Straits Times Interactive - SE ASIA

Indonesia must guarantee press freedom: Rights group

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:30:00 GMT

JAKARTA (AFP) - Media rights group Reporters Without Borders called on Indonesian authorities on Saturday to put extra efforts into ensuring press freedom after a series of media freedom violations in the country.

Excited crowds greet Suu Kyi on campaign trail

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:48:00 GMT

KAWHMU, Myanmar (AFP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was greeted by cheering crowds on Saturday as she hit the campaign trail in the constituency where she is standing for parliament for the first time.

Myanmar frees monk held for questioning

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:11:00 GMT

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar officials have freed a leading dissident Buddhist monk after a brief detention, his monastery said on Saturday, following a call from the United States for his immediate release.

Suu Kyi on campaign trail for own parliament seat

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:57:00 GMT

KAWHMU, Myanmar (AFP) - Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will on Saturday begin campaigning in the constituency near Yangon where she is standing for parliament after years of official marginalisation.

Filipino civil servant earns $295 a month and drives a Porsche

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

MANILA - On the surface, it looked like any old road-rage case, except that this one escalated well beyond the everyday realm of fisticuffs.

Indonesian province's new rule: Hubby works, but wife gets paid

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

JAKARTA - An Indonesian province has come up with what it hopes is one way of preventing its male civil servants from cheating on their wives - by putting their pay into their spouses' pockets.

Myanmar political exiles return after 2 decades

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar academics who fled a brutal crackdown on student protests over two decades ago returned to their homeland for the first time on Friday in a gesture of support for the country's reforms.

Protesters in Malaysia denounce Syrian violence

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:12:00 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - More than 150 Syrians demonstrated in Malaysia's capital on Friday to demand the ouster of the government of President Bashar al-Assad over its campaign to violently crush regime opponents.

Malaysia sends forensic experts to Philippines to identify dead militants

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:10:00 GMT

MANILA (AFP) - The Philippine military said on Friday Malaysia will send forensics experts to try to prove whether Filipino forces have killed three of South-east Asia's most-wanted terror suspects.

Dissident Myanmar monk held for questioning: Official

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:58:00 GMT

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar detained a prominent Buddhist monk for questioning on Friday, less than month since he was freed from jail where he was sent for leading an anti-government uprising, an official said.

Viral video of KFC fight takes racial turn

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR - An online video of a KFC staff member assaulting a customer has gone viral in Malaysia and degenerated into racial name-calling on the Internet, despite no clear evidence of racism in the video.

Clinton meets freed Myanmar activists in Washington

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AFP) - United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday welcomed activists from Myanmar including a comedian recently freed from prison as part of Washington's efforts to encourage reform in the country.

Indonesia to try 'terror mastermind' on Monday

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:50:00 GMT

JAKARTA (AFP) - An alleged mastermind of Indonesia's deadliest terrorist attack that killed more than 200 people in Bali a decade ago will stand trial on Monday, a court spokesman said.

Thai prime minister's party seeks charter change

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:06:00 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) - Thailand's ruling party has proposed a controversial plan to amend the country's constitution, which was drafted after a 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra from power.

Myanmar changes not like Arab Spring: State media

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:07:00 GMT

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar state media contrasted the country's reforms with the Arab Spring on Thursday, saying the nominally civilian government would avoid bloodshed in its transition to democracy.

Car bomb in Thailand's south kills 1, wounds 15

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:20:00 GMT

YALA, Thailand (AFP) - A car bomb killed at least one person and wounded another 15 in Thailand's violent deep south on Thursday, local hospital officials said.

US House moves to press Vietnam on rights

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:37:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AFP) - United States lawmakers moved forward on Wednesday on a bill that would curb aid to Vietnam unless it improves its human rights record, raising concern over the treatment of dissidents and religious practitioners.

Myanmar moves towards ending media censorship

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar is poised to adopt a new media law that could sweep away half a century of heavy-handed censorship, as an increasingly impatient press cautiously test the boundaries of newly-won freedoms.

Cambodia garments 'tribunal' turns up heat on big brands

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:11:00 GMT

PHNOM PENH (REUTERS) - A panel of international and local judges on Wednesday called on garment factories in Cambodia to urgently increase employees' salaries and pressed big international clothing brands to do more to improve working conditions.

Malaysian bank robbers escape with only $8

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:49:00 GMT

KOTA KINABALU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Two thieves who broke into a bank here and ransacked three floors of the building escaped with only RM20 (S$8.30) in loose change.

Malaysian bank robbers escape with only RM20

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:49:00 GMT

KOTA KINABALU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Two thieves who broke into a bank here and ransacked three floors of the building escaped with only RM20 (S$8.30) in loose change.

3 militants sentenced for Indonesia mosque bombing

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:44:00 GMT

TANGERANG, Indonesia (AP) - An Indonesian court has sentenced three Islamic militants to up to nine years in prison for their involvement in last year's suicide bombing at a mosque.

Indonesian police arrest Czech tourist in Papua

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:17:00 GMT

MANOKWARI, Indonesia (AFP) - Police in Indonesia's restive Papua region arrested a Czech tourist on Wednesday for taking photos of a pro-independence demonstration, district police said.

Philippines rolls out advertising campaign

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:52:00 GMT

MANILA (AFP) - The Philippines rolled out an advertising campaign on Wednesday to attract millions more tourists, confident that kidnappings in its rebellion-torn south would have little impact.

Philippine quake survivors beg for search help

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:43:00 GMT

LA LIBERTAD, Philippines (AFP) - Survivors of a deadly quake in the Philippines begged rescuers on Wednesday to keep searching for dozens of people buried in landslides, but officials said hopes of finding them alive were dim.