Politics

Hundreds arrested after fresh Indonesia protests

More than 500 people were arrested after clashes in Indonesia's capital amid nationwide protests against a raft of divisive reforms - including banning pre-marital sex and weakening the anti-graft agency - authorities said Tuesday.The arrests came after a night of pitched street battles between riot police and stone-throwing protesters - many high school and university students - in Jakarta's sprawling downtown core.Security forces geared up for more unrest Tuesday as some 575 lawma

2 October 2019
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Hong Kong leader insists she will stay on

Hong Kong's embattled leader insisted Tuesday she had no intention of stepping down after an audio recording emerged of her saying she wanted to quit over three months of unrest in the southern Chinese city.Hong Kong has endured dozens of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests triggered by opposition to Chief Executive Carrie Lam's bid to push through a law allowing extraditions to mainland China.The protests have evolved into a wider democracy campaign involving clashes between p

4 September 2019
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China use social media against Hong Kong protests

Twitter and Facebook said Monday they had uncovered a campaign by China to use the social media platforms against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong."We are disclosing a significant state-backed information operation focused on the situation in Hong Kong, specifically the protest movement and their calls for political change," Twitter said in an online post.Facebook said a tip from Twitter led to the removal of pages, groups and accounts originating in China and involved in "c

20 August 2019
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Junta's powers of arbitrary detention continues

Thailand's new civilian government will retain the power to arbitrarily detain critics despite the imminent easing of junta-era security controls, prompting warnings from rights groups of enduring "martial law".Nearly 2,000 people have been tried in military courts since now-prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha seized power in a 2014 coup.The junta eased a ban on political activities last year in the run-up to national elections and the former army chief phased out dozens of additi

11 July 2019
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US man to face death penalty trial in Vietnam

A Vietnamese-American man charged with "attempting to overthrow the state" will go on trial in Ho Chi Minh City on June 24, his family said, and could face the death penalty if found guilty.Michael Nguyen has been held for nearly a year in the one-party communist state, which has tightened its grip on power since a new administration came to office in 2016 and took a harder line on dissent of any kind.Nearly 130 prisoners of conscience are currently behind bars in the country, where

12 June 2019
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The shifting landscape of Myanmar’s politics

Ever since the military-backed government of Myanmar embarked on a series of political reforms back in 2011, the country’s political landscape has never been the same. The political reforms carried out by Myanmar’s then government included the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission, general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners and many others.

22 November 2018
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Malaysia's Anwar returns to politics

Anwar Ibrahim won an overwhelming mandate in a parliamentary by-election Saturday, setting the stage for his return to frontline Malaysian politics and sealing the once-jailed opposition figure's remarkable resurrection.Winning the seat was a key requirement for Anwar to succeed 93-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who jailed his former protege and heir apparent on sodomy and corruption charges in 1998 when their relationship soured.Mahathir returned to the premiership this year

14 October 2018
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United opposition in Singapore, a good idea?

Malaysia saw a change of government for the first time in May this year after the 14th general election. Soon after that election, in June, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad remarked that the election results might have an impact on Singapore, where the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has been in power since 1959.

3 October 2018
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Malaysia’s champion for ‘invisible’ women

Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Malaysia’s new deputy prime minister, said one of the darkest moments of her life came in 2015 when her husband Anwar Ibrahim, the former opposition leader, was sent to jail for a second time.In hindsight, she ended up appreciating the moment in one sense as it pushed her back into politics in an effort to free him.

9 August 2018
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Will Indonesian youths vote for change?

At 17 years, Indonesia’s voting age is the lowest in the Southeast Asian region and is one of the lowest in the world. However, 25-year-old Agnes Anya, a resident of Indonesia’s bustling capital, Jakarta, believes that most youths in her country feel disengaged from Indonesian politics and are only recently getting interested because they view it as being trendy.“Most politicians or political essential roles are held by the older generation.

9 June 2018
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Anwar reassures Malays who fear they may lose racial advantage

Anwar Ibrahim has a simple message for ethnic Malays who fear losing benefits they enjoyed under the previous government’s six-decade rule: don’t worry.Anwar, who is expected to replace 92-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in a year or two, said Malaysia must assure the nation’s largest racial group that its security would be upheld.

21 May 2018
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