An American warship on Sunday sailed close to a disputed island in the South China Sea occupied by Beijing, as part of an operation to demonstrate freedom of navigation in the waters, a US official said. The destroyer USS Stethem passed less than 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from tiny Triton Island in the Paracel … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to jail critics of his use of martial law in the violence-wracked south, days before the Supreme Court is set to rule on its legality this week. Duterte declared military rule across the region of Mindanao, home to about 20 million people, in late May to quell what he … Read more
Barack Obama called for tolerance and respect in his childhood home of Indonesia Saturday, amid rising religious tensions in the country where the former US president spent four years as a boy. At the end of a 10-day family holiday, Obama spoke to a packed crowd in the capital Jakarta, where he praised the spirit … Read more
Apple opened its first store in Taiwan on Saturday with more than a thousand shoppers flocking to the site located in the island’s landmark skyscraper and tallest building, Taipei 101. The launch comes just weeks after the US tech giant unveiled a Singapore branch — its first in Southeast Asia — which it expects to … Read more
Former US president Barack Obama arrived Friday in his former childhood home Jakarta, where he met Indonesia’s president at the end of a ten-day family holiday. Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo met with Obama at the presidential palace on the outskirts of Jakarta, with Obama delighting local media by greeting Widodo with “apa kabar” — how … Read more
Rodrigo Duterte ends his first year as Philippine president on Friday as a hugely popular leader, after taking Filipinos on a promised “rough ride” of drug war killings and foreign policy U-turns. Duterte has been heavily criticised for his unprecedented crackdown on drugs, which has claimed thousands of lives, and he marks 12 months in … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte marks his first year in power on Friday. Here are key numbers that help explain key events and issues surrounding his presidency: The number of people police have reported killing as part of Duterte’s controversial campaign to eradicate illegal drugs from society. Duterte has made his so-called “drug war” the top … Read more
China vowed Thursday to continue providing the Philippines with “necessary assistance”, a day after Beijing donated thousands of weapons to the country to help its fight against Islamist gunmen. Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks during a visit by his Philippine counterpart Alan Peter Cayetano and pledged China’s help with reconstruction efforts in the … Read more
Barack Obama took his wife and daughters to the ancient Borobudur temple on Java on Wednesday on a family vacation to Indonesia, where the former US president spent part of his childhood. The Obamas arrived in the city of Yogyakarta in central Java and headed straight to explore the Borobudur, an ancient Buddhist temple built … Read more
China on Wednesday donated thousands of guns to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to help Manila in its battle against Islamist gunmen who are holed up in a southern city. The small shipment of assault and sniper rifles and ammunition is the first example of Chinese military aid since Duterte threatened to move away from Manila’s … Read more
Fears were mounting on Tuesday for three Myanmar journalists who are being interrogated by the military after they were detained under a restrictive junta-era law for reporting on an ethnic armed group. The three were stopped as they travelled back from a drugs-burning ceremony organised by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in the eastern … Read more
Islamist militants occupying parts of a southern Philippine city used a water route to bring in ammunition and evacuate wounded fighters, helping them withstand a five-week military offensive, the army said Tuesday. The extremists fighting under the black banner of the Islamic State (IS) group have remained holed up in pockets of Marawi, weathering daily … Read more
A Roman Catholic priest abducted by Islamist militants who seized parts of a southern Philippine city has been seen alive, the military said Monday, as troops pressed on with their offensive. Air and artillery bombardment of enclaves occupied by the militants in the largely Muslim city of Marawi resumed after an eight-hour truce Sunday to … Read more
Myanmar and Thailand started torching nearly $1 billion worth of seized narcotics on Monday, a defiant show of force as law enforcement struggles to stem the rising flow of drugs in the region. The burnings, to mark world anti-drugs day, follow another year of record seizures of narcotics from the remote borderlands of Myanmar, Laos, … Read more
The Philippine armed forces declared an eight-hour ceasefire Sunday in its ongoing offensive against Islamist militants occupying parts of the war-torn city of Marawi to allow residents to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Military chief General Eduardo Ano said his forces would implement a “humanitarian pause” during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in Marawi, which is … Read more
A US military court has charged an Indonesian detainee at Guantanamo Bay in connection with the 2002 bombing in Bali, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press news agency. The detainee, known as Hambali, was also charged in connection with an attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2003. According to rules … Read more
One of America’s most wanted terrorists may have escaped a five-week battle with Islamist militants in a southern Philippine city, which began with a raid to capture him, the military said Saturday. Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant said to be the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group in Southeast Asia, has not been … Read more
Barack Obama kicked off a 10-day family holiday in Indonesia that will take in Bali and Jakarta, the city where he spent part of his childhood, officials said on Saturday. The casually dressed former president arrived in the resort island of Bali with his wife Michelle and their two daughters, a local military commander said. … Read more
Two foreign inmates who tunnelled their way out of a Bali prison have been captured in East Timor, police said Friday, in the latest prison break case in Indonesia. Bulgarian Dimitar Nikolov Iliev and Indian Sayed Mohammed Said were caught at a hotel in Dili Thursday morning after arriving on a boat illegally from Indonesia. … Read more
A dusty teddy bear strewn on the floor, family photos on a wall and dried underwear on a clothesline are among the few remnants of life in deserted homes of a Philippine city left in ruins by war. A dog eats the carcass of a cat on a street littered with rubbish where soldiers patrol, … Read more