Ferdinand Marcos Jr was Wednesday proclaimed the next Philippine president after a landslide win that rights groups and religious leaders fear could weaken the corruption-prone country's democracy.Marcos, who formally takes office next month, secured more than 31.6 million votes, or 58.8 percent of the total, according to a final tally released by parliament.He was the first presidential candidate to win an outright majority since his dictator father, who presided over widespread graft a

Leaders of Japan, India, Australia and the United States (US) warned Tuesday against attempts to "change the status quo by force" as concerns grow about whether China could invade self-ruled Taiwan.A joint statement by the so-called Quad bloc avoided any direct mention of China's growing military power in the region, but left little doubt about where its concerns lie.The carefully worded document also made reference to the conflict in Ukraine, but without offering any joint pos

China faced new accusations Tuesday that it was sanctioning abuses of Uyghurs at the "highest levels", as a vast document leak came out during a controversial visit by the United Nations (UN) rights chief.The ruling Communist Party is accused of detaining over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the far-western region of Xinjiang as part of a years-long crackdown the United States (US) and lawmakers in other Western countries have labelled a "genocide".China

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will play host to global leaders later this year with ASEAN Summits in Cambodia, the B20 and G20 Leaders’ Summit in Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Thailand, all happening back-to-back.With the changing face of geopolitics and the global economy, these meetings and the preparations in the lead up, will shed light on where ASEAN stands in its on-going recovery efforts from COVID-19 and ho

President Joe Biden vowed Monday that United States (US) forces would defend Taiwan militarily if China attempted to take control of the island by force, prompting Beijing to warn that America was "playing with fire."Speaking in Tokyo, Biden compared China's threat to self-ruled Taiwan to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, delivering his strongest remarks to date on the issue amid rising tensions over Beijing's growing economic and military power.Asked if Washington was will

Philippine president-elect Ferdinand Marcos signalled his determination to adopt nuclear power Monday, holding talks with South Korea's envoy on possibly reviving a mothballed US$2.2 billion plant built during his father's dictatorship.The 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was left dormant after the elder Marcos was toppled in 1986.In the run-up to the 9 May presidential election, Marcos Junior spoke about the need for nuclear power to address exorbitant electricity costs in t

The Davos summit of global political and business elites returns Monday after a COVID-induced two-year break to face another momentous crisis: Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The theme of the World Economic Forum (WEF), "History at a Turning Point", sets the tone for the four-day meeting in the glitzy Swiss mountain resort that will be dominated by the political and economic fallout from the conflict.When the WEF last took place in Davos in January 2020, the coronavirus was just b

Bangkok went to the polls Sunday in its first governor election in almost a decade, with the ballot viewed as an indicator for a national vote expected within a year.Around four million people are eligible to vote in the first major poll since Thailand's huge youth-led street protests in 2020 demanding political change and reform to the once-untouchable monarchy.But daily life rather than politics has dominated the candidates' campaigns, with the leading contenders promising to clea

Centre-left leader Anthony Albanese claimed victory in Australia's general election Saturday, as voters angered by climate inaction pulled the plug on a decade of conservative rule."The Australian people have voted for change" said the 59-year-old Labor leader, promising a less pugilistic form of leadership and a raft of reforms to make the country fairer and greener.With almost two-thirds of the votes counted, Albanese was set to lead the largest party in parliament, but had y

Indonesia will lift its ban on palm oil exports next week, President Joko Widodo said, relieving pressure on the global vegetable oil market after prices spiked because of the suspension and the war in Ukraine.The archipelago nation issued the ban last month to secure supplies of the commodity, used in a range of goods from chocolate spreads to cosmetics, in the face of a domestic shortage."Based on the supply...