Southeast Asia | The Daily Star

  • ‘Godse Killed Gandhi, Pragya killed His Soul’

    Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi yesterday said Mahatma Gandhi is above power and politics and people like Pragya Singh Thakur are killing the soul of India and the BJP should expel her from the party.

  • Death toll in Shanghai building collapse rises to 10

    The death toll in the collapse of a Shanghai commercial building that was undergoing renovation rises to 10 overnight, the city government says.

  • Malaysian teen took own life after Instagram poll

    A Malaysian teenager who posted an Instagram poll asking if she should live or die took her own life after a majority of respondents

  • Thai king endorses junta-appointed senators

    Scores of junta loyalists were endorsed as members of Thailand’s 250-strong senate yesterday, packing the upper house with allies likely

  • Snap financial ties with Myanmar armed forces

    The world must cut off financial and other support for Myanmar’s armed forces, a UN fact-finding mission said yesterday, repeating a call for top generals to be prosecuted for abuses against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

  • Millions vote in Philippine elections crucial to Duterte

    Filipinos headed to the polls yesterday in a vote that is expected to strengthen President Rodrigo Duterte’s grip on power, opening the

  • Small parties back junta chief to stay in power

    Eleven small Thai parties that each gained a parliamentary seat after a disputed electoral rule change will back the main pro-army party, leaders said yesterday, giving the ruling junta chief who launched a 2014 coup enough votes to stay in power.

  • SL arrest throws spotlight on Wahhabism in eastern hotbed

    Sri Lankan authorities have arrested a Saudi-educated scholar for what they claim are links with Zahran Hashim, the suspected ringleader of the Easter Sunday bombings, throwing a spotlight on the rising influence of Salafi-Wahhabi Islam on the island's Muslims.

  • 100 inmates flee jail in Indonesia

    More than 100 inmates escaped from an Indonesian jail on Sumatra island yesterday, police said, in the latest breakout to hit the

  • Suu Kyi tries to save face

    After relentless diplomatic pressure and global outrage, fallen democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi finally decided that a pardon for two Myanmar journalists jailed for reporting on a Rohingya massacre was the only way to resolve an issue that has dogged her government for nearly 18 months.

  • N Korea fires ‘projectile’ as US envoy visits South

    North Korea welcomed a US envoy’s visit to Seoul by firing at least one projectile for the second time in a week yesterday, the South’s military said, as Pyongyang seeks to up the ante in deadlocked nuclear negotiations with Washington.

  • Malaysia criticised for failures on rights reforms

    Malaysia’s government yesterday faced criticism for failing to repeal repressive laws and backtracking on promises to improve human

  • Sacred oxen predict ‘abundant’ Thai harvest

    Thai astrologers yesterday predicted an “abundant” harvest after a pair of sacred white oxen munched on grass and rice, and slurped up

  • Stop bugging him: Duterte brushes off finger-sized pest

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte seemed unfazed when a finger-sized cockroach scrambled onto his shoulder as he spoke at a

  • Myanmar prison riot leaves 4 dead

    Four prisoners were killed during a riot at a northern Myanmar jail, officials said yesterday, coming on the heels of an amnesty which saw

  • S’pore passes fake news law despite criticism

    Singapore’s parliament Wednesday passed laws to combat “fake news” that will allow authorities to order the removal of online content despite

  • Thailand likely to keep junta leader as PM

    Thailand’s pro-army Palang Pracharat party was yesterday looking for coalition partners from a wide field of potential allies as it seeks to keep military junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led a 2014 coup, in office as prime minister.

  • Thai junta-backed party needs allies

    Thailand’s army-backed party needs only a small number of allies to get enough votes to allow coup leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha to cling to power, according to final election results released late yesterday that were immediately challenged by anti-junta rivals.

  • Elephants hail Thai King

    Marching in lockstep outside the royal palace in Bangkok’s historic old quarter, 11 elephants bowed and trumpeted in homage to

  • Indonesia thwarts bomb plots

    Indonesia has thwarted a bid by Islamic State-linked militants to stage a series of bombings when it announces official election results later this month, authorities said.

  • Situation still ‘dire’: UN

    The UN yesterday praised the release of two Reuters journalists jailed for reporting on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, but warned that freedom of expression remains heavily restricted in the country.

  • Indian PM Modi to visit Fani-ravaged Odisha today

    Cyclone Fani ravages vast areas of coastal Odisha, leaving behind a trail that was as bad as the 1999 super cyclone and very little information flowing from districts left everyone, including the government, virtually groping on the extent of damage even till date.

  • Myanmar troops kill 6, detain scores in Rakhine

    Myanmar security forces shot dead at least six people in the troubled western state of Rakhine yesterday, after soldiers and police

  • Severe Indonesia floods kill 10

    At least 10 people are dead and eight are missing after days of heavy rain-triggered floods and landslides on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, authorities said yesterday.

  • Only people can change the prime minister: Mahathir

    “Vote me out if you want,” says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in an apparent response to Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim's statement that the prime minister should be changed.

  • Hong Kong office hit: Amnesty

    Amnesty International’s Hong Kong office has been hit by a years-long cyberattack from hackers with known links to the Chinese government, the rights group said yesterday.

  • 50 feared dead in landslide at Myanmar jade mine

    More than 50 people are feared dead after a landslide in northern Myanmar engulfed jade miners while they were sleeping, local police say, the latest deadly accident in a notoriously dangerous industry.

  • Myanmar rejects final appeal by jailed Reuters journalists

    Myanmar’s top court rejects the appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven years in jail for breaking the Official Secrets Act, in a landmark case that has raised questions about the country’s transition to democracy.

  • Dr Mahathir Mohamad

    'Not just about skyscrapers, blue skies, clean rivers important too'

    Dr Mahathir Mohamad says Malaysia will not be successful as a developed nation, if it did not balance physical development with the preservation of nature and maintaining the existing environment.

  • ‘Move to Antarctica’

    Indonesia’s presidential challenger yesterday slammed pollsters as untrustworthy and said they should move to Antarctica so they could “lie to the penguins”, as he refused to concede defeat in this week’s election.

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