The coronavirus pandemic's disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities, and protests triggered by George Floyd's death, have laid bare "endemic inequalities" in the United States, the UN rights chief said Tuesday, urging action.Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned that the COVID-19 crisis has had a worse impact on racial and ethnic minorities in the United States and a range of other countries."This virus is exposing endemic inequaliti

The Philippines has told the United States (US) it is suspending its bid to break off a key military pact, the two allies said Tuesday in a sharp turnaround of President Rodrigo Duterte's foreign policy.Duterte in February gave notice to Washington he was axing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) after accusing the US of interference in his internationally condemned narcotics crackdown.That began a 180-day countdown to ending the deal central to hundreds of joint military exercises with

Just yesterday, Malaysian media reported that a Rohingya man escaped from a quarantine centre at the Ministry of Health Malaysia’s Training Institute in Tanjung Rambutan, a small town in the west coast state of Perak. Local police are now on the hunt for the migrant.

Cambodia's prime minister invited foreign powers Monday to conduct military drills in the country as he called for overseas funding to build a pier and relocate an army training centre.But the strongman premier insisted that the country would not allow a foreign "military base on its territory".The Wall Street Journal reported last year on a draft deal allowing China to dock warships and store weapons at the Ream naval base near the coastal city of Sihanoukville.Hun Sen - a sta

Manila emerged on Monday from one of the world's longest coronavirus lockdowns as the Philippines seeks to repair its badly damaged economy even as the number of new infections surges.Streets in the capital were choked with traffic and limited public transport resumed as commuters flooded back to work in the city of 12 million after nearly three months of strict home quarantine.Most businesses have been allowed to reopen in the city, but schools, bars, dine-in restaurants all remain shut

The novel coronavirus crisis has introduced us a to a different world – one with a new normal. Temperature checks, social distancing, masks, work-from-home and distance learning are some of the new norms that all of us need to embrace and adapt to. Governments have imposed strict measures in order to break the chain of infections, this includes travel restrictions and citywide lockdowns.

Chinese state media took aim at the US government over the weekend as many American cities were gripped by raging protests and clashes, comparing the unrest with the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.Beijing has long been infuriated by criticism from Western capitals, especially Washington, over its handling of the pro-democracy protests that shook Hong Kong last year.And as unrest erupted across the United States over racial inequality and police brutality after the death during arrest of

President Donald Trump said Friday he would strip several of Hong Kong's special privileges with the United States (US) and bar some Chinese students from US universities in anger over Beijing's bid to exert control in the financial hub.In a day of concerted action, the US and Britain also raised alarm at the United Nations (UN) Security Council over a controversial new security law for Hong Kong, infuriating Beijing which said the issue had no place at the world body.In a White Hou