The deployment of 220 Chinese vessels to the Julian Felipe Reef (aka Whitsun Reef), which lies in the Spratly Islands, well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), has once again alerted Southeast Asian nations to China’s ever-growing assertiveness in the South China Sea (SCS).Criticising this unilateral, aggressive act, Delfin Lorenzana, Philippine Defense Minister called on the Chinese ships to back off, claiming that they are violating his nation’s

Myanmar freed more than 600 coup detainees on Wednesday, including an Associated Press (AP) photographer arrested while covering rallies, following fresh outrage over brutal crackdowns on protesters.The regime has unleashed a deadly wave of violence as it struggles to quell nationwide protests against the 1 February ouster and arrest of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.The 75-year-old was due to have a court hearing on Wednesday in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, on criminal charges that co

More than a thousand Thai pro-democracy protesters took over a major Bangkok intersection on Wednesday, defying authorities in the first major rally since police used rubber bullets against demonstrators over the weekend.Thailand's protest movement kicked off in July, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's government and a rewrite of a military-scripted constitution.But the most controversial demand is to reform the untouchable monarchy, including the abol

These sad truths about mass shootings in the United States (US) are self-evident:1.    In a country with easy access to guns, there will be mass shootings.

Vladimir Putin has been vaccinated against COVID-19, partly to encourage other Russians who remain deeply reluctant to get the jab.Although he has previously been filmed on horseback, ice skating and flying with Siberian cranes, he chose to be vaccinated behind closed doors.

Myanmar activists planned more anti-coup protests on Wednesday, including a silent strike with many businesses due to close and calls for people to stay home, a day after a seven-year-old girl was killed in her home when security forces opened fire during a crackdown in Mandalay.Pro-democracy protesters also held more candle-lit vigils overnight including in a district of the commercial capital Yangon and in Thahton in Mon State.The vigils come after staff at a funeral service in Mandalay tol

North Korea fired several missiles just days after a visit to the region by the top United States (US) defense and diplomatic officials, the White House said Tuesday, in Pyongyang's first overt challenge to the Biden administration.But administration officials, speaking anonymously, downplayed the missiles as "common" military testing and said they would not block Washington's efforts to engage with North Korea on denuclearisation.Two missiles were fired on Sunday, they co

Myanmar's junta on Tuesday defended its seven-week crackdown that has left more than 260 democracy protesters dead, insisting it would not tolerate "anarchy".The junta has unleashed deadly violence as it struggles to quell nationwide protests against the 1 February ousting of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.In a news conference in the capital Naypyidaw, junta spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun put the death toll lower at 164."I am sad because these violent terrorist

Five people are feared dead and at least 20,000 Rohingya have fled a huge blaze engulfing shanty homes at refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh, officials said Monday, in the third fire to hit the settlements in four days.Nearly one million of the Muslim minority from Myanmar - many of whom fled a military crackdown in their homeland in 2017 - live in cramped and squalid conditions at the camps in the Cox's Bazar district.Officials said the fire apparently started in one of the 34 cam

The European Union (EU) and the United States (US) slapped sanctions Monday on top police and military commanders linked to last month's coup in Myanmar, as pro-democracy demonstrators went back to the streets in defiance of a violent crackdown on protest.The junta is increasingly using deadly force to crush activists who have risen up against the military's ousting of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February.In a bid to pile international pressure on the regime, the European