Southeast Asia | The Daily Star

  • Life term not necessary

    Malaysia must punish corrupt people but the problem has not reached such a stage that the corrupt should be sentenced to life in prison, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

  • Bangladesh and Malaysia minister held a meeting on September 25

    Labour Hiring in Malaysia: All licensed agencies can now operate

    Bangladesh and Malaysia yesterday decided to allow all licensed recruiting agencies of Bangladesh for placement of workers in the Southeast Asian country, following allegations of a monopoly in labour recruitment by a syndicate of ten agents since early 2017.

  • Thai junta chief eyes role in politics after election

    Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is "interested in politics," he said yesterday, a sign that he sees a public role for himself after a general election promised next year.

  • Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the United Nations General Assembly

    Ending Rohingya Crisis: PM places 3 proposals at UN meet

    Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday made three recommendations for solving the Rohingya crisis at its root, including abolition of discriminatory laws, policies and practices of Myanmar against the minority group.

  • Dr Mahathir Mohamad

    Proton was a success: Dr Mahathir

    Still championing his cause for a third national car project, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad rubbishes claims that Proton was a failure.

  • Maldives Votes: Yameen seeks second term

    Polling booths in the Maldives closed yesterday after voting hours were extended in a controversial election marred by police raids on the opposition and allegations of rigging in favour of strongman president Abdulla Yameen.

  • Indonesia kicks off presidential race

    Campaigning for Indonesia's presidential election in April kicked off yesterday, pitting incumbent Joko Widodo against a former military general in the race to lead the world's third-biggest democracy. Opinion polls show Widodo, whose down-to-earth style has made him popular with Indonesians, well ahead of his main challenger Prabowo Subianto.

  • Thai woman claims self defence after biting Indian tourist's lip

    An Indian tourist is injured when a Thai woman bit his lip during a street fight on Pattaya's Walking Street, police says.

  • India launches nat’l database on sexual offenders

    India launches its first national online registry for sexual offenders in a bid to check crimes against women and children. A separate portal, which will allow anonymous complaints on objectionable online content, is also launched.

  • Ex-PM hit with 25 new charges

    Malaysian prosecutors yesterday charged former Prime Minister Najib Razak with 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power over hundreds of millions of dollars received in his personal bank account.

  • Imran writes to Modi

    Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking that India and Pakistan resume dialogue that has been suspended since 2015. In the letter addressing the PM as "Modi Sahab", Imran Khan also suggests a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries.

  • India top court reserves verdict

    India's Supreme Court yesterday reserved its judgement on a plea seeking the immediate release of five leading rights activists accused of having links with Maoists and in connection with violence during a backward caste rally.

  • ICC referral may need to be considered over Rohingya treatment: UK

    British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt says the international community should consider referring the treatment of Rohingya in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court unless those responsible are tried and held accountable in the country.

  • 12 killed, dozens missing in new Philippine landslide

    Twelve people are killed and dozens missing after a landslide unleashed by monsoon rains struck in the central Philippines, inflicting more misery on the already storm-battered nation.

  • Former columnist jailed for 'abusive' posts on Suu Kyi

    A former columnist for state media has been jailed for seven years for "abusive" Facebook posts about Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a court official said yesterday, the latest case threatening free expression in the country.

  • Philippines typhoon toll hits 81, set to rise

    The death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Mangkhut has climbed to 81 and could hit triple digits as searchers dig through a landslide where dozens are presumed dead, authorities said yesterday. Mangkhut swamped farm fields in the north and smashed houses when it tore through with winds and heavy rains.

  • New Malaysia child marriage draws UN condemnation

    The marriage of a 15-year-old Malaysian girl to a man almost three times her age drew condemnation from the United Nations yesterday, putting fresh pressure on the Muslim-majority country to halt such unions.

  • UN's Myanmar probe: Crimes of the highest order

    A United Nations probe into abuses against the Rohingya committed by Myanmar's military, released yesterday, determined the level of brutality employed was "hard to fathom". Here are extracts from the speech delivered by Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar in Geneva, as he unveiled the report.

  • Philippines storm toll climbs to 74

    The death toll in Typhoon Mangkhut hit 74 yesterday, Philippine authorities said, as rescuers used their bare hands to sift through a massive landslide in which dozens were feared killed in the worst-hit region.

  • 5 South Asia countries to form regional network

    Senior government officials of five South Asian countries in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region have agreed to form a regional network to boost their mountain economies and slow down glacier and snowmelt caused by climate change and pollution.

  • ROHINGYA CRACKDOWN: Russian 'FB' bans top Myanmar general

    Russian social media site VKontakte (VK) has followed Facebook by banning Myanmar's army chief and a nationalist monk known for stirring up Islamophobia in a country condemned globally for the treatment of its Rohingya Muslims.

  • Thailand eases ban on political activities

    Thailand partially eased its ban on political activities, the ruling junta announced yesterday, allowing political parties to recruit new members for the first time in four year as the countdown begins for a much-anticipated national poll.

  • Malaysia charges ex-PM's lawyer

    Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak's chief lawyer was arrested and charged with money laundering yesterday, as authorities intensified

  • Thai opposition urges junta to lift politics ban

    The toppled Thai opposition yesterday called on the ruling junta to lift the ban on political activities as the countdown begins for the kingdom's first election since a 2014 coup.

  • UN report details silencing of independent journalism in Myanmar

    A host of ill-defined laws is used in Myanmar to exert control over independent journalism across the country, including in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states, a UN human rights report on freedom of expression in the country finds.

  • AI could mean 28m jobs lost

    New technology could mean 28 million jobs being lost in the ASEAN region.

  • Reprieve for foreign workers in Malaysia

    Foreign workers holding the Visit Pass -- Temporary Employment (PLKS) for the past 10 years will be given a reprieve to continue working in Malaysia, says the country's Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran.

  • Rakhine State

    UN gets access to Rakhine

    The UN began work inside Myanmar's violence-torn northern Rakhine state yesterday, the first time its agencies have been granted permission to operate there since more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the area last year.

  • Nawaz, daughter to attend Kulsoom’s funeral

    The cancer-stricken wife of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif dies in London while her husband and daughter were in prison, officials say.

  • S'pore to return $11m of 1MDB to Malaysia

    A Singapore court has ordered the return of millions of dollars misappropriated from Malaysian state fund 1MDB in a cross-border

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