ASEAN IN FOCUS

Bangkok says work from home as pollution blankets city

BANGKOK, Feb 15, 2024 (AFP) – Bangkok city employees have been told to work from home to avoid harmful air pollution, as a layer of noxious haze blanketed the Thai capital on Thursday. City authorities asked for cooperation from employers to help workers in the city of some 11 million people avoid the pollution, which is expected to last into Friday. The air monitoring website IQAir ranked Bangkok among the 10 most polluted cities in […]

Philippines to file charges against sunken oil tanker owners

MANILA, Feb 14, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine government said Wednesday it will file criminal charges against the owners of an oil tanker that sank off a central island nearly a year ago, causing severe marine pollution. More than half of the vessel’s 800,000-litre (211,000-gallon) oil cargo spilled into the sea over hundreds of kilometres off Mindoro island, famed for having some of the world’s most diverse marine life. A justice department statement said it […]

Indonesia begins voting with ex-general Subianto the favourite

By Adek Berry with Dessy Sagita in Jakarta TIMIKA, Indonesia, Feb 13, 2024 (AFP) – Indonesians began voting for a new president Wednesday with Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto the frontrunner despite concerns over his human rights record and claims of improper support from outgoing leader Joko Widodo. Polls project Subianto, a military chief during the Suharto dictatorship a generation ago, is on course to secure a majority that would avoid a second-round run-off. The 72-year-old […]

Philippine Coast Guard accuses Chinese vessels of ‘dangerous’ maneuvers

    MANILA, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday accused Chinese vessels of “dangerous” manoeuvres during a nine-day patrol near a reef off the coast of the Southeast Asian country. The Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was deployed in early February to patrol the waters around Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea, and “ensure the safety of Filipino fishermen in the area”. The reef has […]

Indonesia set for presidential vote, ex-general tipped to win

By Jack MOORE JAKARTA, Feb 11, 2024 (AFP) – Indonesians vote in a presidential election Wednesday with Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto the clear favourite after a campaign mixing nationalist rhetoric and pledges to continue the era of popular outgoing leader Joko Widodo. The former general lost to Widodo in 2014 and 2019 but is on course to finally lead the world’s third-largest democracy after rehabilitating his image. Widodo is constitutionally barred from running for a […]

Myanmar junta enforces military service law following battlefield losses

YANGON, Myanmar, Feb 10, 2024 (AFP) – Myanmar’s junta is enforcing a law allowing the military to summon all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve for at least two years, it said on Saturday, as it struggles to crush opposition to its 2021 coup. The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military takeover in February of that year, which ended a ten-year experiment with democracy and sparked mass protests […]

Quake halts search at Philippines landslide disaster site

MANILA, Feb 10, 2024 (AFP) – A strong earthquake in the southern Philipppines on Saturday halted a search for scores of people believed buried in a deadly landslide, forcing rescuers to vacate the area, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the magnitude 5.8 quake that shook the Mindanao region at 11:22 am (0322 GMT), but rescuers were ordered to stop their search in the remote gold-mining village of Masara. […]

World’s biggest flying lab takes off in Asia, fighting air pollution for millions

CLARK, Philippines, Feb 9, 2024 (AFP) – NASA has kicked off a series of marathon flights in Asia with the world’s biggest flying laboratory, in an ambitious mission to improve the models that help to forecast and fight air pollution. Millions of deaths each year are linked to air pollution, and improving the ability to identify its sources and behaviour can lead to more accurate warning systems for the public. Starting this week in the […]

Child rescued after almost 60 hours in Philippine landslide

MANILA, Feb 9, 2024 (AFP) – The rescue of a child on Friday nearly 60 hours after a landslide hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines has been hailed as a “miracle” after searchers had given up hope of finding anyone alive. The girl, whose age has not been disclosed, had been among the more than 100 people missing after the rain-induced landslide hit the village, killing at least 15 people. She was found […]