Latest Southeast Asia News
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Hezbollah Fighters Pose New Threat In Syria
WASHINGTON -- The civil war in Syria is taking a new, and possibly ominous turn, in the battle for Qusair, a small but strategic town near the frontier with Lebanon. For the first time, the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have been fighting Syrian troops backed by a large contingent of battle-hardened guerrillas from Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese ...
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Thai army chief urges self-imposed curfew for teachers
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand's army chief on Wednesday urged teachers in the country's insurgency-racked south to stay at home after 6pm to avoid falling victim to militants as the new school year gets under way.Nearly 160 teachers and other school staff have been killed during a nine-year-old insurgency that has gripped Thailand's Muslim-majority deep south, bordering Malaysia.Recent ...
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Catholic Church in Philippines Holds Mass in Malls
Early on a Sunday morning, people are already streaming into a massive shopping mall in Manila. The seven-story Robinsons Place is a temple of consumerism. It houses about 350 stores, including gun shops, dental offices, massage parlors, and a Kenny Rogers Roaster. The music and the crowds can be a little overwhelming after a while. But up on the fourth floor, next to the Cineplex and a barber ...
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Li China Pakistan to be good brothers forever
/enpproperty--> ISLAMABAD - China and Pakistan will always be good partners and brothers that are reliable and sincere to each other, visiting ...
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Looking at Pakistans new era under Nawaz Sharif for the 3rd time
Good, bad or ugly, the 2013 elections are over; and now testing times are ahead for the new incumbents. It is the third coming for Nawaz Sharif, a remarkable turn of fortune for a leader who was ousted from power by the military at gunpoint in 1999 and convicted on treason ...
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French-Asian consortium announces winning of Canada natural gas project
PARIS--A consortium comprising French, South Korean and Chinese companies has won a contract for a liquefied natural gas project in Canada, the French partner Technip said on ...
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Jobless Karachi man finds fame in Dubai
Naseem Khan, "a twenty-something simpleton" from a suburb of Karachi came to Dubai in April, but got lost in search of a job, identity and a means to "send back more" for a sister on ...
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International Watchdog Iran Expands Nuclear Activities
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has made a significant step toward building a reactor that Western experts say could provide a second path to possibly producing material for a nuclear ...
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Thai Same-Sex Marriage Bill Not Without Controversy
BANGKOK, THAILAND -- As the debate on same-sex marriage continues in Western nations, including the United States, Thailand could become the first country in Asia to legalize gay marriage. Thailand is known for its liberal acceptance of sexuality, but the draft same-sex marriage law is not without controversy. This is a traditional Thai wedding, except there is no groom. There are two ...
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Council of Europe Concerned About Russias Human-Rights Record
MOSCOW -- Thorbjorn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe, has told President Vladimir Putin that the human rights body is concerned about Russia's law requiring non-governmental organizations to register as foreign agents. Jagland said Europe will watch how the Kremlin implements the law that went in effect last November, a measure requiring non-governmental organizations ...
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Boko Haram’s Funding Remains Elusive
A poster advertising for the search of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is pasted on a wall in Baga village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in the north-eastern state of Borno, Nigeria, May 13, ...
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Pope Urges Catholics in China to Stay Loyal to Vatican
During his weekly address Wednesday in St. Peter's Square, the pope called for prayers so Chinese Catholics can live their lives "in the service of their country and fellow citizens," in a way that is consistent with their faith. China's government does not have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. The two sides have regularly clashed over China's ...
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Asian Water Summit Focuses on Security Disaster
CHIANG MAI, THAILAND -- Resource experts say many Asian countries face a potential water crisis unless they address mismanagement that could lead to severe shortages of clean water. Other states struggle to contain massive floods. The site of a just-concluded regional summit on the managing water supplies and disasters. There was no sign of a water shortage here in northern Thailand as ...
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DBS allowed a stake in Danamon as Singapore and Indonesia trade horses
If bank regulators played high-stakes poker - and who knows, perhaps they do - then the conversation between Indonesia and Singapore around the green baize would have gone something like this: "I'll see your money for our bank - and I'll raise you access for ours to your market." Indonesia's central bank has finally approved DBS taking a stake in Bank Danamon. However it ...
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Video Pakistans Imran Khan leaves hospital after two weeks
Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan leaves hospital after treatment for back injuries suffered in a fall during a political ...
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Tough Stand urged if p Penh tables plan
Govt prepared to boycott World Heritage meeting: Preecha Ministry officials are concerned Cambodia might again table a universal management plan for the disputed area around the Preah Vihear Temple at a Unesco World Heritage Committee (WHC) meeting in Phnom Penh next month. They will recommend to Cabinet next week that Thailand take a tough stand should Cambodia put forward the plan at the 37th ...
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Police say they know identities of Central World arson suspects
Police are gathering evidence in support of arrest warrants for two suspected arsonists and six alleged accomplices in relation to the Central World Mall fire during the 2010 riots. Following a meeting yesterday to discuss the progress of the Central World arson probe, Metropolitan Police chief Khamronwit Thoopkrajang said investigators had identified two suspected arsonists from photographs and ...
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Im not here to sling mud new govt spokesman
The new government spokesman said his duty was not to engage in daily political attacks but to better communicate the government's policies to the public. Acknowledging his closeness to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, newly appointed spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi said he would focus on making her policies better understood by the people. Teerat was speaking before leaving for Japan with ...
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Nepal - In Nepal press faces litigation for critical coverage of courts
Judicial authorities in Nepal should stop targeting outlets of the Kathmandu-based Kantipur Publications and dismiss a case filed against the organization and one of its journalists that accuses them of contempt of court, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on May 16, 2013.On Monday May 13, lawyer Anjani Kumar Pokhrel filed a case against Kantipur Publications and journalist Vijaya Kumar ...
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Burma - In Burma telecoms risk complicity in surveillance censorship
International telecommunications companies risk being linked to human rights abuses if they enter the Burmese market before adequate protections are in place, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released on May 19 2013. Burma's human rights reforms thus far have been inadequate, including in the Internet and telecommunications sector, so companies entering the country should adopt ...
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Abe to visit Myanmar to plug investments
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Myanmar from Friday to Sunday to boost bilateral economic ties, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday.During his visit, Abe, who will be accompanied by a group of Japanese business leaders, is expected to hold talks with Myanmar's leaders and senior officials to discuss bilateral economic cooperation, said Suga. He will ...
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HM King Hamad Receives Singaporean Chief of Defence Force
Manama-May-22(BNA)His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa today received at Al-Safriya Palace Singapore's Chief of Defence Force Major-General Ng Chee Meng and hailed strong bilateral relations. HM the King asserted Bahrain's keenness on promoting cooperation in all fields, stressing the importance of exchanging visits and expertise to bolster ties. He extended greetings to ...
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Pakistans Gwadar port to be connected to China via road rail and air
Islamabad: In a significant move, China today signed a pact with Pakistan which will connect the latter's strategically important port of Gwadar to it via rail, road and air routes. The crucial deal was inked during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Islamabad today.China had taken over operations at the port earlier this year, a move that had upset India.Once complete, the port, ...
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It’s Time for Burma’s President to Act
and several diplomats in Rangoon suggested that the central orders for the offensive did not come from the president's office, and some Western observers have told me in private conversations that a "rogue commander" was at work, out of the control of the president and commander-in-chief. Continued army operations were cast as "defensive actions," interpreted liberally ...
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Bangladesh building collapse owner blamed
THE head of an official inquiry into the deadly collapse of a Bangladesh factory complex says the building's owner was the "main culprit" for the disaster because he violated construction codes. The cave-in of the nine-storey Rana Plaza outside the capital last month killed more than 1100 workers in the country's worst industrial disaster. "He (owner Sohel Rana) is the main ...
Bangladesh in Focus
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Myanmar refugees in Bangladesh, the politics of their situation is more important than the human impact
Bangladesh and Myanmar have been disputing their sea border for years, and in recent months tensions on the land border have mounted as claims of interference and counter-claims of provocation are made by both countries, now the politics of territorial dispute have come to have a direct bearing on the respect for human life and development.
In October of 2009, the government of Bangladesh received a report from its military officials detailing a credible threat of attack from Myanmar, they feared that St Martin’s island in the Bay of Bengal, a region increasingly important economically for hydrocarbons, would be attacked and captured by Myanmar, and called for the government to strengthen the defensive capability of the island which has a circumference of just 3 miles. Read more
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