Nine people have been arrested in Thailand for spreading "fake news" on Facebook with posts about sacked election officials and bogus ballots in the wake of controversial polls in the kingdom.Junta-ruled Thailand held its first vote since a 2014 coup on Sunday, with a military-backed party and its main rival linked to a self-exiled billionaire both claiming the right to govern. Fully ratified results will not be confirmed for weeks but questions are mounting over election i

Adultery and gay sex in Brunei will be subject to death by stoning from next week, authorities said, under a strict Sharia law that has been on hold for four years amid heavy criticism.Rights groups reacted in horror Wednesday to the latest hard-line move from the resource-rich nation on Borneo, which practises a stricter brand of Islam than its neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia.The tiny sultanate will implement the harsh new penal code – which also prescribes amputation of a hand and foot fo

Seven political parties formed a coalition in Thailand on Wednesday, vowing to thwart a military-backed proxy in a bid to end years of junta rule following the country's first election since a 2014 coup.A junta-aligned party and its main rival have both claimed the right to govern the country after Sunday's vote, prompting a political standoff.Questions over irregularities are swirling following invalidated ballots and accusations of skewed numbers.Pheu Thai, affiliated with self-ex

Indonesia’s Sandiaga Uno has spent nearly US$100 million of his private equity fortune to defeat Joko Widodo in next month’s election. It may be a down payment on his own presidential ambitions.Just a few years ago, Uno was relatively unknown in Indonesian politics.

Thai pro-democracy factions on Tuesday moved to unite and thwart a junta-backed party from forming a government after the first election since a 2014 coup.The junta appeared to be in pole position to return to power as a civilian administration after preliminary results from Sunday's poll showed its proxy party had secured an unexpected majority of the popular vote.Around 7.6 million votes went to Phalang Pracharath with 94 percent of ballots tallied, the Election Commission has said.Tha

China is trying to establish a "new world media order" to prevent and counter criticism, a project that threatens press freedom globally, watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned in a report released Monday.Communist authorities in China strictly control the flow of information to citizens, including through the "Great Firewall" which blocks access to websites and content deemed inappropriate by the state.But the bid to regulate information is not limited to China,

Thailand's election was "rigged" to ensure the military retain their grip on power, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a towering behind-the-scenes figure in the politically turbulent kingdom, said on Monday.Junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha, an arch foe of ousted billionaire tycoon Thaksin, appears poised for victory after his army-linked party made a strong showing in Sunday's poll, aided by a new constitution that gives him a head start.Election officials delayed without e

Indonesia's national carrier Garuda has told Boeing it will cancel a multi-billion-dollar order for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets after the model was involved in two fatal crashes.The move could spark more cancellations from other major carriers, an aviation analyst said, as Boeing and United States (US) federal regulators get set to face their first public grilling by Congress since the deadly incidents."We have sent a letter to Boeing requesting that the order be cancelled," Garud

Thailand's ruling junta took an unexpected lead in the country's first election since a 2014 coup with more than 90 percent of ballots counted, election authorities said late Sunday, putting it on course to return to power at the expense of the kingdom's pro-democracy camp.The election, which saw an insipid 64 percent turnout, was held under new laws written by the military to smooth its transformation into a civilian government.While it had set the rules of the game in its fav

While campaigning for the Indonesian presidential election is slated to begin soon, a report has revealed that millennials in Indonesia are disenchanted with the country’s political establishment.The report was based on internal research carried out by presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto’s campaign team which shows that half of the country’s millennials are unlikely to vote because they see politics as what Prabowo’s running mate, Sandiaga Uno refers to as "too dirty and too