Southeast Asia
Troops back in border trade hub
Myanmar junta troops have moved back into a vital border town they were ousted from by an alliance of ethnic rebels and anti-junta fighters this month, military sources told AFP yesterday.
Maldives vows China-backed building boom, Indians out
The Maldives will press on with Chinese-backed construction and evict Indian troops from the strategically placed atoll nation, President Mohamed Muizzu’s office said yesterday, two days after his party’s stunning parliamentary victory.
WEST PAKISTAN / Gunmen kill 7 customs officials in two attacks
Unknown gunmen killed two customs officers in western Pakistan, officials said yesterday, following the killing of five other customs officials in the area in recent days.
Clashes resume near Thai-Myanmar border town: Thai army
Clashes between the Myanmar junta and armed ethnic groups have broken out again near a vital trade hub close to Thailand's border, an armed group spokesperson and the Thai army said Saturday, following a week of relative calm
Civil war in Myanmar poses grave threat to civilians: UN rights chief
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has warned that intensified fighting in Rakhine State between the military and the Arakan Army, alongside tensions being fuelled between the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine communities, pose a grave threat to the civilian population
Rohingya mark Eid in Indonesia limbo after treacherous sea voyage
At a damaged temporary shelter in western Indonesia, Rohingya men slick their hair with gel while women apply make-up and colourful hijabs to look the part for prayers at the start of Eid-al-Fitr festivities
Myanmar troops retreat to Thai border bridge after days of fighting
Some 200 Myanmar military personnel withdrew to a bridge connecting the border town of Myawaddy to Thailand on Thursday following a days-long assault in the area by anti-junta rebels, according to an ethnic armed group spokesman and local media
Myanmar junta forcefully recruits over 1,000 Rohingya men, boys: HRW
The junta is using a conscription law that only applies to Myanmar citizens, although the Rohingya have long been denied citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law
Thai parliament passes same-sex marriage bill
Thailand's parliament passed a same-sex marriage bill Wednesday, paving the way for the kingdom to become the first Southeast Asian nation to recognise LGBTQ marriage equality
Polls may not be held nationwide
Myanmar may not be able to hold its next election nationwide, the country’s junta chief admitted in comments published yesterday, as the military struggles to contain escalating violence against its rule.
13 killed in Philippine road crash
At least 13 people were killed in the southern Philippines on Monday after a collision between a dump truck loaded with sand and a passenger van, local authorities said
At least 38 Rohingyas killed by Myanmar military air strikes in recent weeks
15 children among those killed, says Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
UN alarmed by reports of casualties in airstrikes
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by reports that military airstrikes in Myanmar, including on Monday in Minbya township, have killed and injured many civilians, a UN spokesman said.
8 killed in Pak air strikes on Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s Taliban said yesterday that Pakistan carried out two air strikes on its territory, killing five women and three children, and it fired heavy weapons at Pakistani forces along the border in retaliation.
60 Afghans killed by weeks of snow, rain
At least 60 people have been killed by heavy rain and snow in Afghanistan over the past three weeks, the government’s disaster ministry said Wednesday.
Pak cabinet tasked with ending crisis
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the key members of his cabinet, tasking them with leading the country out of a crippling economic crisis fuelled by debt, spiralling inflation and a feeble rupee.
Indian troops begin Maldives pullout after quit order
India has begun withdrawing military personnel operating surveillance aircraft in the Maldives after the new pro-China president ordered them to leave, local media reported Tuesday
No Indian troops in Maldives after May 10
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu yesterday declared that Indian military personnel will not be present in the island nation after May 10.
