Southeast Asia has been a significant venue for strategic competition between the United States (US) and China for a long time.Given US President Donald Trump’s recent trend of policies towards the region, the US has seemed to adopt a more hands-off approach to the region.

The journalist who leads a news site that has battled Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte turned herself in on Monday to face what she termed a "manufactured" tax fraud case that carries the threat of a decade behind bars.A day after Rappler CEO Maria Ressa flew home to the Philippines under the threat of an arrest warrant, she surrendered at a Manila court and was allowed to remain free after paying a cash bail.

Home to the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia recently saw tens of thousands of its Muslims marching in Jakarta.

Cambodia said Monday that banned opposition members may be allowed back into political life and shuttered media outlets could reopen as the European Union (EU) considers pulling a trade deal the country is loath to lose.Numerous activists, journalists and government critics were released from jail in the months after strongman Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won all parliamentary seats in July elections held without the main opposition party.But the concessions did not deter the

A recent news report in Thailand has revealed that Thai netizens do not believe official government statistics regarding the actual number of tourist arrivals to the country. Several readers of a popular local news portal wrote similar comments in response to a statement made by the Sports and Tourism Minister. Some even made snide remarks attempting to point out just how ludicrous the statement was.

United State (US) President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to keep their trade war from escalating with a promise to halt the imposition of new tariffs for 90 days as the world’s two largest economies negotiate a lasting agreement.The truce between the US and China emerged after a highly anticipated dinner Saturday between Trump and Xi on the side-lines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Argentina.

Former United States (US) president George H.W.

Three Philippine policemen were sentenced on Thursday to decades in prison for murdering a teenager during an anti-narcotic sweep, a first conviction of officers carrying out President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.Duterte has vowed to pardon authorities involved in his bloody crackdown, but even he refused to defend the 2017 killing of Kian delos Santos in a dank Manila alley - which helped spark rare protests against the campaign.Police said the 17-year-old was a drug courier who fire

Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights recently voiced concerns regarding the launch of a mobile application by the Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office, which allows members of the public to report religious beliefs they consider “misguided”. The app, called “Smart Pakem”, features a list of groups including Ahmadiyyah as well as Gafatar, which the country’s highest Islamic council considers a deviant sect.

If it were only about economics, the outcome of the meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on the side-lines of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Argentina on Saturday would be a lot easier to predict: an immediate easing of trade tensions as a step toward reaching concrete agreements down the road.