Myanmar's suffocating control of its Rohingya population amounts to "apartheid", Amnesty International said Tuesday in a probe into the root causes of a crisis that has sent 620,000 refugees fleeing to Bangladesh.Distressing scenes of dispossessed Rohingya in Bangladeshi camps have provoked outrage around the world, as people who have escaped Rakhine state since August recount tales of murder, rape and arson at the hands of Myanmar troops.Myanmar and Bangladesh have agreed in p

A manhunt was underway Tuesday for 20 ethnic Uighurs from China who made a daring escape from an immigration detention centre in southern Thailand, with police expecting them to make a dash for the border with Malaysia.Police said the group bored through two small holes into the wall of the centre in Sadao, near Thailand's southernmost border, using blankets to climb out as heavy rains masked their flight.The group have been held since 2014 despite their claims to be Turkish citizens.Tur

Glamorous Manhattan was once a swampy pit that was traded for a tiny island in the vast Banda Sea of Indonesia.350 years ago, the Banda Islands were once at the heart of the world’s biggest trade – spices. Historically known as the Spice Islands, they comprise of 10 smaller specks and have a population of just 15,000 people.During this time in history, the Banda Islands had a monopoly of the prized nutmeg that was valued more than gold where they saw an increase of 32,000% in price.

Cambodia’s democracy woes are far from over.On Thursday, the country’s Supreme court dissolved the main opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and banned 118 its politicians from office for five years.

In the battle against the car, space-starved Singapore has deployed road tolls, massive spending on public transport, and a licence fee that bumps the cost of an average vehicle to over 80,000 dollars.But urban planners looking for solutions to gridlock may find the draconian measures hard to replicate in other less-compliant cities.Singapore has gone further than any other major city to avoid the monster jams that have blighted Asian metropolises such as Jakarta or Manila.The tough approach

Widowed and alone 21-year-old Umme Kulthum had hoped for a fresh start in Bangladesh, but was forced into prostitution instead, falling victim to what aid groups and officials say is a growing trafficking scourge targeting refugees.Women and children make up the majority of the more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh, many escaping with only the clothes on their back and desperate to survive any way they can.Confined to congested tent c

Philippine troops detained and tortured civilians trying to flee a besieged southern city during a five-month battle with militants loyal to the Islamic State group, Amnesty International alleged Friday.The US-backed military campaign to retake Marawi claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people including around 900 militants, displaced 400,000 residents and reduced large parts of the city to rubble.

Indonesia has threatened to bar the world’s biggest social-media providers from operating in the country unless they comply with stringent demands to filter pornography and other content deemed obscene.Twitter, Alphabet, Google and a host of companies have been put on notice by Indonesian Communications Minister Rudiantara, who warned that “all platforms” now face serious consequences if they don’t adhere to government requests to block content.“The worst case is I will not allow them to be i

Myanmar troops gang-raped countless Rohingya women and girls during a military campaign that sent hundreds of thousands fleeing across the border to Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.The US-based rights group said in a report that the sexual violence, along with other atrocities committed by Myanmar security forces, amount to crimes against humanity.Based on interviews with rape survivors, aid organisations and Bangladeshi health officials, the report details cases of what it calle

The 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings were held in Manila from November 10-14.