Papua has plunged into chaos with deadly riots and mass demonstrations breaking out across Indonesia's easternmost territory, fanned by racial tensions and fresh calls for independence.Here are five things to know about the unrest:What started the riots?The riots appear to have been sparked by the arrest this month of dozens of Papuan students in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya.Police in riot gear stormed a dormitory to force out students accused of destroying an Indonesian

As Malaysia celebrates its 62nd Independence Day today, the country can reflect upon six decades of peace and progress since the country’s first Prime Minister, Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, declared Malaya’s independence from the British in 1957.Its rich resources paved the way for a thriving trade in agriculture and commodities, and diversification efforts have since created healthy manufacturing and services sectors - with the country’s open economy making it one of the world’s leading export

East Timor on Friday marks 20 years since a UN-backed vote ended a bloody, decades-long occupation by Indonesian forces and paved the way for it to become an independent nation.On 30 August 1999, nearly 80 percent of East Timorese voted to split from neighbouring Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975, starting a brutal 24-year military occupation.But joy over independence quickly turned to terror as Indonesian security forces and proxy militias went on a scorched-earth

Last month, media freedom advocates praised the surprise release of two Reuters reporters in Myanmar but stressed the pair should never have been jailed in the first place.