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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has cut off internet access in unrest-hit Papua over fears that a stream of offensive and racist online posts would spark more violent protests in the region, the government said Thursday. Riots and demonstrations brought several Papuan cities to a standstill this week, as buildings were torched and street battles broke out between police and protesters in Indonesia’s easternmost territory. A rebel insurgency against Jakarta’s rule has simmered for […]
(Agence France Presse) — The Philippine military announced plans to create all-Muslim fighting units on Saturday as it looks to bolster efforts to tackle Islamic insurgents. Five percent of all new applications will be allocated for Muslims under the new order, military spokespeson Colonel Edgard Arevalo said in a statement, adding the eventual aim was to have a dedicated brigade or division to be deployed in the country’s troubled south. The country is battling Muslim […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Hundreds of detained communist rebels in the Philippines are likely to be granted amnesty, officials said Monday, after fresh talks aimed at ending one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies. Government negotiators said in a statement they had submitted a proposal to President Rodrigo Duterte to free 434 communists accused of a range of crimes including murder, kidnapping and arson. “The (peace) panel has a commitment that there will be releases. We […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Five new orchid species have been discovered in remote Philippine mountains, protected from poaching because of an insurgency in the region, conservationists said Friday. The species are found only in a mountain range on the rebellion-torn Mindanao area in the southern Philippines and have eluded those cataloguing plant life for 200 years, expert Miguel David de Leon told AFP. Poaching of wild orchids mostly by locals is rampant in the Philippines, […]
