World

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Top Southeast Asian diplomats meeting in Cambodia’s capital intensified efforts Wednesday to stop the escalating violence in Myanmar and to address other pressing — and often divisive — regional issues. It is the first in-person meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has weakened economies and complicated diplomacy, and comes at a time of increased tensions between the United States and China, as well as global increases in food and energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “ASEAN has to deal with challenges of different types and levels but never before, never like this year, have we been confronted at the same time with so many perils for the region and the world

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Aug. 5 demonstrations by India’s main opposition Congress party against soaring food prices and unemployment began like any other recent protest — an electorally weak opposition taking to the New Delhi streets against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s massively popular government. The protests, however, quickly took a turn when key Congress lawmakers led by Rahul Gandhi — Modi’s main opponent in the last two general elections — trooped to the Parliament, leading to fierce standoffs with police. “Democracy is a memory (in India),” Gandhi later tweeted, describing the dramatic photographs that showed him and his party leaders being briefly detained by police. Gandhi’s statement was largely seen as yet another frantic effort by a crisis-ridden opposition party to shore up

Pol Col Kraivis warns business leaders to beware of cybercrimes. Leading global software trade group BSA has launched helplines in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to help businesses in the engineering, infrastructure and construction industries cope with challenges related to software copyright compliance. The decision followed reports about "ghost piracy", in which authorities report that design professionals working from home are illegally accessing software at their offices while working remotely on engineering, construction, and animation design projects. In Thailand, professionals working in the design industries are encouraged to dial 065-060-7402 to learn more about processes their companies can undertake to improve software licence compliance. Representatives ...

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has drawn bipartisan support at home and backing among the world’s democracies. Meanwhile, China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory with no right to an independent identity, has rallied support among fellow authoritarian states. The divided opinions speak both to China’s growing global influence and the backlash that has prompted among the world’s liberal societies. President Joe Biden’s administration was not openly supportive of Pelosi’s trip, with the president himself saying the military felt it was “not a good idea right now“ amid heightened tensions between the sides. China has responded to the visit by announcing a series of days-long military exercises surrounding Taiwan and issuing a stream of invective aim

Sri Lanka's next test In a win for democracy, mass protests in Sri Lanka recently led to the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. A strongman who won popularity for overseeing the end of the civil war in 2009 (while his older brother, Mahinda, was president), Gotabaya was elected in November 2019 and promised to safeguard national security and deliver prosperity. He failed miserably. Despite allegations of corruption, war crimes, and attacks on journalists, the Rajapaksa government had a powerful mandate, which was reinforced nine months later when the brothers' party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (the Sri Lanka People's Front), won a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Yet during his short tenure, the Rajapaksas drove the country into bankrupt...

Executed Myanmar prisoners deserved 'many death sentences': junta spokesman In Bangkok, hundreds of people staged a protest outside the Myanmar embassy over the junta's executions of four people -- its first in decades. YANGON: Myanmar's junta lashed out Tuesday against international condemnation of the country's first use of capital punishment in decades, saying the four executed prisoners -- two of them prominent democracy fighters -- "deserved many death sentences." The executions announced Monday sparked condemnation from around the globe, heightened fears that more will follow and prompted calls for sterner international measures against the already-isolated junta. But the military authorities were defiant, with spokesman Zaw Min Tun insisting the men "were given the right to defe...

Visiting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi waves to journalists during her arrival at the parliament in Taipei on Wednesday. (AFP photo) TAIPEI: China on Wednesday furiously condemned the highest-level US visit to Taiwan in 25 years as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the self-ruled island as "one of the freest societies in the world" and pledged American solidarity. Foreign Minister Wang Yi vowed to punish those who offend Beijing, state media reported, as the country seethes over Ms Pelosi's visit. "This is a complete farce. The United States is violating China's sovereignty under the guise of so-called 'democracy'... those who offend China will be punished," Mr Wang said on the sidelines of a meeting of Asean in Phnom Penh. Beijing demonstrated its anger with Ms Pelo...

People gather for Covid-19 vaccination at Bang Sue Grand Station in Bangkok last month. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul) It should take about three years from the emergence of Covid-19 for it to infect most of Thailand's population, a virologist said on Thursday citing past surveillance of the coronavirus. Within this period, most of the population will likely have been infected at least once, similar to influenza, Yong Poovorawan, chief of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Department of Paediatrics of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine, said on Thursday. Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, at the very end of 2019. The United States confirmed its first case on Jan 21, 2020, and Thailand reported its first local case of human-to-human transmission ...

Aiming to generate 9 billion baht in income from its foreign banking business next year Ms Kattiya in front of KBank's newly opened branch in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Kasikornbank (KBank) has studied bad asset management business in the Asian market, in line with the region's higher distressed debt because of the Covid-19 pandemic, said a KBank executive. The bank has been approached by some parties in the regional market on bad asset sales from other financial institutions based in the region, especially China, Vietnam and Indonesia, according to KBank's executive vice-president Pattarapong Kanhasuwan. Initially KBank did not pay much attention to the regional bad asset management business market, mainly due to the unclear direction of such business in the countries, Mr Pattarapong ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi flew into Taiwan on an Air Force passenger jet, she became the highest-ranking American official in 25 years to visit the self-ruled island. China announced military maneuvers in retaliation, even as Taiwanese officials welcomed her and she headed to her hotel. The reason her visit Tuesday ratcheted up tension between China and the United States: China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and it views visits by foreign government officials as them recognizing the island’s sovereignty. President Joe Biden has sought to calm that complaint, insisting there’s no change in America’s longstanding “one-China policy,” which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. Pelosi portrays her high-profile trip as