Poll finds most people undecided about which parties to vote for About 76 percent of respondents in the latest opinion poll admitted that they have not yet decided which parties…
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NAYPYITAW (Reuters) – Myanmar’s ruling party clashed with military lawmakers on Tuesday as it proposed steps towards changing the constitution, its biggest challenge in nearly three years to the army’s…
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This picture taken on January 25, 2019 shows an Indonesian woman breaking down as she discovers her family members were killed in a landslide in Gowa, after heavy rains and strong winds pounded the southern part of Sulawesi island.
JAKARTA (AFP) – Floods and landslides that battered Indonesia’s Sulawesi island have killed at least 70 people, the authorities said on Tuesday, as aerial footage underscored the scale of the…
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This handout photo released today by Malaysia’s Department of Information shows Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah of Pahang after a recent meeting at Malaysia’s National Palace in Kuala Lumpur.
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Members of Malaysia’s royal families today elected Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah of the central state of Pahang as the new king, following the unexpected abdication of…
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The cockpit voice recorder from an Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed in October has been recovered, officials said Monday, a discovery that could be critical to explaining why a…
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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s King Muhammad V abdicated on Sunday, the palace said, after two years on the throne, the first time a monarch has stepped down before completing…
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Photo from ASEAN Secretariat
The eldest son of Surin Pitsuwan is setting up a foundation named after the late former ASEAN secretary general to help promote education, diplomacy and human security. Speaking at a…
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Raisa Rifani, 2, and her mother Rika Jayanti pose for pictures with Raisa’s doll “macha” at a relief centre in Kalianda, Lampung province on Thursday after they were evacuated from Sebesi island following the December 22 tsunami that was caused by activity at a volcano known as the “child” of Krakatoa.
Indonesia on Thursday raised the danger alert level for an erupting volcano that sparked a killer tsunami at the weekend, after previously warning that fresh activity at the crater threatened…
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Export of Thai Hom Mali (fragrant) rice for the year 2019 is expected to fall by about 20 percent to roughly one million tonnes from this year’s 1.2-1.3 million tonnes…
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SUMUR, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian rescue teams on Wednesday struggled to reach remote areas on the western coast of Java amid an “extreme weather” rain warning after a tsunami killed…
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A number of buildings and vehicles are seen damaged due to being hit by a tsunami wave that hit the Pandeglang, Serang, South Lampung and Tanggamus Regencies in Banten, Indonesia on Sunday.
LABUAN, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian rescuers on Tuesday used drones and sniffer dogs to search for survivors along the devastated west coast of Java hit by a tsunami that killed…
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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Rangsit University President Arthit Ourairat during the convocation ceremony on Sunday. – Picture from Rangsit University Facebook
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said today that ASEAN has yet to get its due credit as the only regional organization that has been sustainable and with tremendous potential. In…
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This photo taken on September 3, 2018 shows Myanmar journalist Wa Lone being escorted by police after sentenced by a court to jail in Yangon.
Messages of solidarity poured in Wednesday from around the world on the one-year anniversary of the arrest of two Myanmar Reuters journalists who exposed a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in…
Read MoreFormer Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim promised a more active contribution from Malaysia to help Thailand find a peaceful solution to the conflicts in the South.
Read MoreDid the Malaysian military ever have the idea of taking a leaf from the book of Thai military and intervene to end the political monopoly of the UMNO-led government of…
Read MoreFormer deputy prime minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim was in Bangkok recently and recounted in an interview how he kept his sanity during his years-long solitary confinement.
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Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hands over the symbolic gavel to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha to transfer ASEAN chairmanship at the closing ceremony of the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore on November 15.
SINGAPORE – Thailand took over the chairmanship of ASEAN from Singapore this afternoon at the end of the two-day ASEAN summit on this nation island. Prime Minister Gen Prayut…
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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – US Vice President Mike Pence told leaders of Southeast Asian nations on Thursday that there is no place for “empire and aggression” in the Indo-Pacific region, a…
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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – US Vice President Mike Pence expressed the Trump administration’s strongest condemnation yet of Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims on Wednesday, telling leader Aung San Suu Kyi that…
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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (L) and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi join other leaders as they pose for a group photo at the opening ceremony during the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore on November 13.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was trying to “defend the indefensible” over alleged atrocities committed by…
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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha joins other leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to pose for a family photo during the 33rd ASEAN Summit opening ceremony in Singapore on Tuesday.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Southeast Asian nations will call for those responsible for atrocities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state to be held “fully accountable”, according to a statement prepared for a regional…
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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha speaks at a business forum on the sidelines of the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha today pledged to push for greater connectivity to strengthen business and investments in ASEAN when Thailand assumes the chairmanship of the regional grouping next year. Speaking…
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Investigators examine engine parts from the ill-fated Lion Air flight JT 610 at a port in Jakarta on November 7, after they were recovered from the bottom of the Java sea.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Wednesday issued an emergency airworthiness directive on about 250 Boeing 737 Max aircraft after the US aircraft manufacturer sent a…
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The Kresek mosque in Pattani, where 32 suspected Muslim insurgents were killed in a stand-off 14 years ago, continues to receive visitors from Malaysia, the News Straits Times of Malaysia…
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Members of a rescue team carry the remains of victims from the ill-fated Lion Air flight JT 610, recovered during search operations, as they arrive at a port in Jakarta on October 31.
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s transport minister removed on Wednesday the technical director of the Lion Air airline and several of its technicians after the crash of one of its jets…
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A top Myanmar official said Wednesday that his country would take back a first group of 2,000 Rohingya refugees from camps in Bangladesh in November despite widespread doubts over the…
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Indonesian police officers and SAR members identify personal items of passengers of the ill-fated Lion Air flight JT 610 at the Jakarta port on October 30.
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia on Tuesday stepped up a search for the Lion Air airliner that plunged into the sea with all 189 aboard feared dead, deploying underwater beacons to…
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RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowed on Wednesday that the killers of Jamal Khashoggi would be brought to justice, in his first public comments…
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Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak is expected to face four more charges related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal this week, the New Straits Times Online reported on Tuesday….
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WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia on Sunday called the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its Istanbul consulate a “huge and grave mistake,” but sought to shield its powerful crown…
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U Wirathu talks to the public at a pro-military campaign in Yangon on Sunday. Photo from The Irrawaddy
YANGON (The Irrawaddy) — Myanmar’s ultranationalist firebrand Buddhist monk U Wirathu said he would take up arms if Myanmar’s military leadership is charged at the International Criminal Court (ICC), showing…
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Buddhist monk Wirathu delivers a speech during a rally to show the support to the Myanmar military in Yangon on October 14.
An ultra-nationalist monk – dubbed the ‘Buddhist Bin Laden’ – on Sunday condemned the international community for their calls to bring Myanmar’s generals to justice over the Rohingya crisis. AFP…
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The Similan-Surin islands, popular tourist attractions in the Andaman sea, will be reopened to visitors as of Monday October 15, but the number of visitors will be capped at 3,325…
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A Royal Command has been issued by His Majesty the King to endorse the government’s 20-year National Strategy effective as of its publication in the Royal Gazette. The National Strategy…
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ASEAN leaders during a photo session at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings in Nusa Dua on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Thursday.
ASEAN leaders have agreed to reduce disparity in development in the member countries during an informal gathering held on the sidelines of the IMF-WB annual meetings in Bali, Indonesia. Ananta…
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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and other ASEAN leaders have arrived in Bali today for an informal gathering of the regional leaders. The inaugural ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering (ALG) ALG is a…
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Grace, the wife of the missing Interpol president Meng Hongwei, with her back to the camera to avoid having her face shown, talks to journalists on Sunday at a press conference in Lyon on Sunday.
BEIJING/PARIS (REUTERS) – China said on Sunday it was investigating Meng Hongwei for suspected wrongdoing after the head of the global law enforcement organisation Interpol and Chinese vice minister for…
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A couple make their way past a damaged mosque in Palu in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi on October 4, after an earthquake and tsunami hit the area on September 28.
Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha this morning made a donation of 5 million baht to help victims of Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami as international efforts to assist the Indonesian government…
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Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, was questioned for four hours before being arrested. — Picture from Malaysiakini
Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly receiving and transferring funds related to money-laundering activities. The 66-year-old former first lady…
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STOCKHOLM (REUTERS) – Some of the actions Aung San Suu Kyi has taken as Myanmar’s civilian leader are “regrettable” but her Nobel Peace Prize will not be withdrawn, the head…
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Malaysia will no longer support the leadership of Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi over her handling of the Rohingya crisis in her country, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir…
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People queue for gasoline in Palu, Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi on Monday, after an earthquake and tsunami hit the area on September 28.
PALU, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesia scrambled on Monday to get help into quake-hit Sulawesi island as survivors streamed away from their ruined homes and accounts of devastation filtered out of…
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China’s President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi as they attend the welcome ceremony at Yanqi Lake during the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on May 15, 2017
YANGON (The Irrawaddy) — Pakistan has recently halted agreements reached under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, including the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor seeking to connect Asia and Europe along the same route…
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Family members carry the body of a relative to the compounds of a police hospital in Palu, Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi on Sunday, following a strong earthquake in the area
JAKARTA – The death toll from an earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi rose to 832 on Sunday, the national disaster mitigation agency said, adding it assessed…
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