Malaysia was facing a hung parliament for the first time in its history as support for a conservative Islamic alliance prevented major coalitions from winning a simple majority in a general election. Without a clear winner, political uncertainty could…
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Many Malaysians in southern Thailand returned home yesterday (Friday) to cast their votes in a general election, after Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved parliament on October 10th. The…
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KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Malaysians were voting in a closely run general election on Saturday, a contest that may not end years of political instability as polls point…
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Thailand is expecting the leaders of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members to endorse the Bangkok Goals 2022 during the summit this weekend, which aims to move the region towards…
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Myanmar’s military said Thursday it will release almost 6,000 prisoners, including a former British ambassador, a Japanese journalist and an Australian economics adviser, in a rare olive branch from the isolated junta. The Southeast Asian country has been…
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In a dining hall at Malaysia’s International Islamic University, 22-year-old undergraduate Hajar Wahab stood next to a makeshift polling booth, as she showed a fellow student how to mark and…
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Cambodia’s Foreign Affairs Minister and ASEAN special envoy Prak Sokhonn is planning a third official visit to Myanmar in a bid to prod the ruling military junta to comply with…
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Malaysia does not support elections that Myanmar military junta plans for next year, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said Tuesday. Malaysian news agency Bernama quoted the foreign minister as…
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Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuân Phúc will become the first APEC leader to arrive in Bangkok and will be paying an official on November 16th, ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic…
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Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has proposed a comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and the United States in the areas of economic development and climate change, as well as a…
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Southeast Asian heads of government were due to hold talks on Saturday with visiting global leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, as the region tries to navigate the growing rivalry…
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UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday urged the Myanmar junta to “immediately” restart democracy, saying it was the only way to stop the “unending nightmare” engulfing the country. Myanmar has spiralled into bloody conflict since the military…
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ASEAN leaders have reaffirmed their 5-point consensus (5PC) and urged Myanmar to comply with the promises it made last April. In a joint statement, issued today (Friday), the leaders said…
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PHNOM PENH, Nov 11 (Reuters) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed in principle to admit East Timor as the group’s 11th member, the bloc said in…
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Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o–cha and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen on Thursday pledged to step up cooperation to crack down on call center scams using Cambodia as their operation base….
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(AFP) – Despite Vietnam’s solar boom and ambitious climate targets, the fast-growing economy is struggling to quit dirty energy — leaving one of the world’s biggest coal power programmes largely…
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(AFP) – Indonesia’s economic growth accelerated in the third quarter of 2022 on the back of strong exports and domestic consumption, official data showed on Monday, but it remained below…
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Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has formally announced the agenda for the upcoming ASEAN Summit and related high-level meetings to be held in Phnom Penh from November 10-13. Meanwhile, the…
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KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Malaysian political leaders began their election campaigning on Saturday for what is set to be a close race, with incumbent Prime Minister Ismail Sabri…
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Phnom Penh – India’s comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP) with ASEAN is expected grow and strengthen bilateral ties, according to a senior Cambodian official. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Minister Delegate attached…
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JAKARTA, Nov 3 (Reuters) – G20 summit host Indonesia is waiting to see if Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend, Indonesia’s foreign minister said on Thursday, adding that differences over…
Read MorePhnom Penh – Both the US and India will be granted “comprehensive strategic partnership” (CSP) status at next week’s ASEAN-related summits, signalling the increased importance of their all-round cooperation with…
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Cambodia has offered to use the upcoming ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh next week to host talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a senior official of the Cambodian Foreign…
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Judging by the outcome of the special ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting in Jakarta on October 27th, the ASEAN foreign ministers have not done their jobs very well. They were supposed…
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(AFP) – Emergency workers scrambled to rescue residents trapped by floods in and around the Philippine capital on Sunday as Tropical Storm Nalgae swept out of the country after killing at…
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US President Joe Biden will use his visit to Cambodia next month for a summit with ASEAN to reaffirm the US commitment to Southeast Asia, according to the White House….
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The Philippines has recorded 72 deaths from Tropical Storm Nalgae that caused floods and landslides in southern provinces, the country’s disaster agency said on Saturday. Maguindanao province was the most affected with…
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Southeast Asian foreign ministers acknowledged Thursday that their efforts to bring peace to Myanmar haven’t succeeded and agreed to increase their determination to end violence in the country, where a…
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Jakarta (Agencies) — Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are meeting in Jakarta today to lay the groundwork for the group’s summit in Cambodia next month,…
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The upcoming ASEAN foreign ministers’ emergency meeting is expected to result in drastic recommendations and an effective strategy to implement the five-point consensus to resolve the ongoing crisis in strife-torn…
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The France based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) officially placed Myanmar on their Black List, saying that the post-coup administration was unable to comply with theirsuggestions. Myanmar was already on…
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(AFP) – The large dome of a grand mosque in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta collapsed after a major fire, without causing any casualties. Dramatic footage obtained by AFP showed a thick…
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An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck Mindanao island in the Philippines on Wednesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The quake was at a depth of 26 km (16 miles), EMSC…
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More than 70 children in Indonesia have died from acute kidney injury (AKI) since January this year, a health ministry official said on Wednesday, as a team of experts investigates the spike in…
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Two Myanmar military interrogation centres were bombed on October 12th, local news media reported. One was in Hlaing Township, on Bayintnaung Road, better known as the No.1 Bayintnaung Interrogation camp….
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Fenced off to the public and dotted with plastic waste, Hanoi’s motor race circuit lies largely abandoned while hopes fade that Vietnam’s capital will ever host a Formula One grand…
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The “Great Resignation” is the biggest trend in the employment market resulting from COVID-19, for Western countries at least. For Thailand and others in this region, however, while resignation certainly…
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Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved parliament on Monday, paving the way for national elections to be held in the coming weeks. The election date will be announced by the election commission, Ismail…
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(AFP) – Thousands of Buddhist devotees thronged Myanmar’s Shwedagon Pagoda to mark the full moon of the Thadingyut festival on Sunday, some offering prayers for a country plunged into turmoil…
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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Malaysia on Friday unveiled a smaller budget for 2023, prioritising fiscal discipline over expectations of populist measures, as it warned of a slowdown in…
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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Wednesday said his nation may need to turn to Russia to fulfil its fuel needs amid rising global energy prices, bucking pressure from Western allies for countries…
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The Indonesian stadium stampede that left 131 people dead has sparked anger against the nation’s police, whom critics have long accused of using excessive violence. Police, who described the unrest…
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For the second consecutive year, Myanmar’s junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has been excluded from the upcoming ASEAN summit to be hosted by Cambodia next month. The Khmer…
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An Indonesian police chief and nine elite officers were removed from their posts Monday and 18 others were being investigated for responsibility in the firing of tear gas inside a…
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Anger against police mounted in Indonesia on Monday after at least 125 people were killed in one of the deadliest disasters in the history of football, when officers fired tear…
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(AFP) – At least 127 people died at a football stadium in Indonesia when fans invaded the pitch and police responded with tear gas, triggering a stampede, authorities said Sunday….
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64 Thai nationals, who allegedly worked for Chinese-funded call centre scam operators in Cambodia, were deported back to Thailand yesterday (Wednesday) by Cambodian authorities. The 39 men and 26 women…
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A Myanmar beauty queen who spoke out against the military coup in her homeland landed Wednesday in Canada, where she has been granted asylum after being stranded at an airport…
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Typhoon Noru barrelled into Vietnam’s central coast early Wednesday, the national forecaster said, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain as hundreds of thousands of people took refuge in shelters. In…
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The Philippines will deport 40,000 Chinese workers in a crackdown on unlicensed online gaming businesses, an official said Tuesday, after reports of kidnapping, prostitution and murder in the gambling industry. So-called Philippine offshore gaming operators, or POGOs, have boomed since 2016 as former president…
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With tickets selling fast and party suites costing up to $70,000 a night, Singapore is putting the pedal to the metal when it hosts Asia’s first Formula One race this…
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Vietnam ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes Tuesday as Super Typhoon Noru barrelled towards the busy city of Danang, with forecasters predicting the storm would be one of the biggest to…
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Myanmar’s former beauty queen and an anti-junta activist, Thaw Nandar Aung, aka “Han Lay”, who has been stranded in Thailand due to immigration difficulties, has finally been granted asylum in…
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BULACAN, Philippines, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Philippine authorities rushed on Monday to distribute aid to thousands of evacuees after typhoon Noru made landfall in the capital and northern provinces, leaving…
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Their stomachs full of eggs, beer, and coconut water, Nguyen Van Liet’s prized white oxen streak ahead of their rivals to the cheer of tens of thousands of spectators in Vietnam’s…
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The death toll from a capsized boat off Cambodia’s coast rose to three Chinese nationals on Saturday, with a further nine rescued in Vietnamese waters and eight still missing, Cambodian authorities said. The boat with 41 Chinese people on board…
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The newly release Global Trade Growth Atlas 2022 has put the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the spotlight because the region is forecast to lead the world in…
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Cambodian rescuers were still searching on Saturday for at least 10 missing Chinese nationals after a boat with more than 40 people on board sank near islands off the coastal…
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Miss Grand Myanmar 2020 Han Lay, says Myanmar police attached to their embassy in Bangkok tried to gain access to her, but she rejected their demand and, sought help from…
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After arriving from Vietnam today (Tuesday), Han Lay, Miss Grand Myanmar 2020, was denied entry to Thailand at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok by immigration officials for not having a…
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Southeast Asian nations must decide if they are going to push ahead with a so-far failed five-point peace plan for Myanmar or “decide what’s next” before their leaders meet in November, Malaysia‘s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah…
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Government helicopters have attacked a school and village in north-central Myanmar, killing at least 13 people including seven children, a school administrator and an aid worker said Monday. Civilian casualties often…
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Thai military forces based along the Myanmar border in the northern province of Chiang Rai have stepped up border surveillance, especially in Mae Sai district, to prevent the smuggling of…
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Indonesian rescuers have recovered seven bodies after a landslide at an illegal gold mine buried an estimated 20 people, officials said on Saturday. The victims were mining gold on a…
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Ever since the coup on February 1st, 2021, Myanmar has been in turmoil. From political to economic woes, the current administration, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has yet…
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JAKARTA, Sept 11 (Reuters) – About 200 people evacuated to higher ground after an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 struck islands in western Indonesia on Sunday, causing some property damage, the…
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Vietnamese carmaker VinFast on Saturday (September 10) began handing its first batch of 100 all-electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) over to local customers, with U.S. deliveries of the vehicle due…
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An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck the region of Papua in Indonesia on Saturday and has no potential to trigger a tsunami, the country’s geophysics agency (BMKG) said. The quake struck about…
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Telecom giant Ooredoo has reportedly sold its Myanmar operations to a Singapore based company for US$576,000,000. The last of the internationally based telcos in Myanmar, it was reported by Reuters…
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The death toll from a fire that tore through a karaoke bar in southern Vietnam has risen to 23, an official said Wednesday. The blaze engulfed the second floor of…
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Myanmar’s dissident groups have proposed the establishment of an ASEAN-Plus inclusive platform to engage all stakeholders in resolving the ongoing political crises in the military-ruled country, the United Nations Special…
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The leader of Myanmar’s military junta will travel to Russia next week for economic talks, state media in the Southeast Asian nation reported Saturday. Min Aung Hlaing’s visit comes as…
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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,…
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A Myanmar junta court sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years in jail “with hard labour” on Friday, for electoral fraud in the 2020 polls that her…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
Read MoreOn 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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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For years ASEAN has benefited from its ambiguous relations with Taiwan, while enjoying formal ties with mainland China. But the ongoing tensions in the Taiwan Strait might create a new normal…
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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…
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In responding to recent cross-strait developments, ASEAN’s foreign minister has called for all parties to exercise maximum restraint, refrain from provocative action and to adhere strictly to the principles contained…
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The military junta’s latest action has further worsened the prospect of a peace process in Myanmar. The ASEAN joint statement issued on Tuesday said it all: ASEAN denounces and is…
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A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the northern Philippines Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, shattering windows of buildings at the epicentre and shaking high-rise towers more than 300 kilometres (185 miles)…
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Three more political prisoners have been executed in Yangon Region’s infamous Insein Prison, according to sources. The identities of the three are unconfirmed so far and they were executed almost…
Read MoreJuly 25 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military authorities have executed four democracy activists accused of helping carry out “terror acts”, state media said on Monday, the Southeast Asian nation’s first executions…
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AFP – Three people were killed Sunday in a rare shooting at a university in the Philippine capital Manila, officials said, in what appears to have been a targeted assassination. …
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Nazeri bin Lajim, a 64-year-old Singaporean, has only hours left to live. Singapore intends to execute him in the early hours of Friday morning. His family was informed by the…
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“We can no longer manufacture cars (here) of the brand for which I hold dealership status. We are continuing to sell what we have left. I think other car brands,…
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The Biden administration’s nominee for US ambassador to Thailand said on Wednesday that he would press Bangkok to reduce its dependence on oil and gas from neighbouring Myanmar, where the…
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Myanmar, a developing nation, relies heavily on exports of raw ingredients, of which agricultural exports make up nearly 10%. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Myanmar’s Rice Federation had set a…
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SINGAPORE, July 11 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s junta government is installing Chinese-built cameras with facial recognition capabilities in more cities across the country, three people with direct knowledge of the matter…
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US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, met with Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Don Pramudwinai, on Sunday, as part of his Southeast Asia tour. Prime Minister…
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The signing in Bangkok today (Sunday) of the Communique on Strategic Alliance and Partnership and the Memorandum of Understanding to Promote Supply Chain Resilience,between Thailand and the United States, will…
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ASEAN leaders will join their EU counterparts in Belgium in December for their first summit, according to an informed source. The summit will reportedly be held on December 14th and…
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