Five sailors were missing after their dredger collided with a tanker off Singapore Wednesday, authorities said, just weeks after a deadly accident in the same area involving a US warship.A search effort was launched for the four Chinese members of crew and one Malaysian after the accident around the busy Singapore Strait, the city-state's MPA (Maritime and Port Authority) said.Seven other Chinese sailors were rescued from the Dominican-registered dredger after it capsized following the c

Philippine lawmakers have voted to slash annual funding for the nation's human rights commission to just 20 dollars in response to its investigations into President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drug war, authorities said Wednesday.The House of Representatives action is the latest part of what critics say is a campaign by Duterte and his allies to silence opposition to the crackdown, which has claimed thousands of lives and led rights groups to warn of a crime against humanity.The House,

"Montesquieu once said 'There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice'," Thaksin Shinawatra tweeted on August 29, 2017. Thaksin broke his two-year silence on Twitter by issuing the tweet in both English and Thai which quoted the 18th century French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu. The tweet went viral on Thai social media and has been retweeted 11,700 times to-date.

Singaporeans Tuesday poured scorn on the process to select their new president after an establishment figure was deemed the only eligible candidate, meaning no election will be held.Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the city-state's Muslim Malay minority, will be the first woman to hold the largely ceremonial role if – as expected – she is formally nominated to the presidency Wednesday.But the 63-year-old will avoid an election originally slated for September 23, as othe

North Korea on Wednesday vowed to accelerate its weapons programme in response to the "evil" sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council after its latest and most powerful test."The adoption of another illegal and evil 'resolution on sanctions' piloted by the US served as an occasion for the DPRK to verify that the road it chose to go down was absolutely right," the North's foreign ministry said in a statement published by the official KCNA news agency.&quo

Democracy is under threat in Cambodia. In the run-up to the general elections next year, longstanding Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen recently closed down several media outlets operating within the country.

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted new sanctions on North Korea, including restrictions on oil shipments, to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.But Washington toned down its initial proposals to secure backing from China and Russia.Here are some key questions on UNSC resolution 2375, and its attempt to end the North's nuclear weapons and missile programmes.What impact will the oil measures have?The new resolution ends natural gas shipments to North Korea

Thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled violence in Myanmar in search of refuge could be forced to make their new homes on a barren Bangladeshi island that floods every year.The Bangladesh government has appealed for international support to move the Rohingya to the island as the impoverished country confronts a growing crisis over where to house an influx that has mounted following a military crackdown in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar's Rakhine state.More than 300,000 Rohingya have

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in August and has come a long way since its commencement through the 1967 Bangkok Declaration. The organisation promotes economic cooperation, political stability, good governance and civil liberties – which were the founding principles on which the association has been built upon.