ASEAN IN FOCUS

Indonesia arrests nearly 200 over raging forest fires

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has arrested nearly 200 people over vast forest fires ripping across the archipelago, police said Monday, as toxic haze sends air quality levels plummeting and sparks flight cancellations. Jakarta has deployed thousands of personnel to battle blazes that are turning land into charred landscapes and consuming forests in Sumatra and Borneo islands, where thousands of schools have been shut over health fears. The fires — usually started by illegal burning […]

Frontline fight: Indonesia locked in epic battle against jungle blazes

by Dessy SAGITA PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AFP) — Working around the clock, thousands of firefighters are struggling to contain smog-belching blazes raging across rainforests and farmland in Indonesia, one of the frontlines against fires blamed for aggravating global warming. Those leading the response are short on equipment, with some wearing just flimsy masks and rubber boots as they blast streams of water at flames consuming the jungle — and enveloping wide swathes of Southeast Asia in […]

Thailand’s northeast inundated after tropical storm

  BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Floods in northeastern Thailand have submerged homes, roads and bridges, leaving more than 23,000 people in evacuation shelters as anger grows over the government’s “slow” emergency response. Torrential rain has lashed the country for the last two weeks, causing flash floods and mudslides in almost half its provinces, with families evacuated from their homes in boats or makeshift rafts. Since August 29, 32 people have been killed in the deluge, […]

Indonesians choked by forest fire haze pray for rain

PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AFP) — Hundreds of people held a mass prayer for rain in a smoke-filled Indonesian city on Friday, desperately hoping that downpours will extinguish forest fires and wash away the toxic haze covering wide swathes of the country. Illegal fires to clear land for farming are raging on Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands with firefighters battling round the clock through charred forests, and water-bombing helicopters deployed to douse the flames. Dense smoke has […]

Hundreds of schools shut as forest-fire haze blankets SE Asia

  by Junus Nuh Agence France Presse JAMBI, Indonesia (AFP) — Huge fires are raging across vast swathes of Indonesia’s rainforests — some of the world’s biggest — with toxic smog shutting hundreds of schools in Southeast Asia, officials said Tuesday. Massive jungle areas in Sumatra and Borneo islands are ablaze as thousands of personnel battle to quell the fires, frequently started to clear land for crop plantations. Burning forests to make way for farming […]

Indonesia forest fires surge, stoking global warming fears

by Dessy Sagita Agence France Presse PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AFP) — The number of blazes in Indonesia’s rainforests has jumped sharply, satellite data showed Thursday, spreading smog across Southeast Asia and adding to concerns about the impact of increasing wildfire outbreaks worldwide on global warming. Illegal blazes to clear land for agricultural plantations have been raging on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Indonesia deploying water-bombing helicopters and thousands of security forces to tackle them. It is […]

Singapore President visits Philippine Eagle Center, expresses interest in biodiversity cooperation

(Eagle News) — Singapore President Halimah Yacob visited the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City on Wednesday, Sept. 11, as she stressed her country’s interest in continuing cooperation on biodiversity conservation. President Yacob visited the conservation facility where 30 Philippine eagle raptors are kept for conservation and breeding at the Malagos Nature Park. She is the first foreign head of state to visit the center. The Philippine Eagle Foundation manages the Philippine Eagle Center.The center […]

Former Indonesian president Habibie dies at 83

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Former Indonesian president B.J. Habibie, who ushered in an era of democratic reforms after the downfall of long-time dictator Suharto, died on Wednesday at the age of 83 in Jakarta, his family and officials said. Habibie died at a military hospital in the capital after suffering from heart failure. In a televised speech announcing Habibie’s death, President Joko Widodo called the former aircraft engineer and politician a “world-class scientist” and “the […]

Singapore President visits Ateneo de Davao university

By Vhea Sumarca Eagle News Service correspondent in Davao (Eagle News) – Singapore President Her Excellency Halimah Yacob visited the Ateneo de Davao University on Wednesday, September 11, where she met with university officials. It was at 11:30 a.m., on Wednesday, when the Singaporean leader arrived at the Rodriguez Hall, CCFC Building, of Ateneo de Davao University. She was greeted by representatives of the school led by its President Joel Tabora, SJ, together with other […]

PHL, Singapore sign 8 agreements during visit of Singaporean leader in country

  (Eagle News) — Eight memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed during the visit of Singaporean President Halimah Yacob to the country which were described as the first steps toward the “next half-century of our natural, mutually reinforcing and beneficial partnership.” President Yacob, the eighth president of Singapore, arrived in the country Sunday for a five-day state visit. The Singaporean leader arrived at 3:20 p.m. in Malacañang and was accorded arrival honors. After the welcome […]

Indonesia sends back hundreds of shipping containers full of waste

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has sent hundreds of garbage-filled shipping containers back to their countries of origin, according to the customs agency, as the Southeast Asian nation pushes back against becoming a dumping ground for foreign trash. About 250 containers seized across the archipelago in recent months have already been returned and authorities are inspecting more than 1,000 others, a customs official said. Among them, 49 containers of waste seized on Batam Island near […]

Warships and aircraft ready for first US-ASEAN maritime drills

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Eight warships, four aircraft and more than a thousand personnel from the US and ten Southeast Asian countries will join maritime drills kicking off Monday, as part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea. The first Asean-US Maritime Exercise (AUMX) between the regional bloc and Washington lasts for five days, starting at the Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand and ending in Singapore. The drills come at a […]