Makeshift barricades of bamboo, brick and burning rubber tyres have lent the streets of Myanmar's largest city the look of an urban warzone, and now the military are forcing civilians to dismantle them, piece by piece...

Thai police used water cannon and rubber bullets outside Bangkok's Grand Palace Saturday, after demonstrators broke through a barricade of shipping containers to demand reforms to the kingdom's unassailable monarchy. It was the latest night of unrest since Thailand's pro-democracy movement kicked off in July, calling for an overhaul of Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha's administration and a rewrite of a military-scripted constitution.But their most controversial demands

A Burmese journalist with the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Myanmar language news service went "missing" on Friday, as civilians fled the coup-hit country's largest city after the junta's deadly crackdown on dissent. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February, triggering a mass uprising that security forces have sought to crush with a campaign of violence and fear. The junta has also gon

North Korea severed diplomatic ties with Malaysia on Friday, abruptly ending a once-close relationship that soured following the assassination of Kim Jong Un's half-brother in a Kuala Lumpur airport four years ago.Pyongyang's foreign ministry said it was responding to Malaysia's extradition of a North Korean citizen to the United States (US) this week – a move it labelled an "unpardonable crime" carried out under "blind obedience" to US pressure.Malaysia had

Myanmar's ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi faces fresh corruption charges from the ruling junta that her lawyer said Thursday were "groundless" but could ensure she would never be able to return to politics.The 1 February coup that toppled Suu Kyi's government has brought hundreds of thousands into the streets to confront the generals, who have responded with a brutal crackdown that has left at least 200 dead.The new military regime has already issued several crimin

More than 400 million doses of vaccines have been given around the world as of Thursday, according to a media tally.Despite the suspension of the AstraZeneca shot in more than a dozen countries, vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 continue to pick up speed, the count based on official sources found.In a sign of how the pace is picking up, the last 100 million people vaccinated got their jabs in 11 days - six times faster than it took to give the first 100 million.By Thursday at 1630 GMT, a

COVID-19 appears likely to develop into a seasonal disease, the United Nations (UN) said Thursday, cautioning though against relaxing pandemic-related measures simply based on meteorological factors.More than a year after the novel coronavirus first surfaced in China, a number of mysteries still surround the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 2.7 million people worldwide.In its first report, an expert team tasked with trying to shed light on one of those mysteries by examining poten

Chinese factories torched as mainland workers hunker down under martial law - Beijing is being pulled into the ulcerous crisis in Myanmar, an unravelling country it had carefully stitched into its big plans for Asia.During a January 2020 visit to Myanmar, Chinese President Xi Jinping elevated the Southeast Asian neighbour to "country of shared destiny" status, Beijing's highest diplomatic stripe.The aim was to nudge Myanmar decisively towards China - and away from the United St

Thailand's prime minister on Tuesday received the AstraZeneca vaccine as the Southeast Asian nation began the drug's rollout, lifting a suspension that was triggered by European nations raising safety concerns.The country became the first outside of Europe to temporarily delay the COVID-19 vaccine after several EU nations - including Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark - moved to delay it due to reports that some recipients had suffered blood clots.Thailand is already administering

Dressed in his army uniform, Shing Ling flashes a three-finger salute for defiant social media posts after deserting Myanmar’s military to join the democracy movement.The 30-year-old soldier posted the image on Facebook last week as security forces were staging increasingly lethal crackdowns against protesters. It racked up more than one thousand shares as commenters praised his bravery, before his profile went private.Since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from p