ASEAN IN FOCUS

S. Korea to stick with Japan ‘comfort women’ deal

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea will not seek to renegotiate a deal with Japan on wartime sex slavery, it said Tuesday, despite new President Moon Jae-In saying on the campaign trail he “could not accept” the agreement. The issue of women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II is a hugely emotional one that has long marred ties between the South and its former colonial ruler. Ousted president Park […]

Fiery Cross now a Chinese military base

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (Eagle News) — Fiery Cross, also known as Kagitingan Reef, is now a Chinese military base. Part of the disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea, China Central Television reported the base has a runway for warplanes able to accommodate strategic bombers. The base is also equipped with communication facilities. Also according to the report, more than 200 soldiers are also stationed on Fiery Cross.

New ASEAN chief vows disaster relief boost after deadly storms

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) needs to beef up its disaster management efforts after the region was hammered by deadly storms that left a path of destruction in their wake, its new chief said Friday. Secretary-general Lim Jock Hoi, a veteran Bruneian diplomat, pointed to a tropical storm that battered the southern Philippines last month leaving at least 240 dead and tens of thousands displaced. Also in December, a […]

Indonesia launches cyber agency to tackle extremism, fake news

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia launched a new cyber security agency Wednesday as the world’s biggest Muslim majority country moves to tackle online religious extremism and a flood of fake news on social media. Millions of Indonesians are going online for the first time just as concern about Internet hoaxes reaches a fevered pitch. One of the most high-profile cases in recent times was a false claim circulating on social media in December that […]

Singaporeans charged over $7 mn metro scandal

SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Four Singaporean men were Friday charged over a scandal involving contracts for the metro worth almost Sg$10 million ($7.4 million), the latest problem to hit the financial hub’s train network. The prosecution of the group, which included former and current employees of metro operator SMRT, came after a series of breakdowns on the train system and a collision that injured dozens. The accidents have caused anger in the city-state where public […]

Cambodia sends maids to HK to plug gap after abuse scandals

  PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) — Cambodia sent its first batch of maids to work in Hong Kong on Wednesday, December 27, as the Asian financial hub scrambles to meet growing demand for domestic helpers after a series of abuse scandals. Hong Kong is home to more than 300,000 foreign maids, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia. But high-profile cases of abuse and forced labor have seized global headlines in recent years and threatened to […]

South Korea says deal over ‘comfort women’ faulty

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Wednesday a 2015 deal intended to end a festering dispute with Japan over Tokyo’s wartime sex slavery was faulty, reopening a historical wound as the two countries try to rein in North Korea. Seoul and Tokyo signed the agreement to settle the hugely emotional and decades-long issue with a Japanese apology and payment of money to survivors. Following an election pledge, the new government of President Moon […]

Malaysia arrests 20 alleged foreign ‘Islamic militants’ in new raids

Malaysian police have detained 20 alleged Islamic militants, including a leading member of an Indonesian extremist group and others believed to be planning to fight in the strife-torn southern Philippines. Authorities said they were the latest arrests of alleged extremists in Muslim-majority Malaysia, as fears grow militants who had been fighting with the Islamic State Group overseas are heading back to Southeast Asia after the jihadists’ losses in the Middle East. Police said the arrests […]

Lizard, turtle among more than 100 new species found in Mekong Region

A Vietnamese ‘crocodile lizard’ and a Thai turtle found on sale in a local market are among more than 100 new species discovered in the ecologically diverse but threatened Mekong Region last year, according to researchers. The Southeast Asian countries flanking the Mekong River, which snakes down from the Tibetan plateau to the South China Sea, are among the most bio diverse in the world. Each year, scientists announce scores of new species discovered in […]

Thai zoo under fire after poked tiger video goes viral

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A Thai zoo has sparked outrage after a video of staff repeatedly prodding a tiger to elicit roars for tourist photos went viral, renewing criticism of the kingdom’s notorious animal tourism industry. The clip, which has garnered more than one million views since it was posted on Monday, shows the Pattaya zoo attendant jabbing the chained animal in the face with a stick as tourists take turns posing with or sitting […]

Myanmar burned Rohingya villages despite refugee deal: HRW

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s army burned down dozens of Rohingya homes within days of signing a refugee repatriation deal with Bangladesh, showing the agreement was a mere “public relations stunt,” Human Rights Watch said Monday. The rights group, citing analysis of satellite imagery, said buildings in 40 villages were destroyed in October and November, increasing the total to 354 villages that had been partially or completely razed since last August. Dozens of buildings were burned the […]

6,700 Rohingya killed in first month of Myanmar violence: MSF

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — At least 6,700 Rohingya Muslims were killed in the first month of a Myanmar army crackdown on rebels in Rakhine state that began in late August, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday. The figure is the highest estimated death toll yet of violence that erupted on August 25 and triggered a massive refugee crisis, sending some 655,000 Rohingya fleeing across the border to Bangladesh. The UN and US have described […]