A senior UN official on Tuesday returned empty-handed from five days of talks in Myanmar where he appealed for the safe return of Muslim Rohingyas sheltering in Bangladesh and access for aid workers.Jeffrey Feltman, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, discussed the plight of the 582,000 Rohingyas who have fled an army campaign in Myanmar's Rakhine state since late August.Feltman met with Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and military commander-in-chief Gen

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday declared a southern city "liberated from terrorists' influence" but the military said the five-month battle against militants loyal to the Islamic State group was not yet over.Duterte led rain-soaked soldiers in celebrations in Marawi, a day after the military announced the death of the head of the Islamic State group in Southeast Asia, Isnilon Hapilon, in a gunbattle in the city."Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare Marawi

Three companies have offered to resume the search for flight MH370 but no decision has been reached on whether to take up any of the proposals, a Malaysian minister said Tuesday.US seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity, Dutch company Fugro – which was involved in the original hunt – and a Malaysian company have made offers, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told AFP.

North Korea warned that a nuclear war “may break out any moment” as the US and South Korea began one of the largest joint naval drills off both the east and west coasts of the peninsula.Kim In Ryong, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said on Monday that his nation had become a “full-fledged nuclear power which possesses the delivery means of various ranges” and warned that “the entire US mainland is within our firing range.” He also called North Korea “a responsible nucle

At least 10 people drowned and dozens more are missing after a boat packed with Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh sank on Monday, as another 12,000 people joined a half-million-strong exodus sparked by an army crackdown in Myanmar.The boat was carrying an estimated 50 people when it went down in the estuary of the Naf river that divides the two countries, Border Guard Bangladesh area commander Lieutenant Colonel S.M.

The head of the Islamic State group in Southeast Asia, who figures on the US "most wanted terrorists" list, has been killed in the battle to reclaim a militant-held Philippines city, the country's defence minister said Monday.

Philippine troops Sunday bombed militants loyal to the Islamic State group who have held out for over four months in a southern city and the military said the conflict would be over "very soon".The army previously set a target of Sunday to end the fighting in Marawi, which it said has killed more than 1,000 people.

"Based on the history in Malay countries, so long as the Sultan is in control, the country is stable," Khoo Kay Kim, Emeritus History Professor at University Malaya in Malaysia, told The ASEAN Post in a phone interview.About a week ago, the current monarch of Brunei – Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah – celebrated his 50-year-rule of the oil-rich nation in style.

Myanmar's military has said it is investigating its operations in violence-wrecked Rakhine state, where the United Nations has accused troops of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims.In the last seven weeks, more than half a million Rohingya have fled Rakhine and crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh, shocking the globe with accounts of Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist mobs murdering and raping civilians before torching their villages to the ground.The western region d

North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch a ballistic missile ahead of an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, a news report said Saturday, citing a government source.The US navy said Friday that a US aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, a fresh show of force against North Korea as tensions soar over the hermit state's weapons programme.The move will likely rile Pyongyang which has previously responded angrily to joint exercises.The Donga Ilbo