ASEAN IN FOCUS

Thai police fire tear gas, rubber bullets at protesters

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thai police fired tear gas and rubber bullets Saturday at hundreds of protesters in Bangkok demanding political reform and calling for a change to the country’s coronavirus vaccination program. Demonstrators defied restrictions on public gatherings introduced as Thailand battles its worst outbreak of the virus to call for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha to quit. The Thai government has come under fire for the sluggish rollout of its covid vaccination programme, and […]

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UN warns of growing hunger in Myanmar

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations said Friday it urgently needed funds to feed people in Myanmar amid fears that up to 6.2 million could be plunged into hunger by October. The UN’s World Food Programme said it was 70 percent short of the $86 million needed over the next six months, as the country goes through multiple crises. A major wave of Covid-19 infections is surging through Myanmar, compounding hunger, rising food and […]

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UN warns of growing hunger in Myanmar

  GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The United Nations said Friday it urgently needed funds to feed people in Myanmar amid fears that up to 6.2 million could be plunged into hunger by October. The UN’s World Food Programme said it was 70 percent short of the $86 million needed over the next six months, as the country goes through multiple crises. A major wave of Covid-19 infections is surging through Myanmar, compounding hunger, rising food […]

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Indonesian economy grows for first time in five quarters

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s economy bounced back in the second quarter to post its first growth in more than a year, but analysts warned the recovery might be short-lived as Covid-19 surges. Southeast Asia’s largest economy grew by 7.07 percent in the April-to-June quarter compared with the same period last year, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said Thursday. The figure is higher than a projection by the Central Bank of Indonesia, which predicted growth […]

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Virus-wracked Indonesia hits 100,000 deaths

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s coronavirus death toll topped 100,000 on Wednesday as the country struggles to control the spread of the Delta variant. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has now detected Delta in dozens of regions since it was first found in the archipelago in June. Scores of Indonesians are dying at home, unable to access hospital care or medical oxygen supplies as health care facilities are stretched to the limit. More than 3.5 million […]

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ASEAN names top Brunei diplomat as Myanmar envoy

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Wednesday appointed an envoy to Myanmar after a months-long delay in diplomatic efforts to resolve the coup-hit country’s political crisis. ASEAN’s foreign ministers said in a joint statement, delayed by internal wrangling, that they welcomed the appointment of Brunei Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof as the bloc’s special envoy. Member state Myanmar has been in political chaos since the military junta ousted Aung San […]

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Malaysian PM rejects mounting calls to quit

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin refused to yield to mounting calls to quit Wednesday but said he would face a no-confidence vote in parliament in September. Political tensions have been escalating in the country after the king rebuked the administration for misleading parliament and hundreds staged a rare anti-government protest last weekend. The latest blow came Tuesday when several members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the biggest party […]

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Over 100 charged with insulting king in one year of Thai protests: tally

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — More than 100 protesters have been charged under Thailand’s royal insult laws since last July, when rallies across the kingdom began demanding reforms to the unassailable monarchy, a lawyer representing the activists and an AFP tally showed Tuesday. A mostly youth-led movement kicked off last summer, fuelled by discontent with the government of Thai Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former military chief who first came to power in a coup in 2014. […]

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Malaysia’s Mahathir, Anwar shelve rivalry to protest PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysian political heavyweights Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim put aside long-running animosity and joined an opposition protest Monday against the shutdown of parliament and demand the country’s embattled premier resign. The final day of a parliament session, due to take place Monday, has been cancelled after the discovery of several coronavirus cases in the legislature. But rivals accused Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin of using Covid-19 as an excuse to dodge […]

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5.9 magnitude quake strikes off Indonesia’s Papua: USGS

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A 5.9 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region Monday, the United States Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning or immediate reports of damage. The quake hit at a relatively shallow depth of 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), about 180 kilometers northeast of Tual city. Shallow quakes tend to do more damage than deep tremors. Indonesia experiences frequent quakes due to its position on the […]

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Thailand tightens curbs in 16 more provinces as outbreak sets record

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand has extended a night-time curfew and other virus restrictions to 16 more provinces beginning Tuesday as the kingdom’s Covid-19 death toll soared to a new record. The Southeast Asian country is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the Delta variant, with infections and deaths skyrocketing and the healthcare system stretched thin. Severe curbs on daily life including a seven-hour night-time curfew have already hit residents in a dozen […]

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Hun Sen declares oil extraction a ‘failure’ for Cambodia

Premier Hun Sen declared Cambodia’s attempt at oil extraction a “failure” on Sunday, just eight months after the kingdom achieved its long-awaited milestone of producing its first drop of crude. In late December the nation announced it had extracted oil from its waters in the Gulf of Thailand which experts believe boasts significant deposits. But the operation, led by Singapore’s KrisEnergy, was endangered after the company was unable to pay its debts and filed for […]

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