Singapore | Nov 15

AFP - US President Barack Obama pressed Sunday for Myanmar's military junta to release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, during a landmark encounter with the regime's prime minister, the White House said.
"He brought up the release of Aung San Suu Kyi with that government (Myanmar)," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters, as Obama met Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein and nine other Southeast Asian leaders.

Tim Johnston | Bangkok | November 6

WaPo - After a rare trip by high-level U.S. diplomats to Burma, there was little indication from either nation Thursday about how the Obama administration's overture of engagment had been received.

Burmese state media merely noted that Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Kurt Campbell and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel met with Prime Minister Thein Sein during the visit on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Phnom Penh | Nov 4

AFP - Cambodia said on Wednesday it had appointed fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra economic adviser to premier Hun Sen in a move that adds to tensions between the countries.

The appointment was announced on state television almost two weeks after Hun Sen first riled Thailand by offering safe haven to Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and is living abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption.

"Thaksin has already been appointed by royal decree... as personal adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and the adviser to the Cambodian government in charge of economy," said a government statement read on television.

"Allowing Thaksin to stay in Cambodia is virtuous behaviour...good friends need to help each other in difficult circumstances," it added.

The statement went on to call charges against Thaksin "politically motivated" and vowed not to extradite him if he "decides to stay in Cambodia or travels in and out of Cambodia in order to fulfill his duties".

WOW

Nov 3

BBC - Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and deputy Scot Marciel hope to hold talks with the ruling junta and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mr Campbell, the top US diplomat for East Asia, is the highest ranking US official to visit Burma since 1995.

The visit is being seen as the latest move by President Barack Obama's administration to find ways to engage with the military regime.

The US diplomats are unlikely to see the reclusive chief of the junta, Than Shwe, but will instead meet Prime Minister Thein Sein in the remote jungle capital of Naypyidaw on Tuesday, according to Burmese officials.

They will then travel to Rangoon on Wednesday to meet Nobel Peace laureate Ms Suu Kyi, whose house arrest was extended by 18 months this year, provoking international outrage.

David Boyle | October 31

ABC News (AU)/Radio Australia - The beleaguered Khmer Rouge trials in Cambodia have hit another obstacle.

Two pre-trial judges, including Australian Rowan Downing QC, have been accused of taking instruction from their respective governments in a motion filed last week.

Martin Hickman | Oct 24

The Observer - Commitment aimed at halting ecological damage done in South-east Asia

Marks & Spencer will commit to paying more for sustainable palm oil across its entire range of products today in an attempt to limit environmental damage in south-east Asia.

In a rolling programme over the next six years, M&S will buy GreenPalm certificates for sustainably produced palm oil equivalent to the amount it uses in almost 1,000 food, beauty and home products. Like other food manufacturers, M&S pours palm oil, the world's cheapest vegetable fat, into a wide variety of food and household products such as biscuits and convenience foods.

By early next year, the retailer said nine products, including 200g packs of oatcakes, a 500g cookie selection and seven types of cooked potatoes, would be covered by the GreenPalm scheme. By 2015, it promised to buy certificates for all relevant products. M&S, which would not disclose the cost of the commitment, is also funding a 120-acre wildlife corridor between plantations in Borneo.

Oct 3

BBC -

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met a member of the country's ruling military government for the first time since early 2008.

Ms Suu Kyi, who is under renewed house arrest in Rangoon, met labour minister Aung Kyi, her lawyer said.

The meeting came one day after a court rejected her appeal against her 18 month sentence.

There was no official word on what they discussed, but Ms Suu Kyi has offered to help negotiate an end to sanctions.

Aung Kyi has met Ms Suu Kyi on six previous occasions, the last time in January 2008.

"The meeting lasted about 50 minutes, but I don't know what was discussed," a home ministry official told Reuters news agency.

** Burmese court rejects appeal against Aung San Suu Kyi house arrest
** US Diplomat Outlines Obama Approach on Burma
** Burma’s 2010 elections to test new US policy

Al Labita | Manila | Oct 2

Asia Times - The arrival of about 3,000 US Marines in the Philippines next week for training and humanitarian missions in the wake of recent floods has some Filipino officials wary that the soldiers could be diverted to war-torn Sulu island, where Islamic extremists recently killed two US soldiers. The scheduled deployment represents five times the number of US troops currently stationed in the Philippines.

The US deaths have sparked fears that Washington aims to ramp up its presence and retaliate against suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels, whom the US and European Union have identified as an international terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda. Those concerns have renewed calls among legislators to either scrap or renegotiate the terms of the Philippines-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

The VFA, which took effect in 1999 after Manila shut down the US military bases of Subic and Clark in 1991, allows US troops to hold joint military exercises with their Filipino counterparts. The deal, however, bars US troops from engaging in combat and any support is limited to providing logistical assistance, technical advice and intelligence to Manila's counter-terrorism operations.

Despite the VFA's legal restrictions, reports persist that US troops are "embedded" in Philippine military units in far-flung combat zones and that they had joined the fight against Muslim insurgents in Sulu and Basilan provinces. Some 600 US soldiers are currently stationed in the Philippines, the bulk of them on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

Two US soldiers were killed on September 29 when their Humvee vehicle hit a roadside bomb, believed to be an improvised explosive device, in Sulu's Indanan town, scene of previous bloody encounters and a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf. A Filipino marine was also killed and three Filipino soldiers were wounded.

One can detect something of a siege mentality in Sri Lanka. There is a strong feeling that, after winning a long and brutal war, the country’s independence is threatened by unfair criticism from abroad. An important element in this is in the complex relationship with INGOs (International Non-governmental Organizations).

Susantha Goonatilake called his book on foreign-funded NGOs in Sri Lanka Recolonization.

In his conclusion he wrote: “Sri Lankan NGOs emerged in the late 1970s when the then government cracked down on democracy, transparency and accountability and killed locally-grown civil society… Sri Lanka thus became a partial NGO franchise state, with the NGOs attempting to erode the country’s sovereignty …The NGOs are now being squeezed and widely criticised, not only by the media, but also through massive street protests and countrywide posters. The coming years will see an outcome of the struggle between real civil society and foreign-funded NGOs. This struggle, which is partly between a reconciliation agenda and local voices, echoes Sri Lanka’s 500-year-old struggle with western colonial powers.”

Sept 29

BBC - Two US soldiers and a Filipino marine have been killed in a landmine blast on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, a Philippine army spokesman has said.

Two other Filipino soldiers were also wounded in the explosion, which hit their vehicle near the town of Indanan.

The Philippines' military said last week that it had captured Indanan, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf rebels.

The US has about 300 soldiers in the southern Philippines, advising the local army in fighting insurgents.

The American soldiers are the first to be killed in the Philippines since 2002, when one serviceman died in an bombing in the port city of Zamboanga, also in the south of the country.

Under a US agreement with the Philippines its troops are not allowed to take part in combat unless attacked. Otherwise, they are there to train and advise the Philippine army in counter-insurgency operations.

Manila | Sept 27

AFP - At least 73 people were killed and more than 330,000 others displaced after the heaviest rain in more than four decades plunged the Philippine capital into chaos, officials said on Sunday.

The nine-hour deluge across Manila on Saturday submerged houses, washed away shanties and turned roads into raging rivers, forcing terrified residents to seek refuge on top of homes or cars where they waited for more than 24 hours.

"I am calling on our countrymen... to please stay calm," President Gloria Arroyo said, as she set a deadline of nightfall on Sunday for the military and other rescuers to save those who remained stranded.

The downpour from tropical storm Ketsana left some areas of Manila under six metres of water, and the storm's ferocity shocked a country that is accustomed to typhoons.

"This is the worst that I have seen," Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said of the extensive flooding that also severely damaged other parts of the northern Philippines.

Arroyo said more rain had fallen on Manila and surrounding areas than on New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina devastated the American city in 2005.

Andrew Buncombe | Sept 25

The Independent - A Cat Ba leopard gecko - AFP/Getty Images

A gecko with spots like a leopard and a fanged frog that preys on birds are among more than 160 new species that have been discovered along the Mekong River but which face the threat of extinction as a result of climate change.

Scientists in south-east Asia said that in 2008 they discovered 100 plants, 28 fish, 18 reptiles, 14 amphibians, two mammals and one bird species in the region that spreads over Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand Laos and southern China.

Yet almost before they are fully documented, the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) believes these new species could disappear because of the increased incidence of extreme weather linked to climate change. Floods, droughts and rising sea levels are all threats.

Related:
** Discovered - a species of rat as big as a cat
** Maori legend of man-eating bird is true
** Pictures - other discoveries
** More Pictures

Manila | Sept 24

DPA - The Philippines plans to review an agreement with the United States that defines the conduct of visiting American troops in the country, a government spokesman said Thursday.

Edilberto Adan, spokesman for a Philippine commission overseeing the implementation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), said the review could lead to the renegotiation of the pact which is being criticized by some senators as unconstitutional.

'We will undertake a review to determine and address some of the issues raised by some senators,' he told a press briefing. 'We will start as soon as possible.'

The VFA was signed in 1998 under the administration of former president Joseph Estrada and came into force a year later.

On Wednesday, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago urged the Philippine government to renegotiate the agreement, or terminate it if the US refuses to revise the pact.

Daniel Allen | Bangkok | Sept 20

Asia Times - China's role in the development of northern Laos has grown significantly in recent years, but with several unfortunate side effects. Rare wildlife is being poached for Chinese consumption, while land grabs for rubber plantations are destroying not only the environment, but also the livelihoods of the local people.

John Grafilo | Camp Darapanan, Philippines | Sept 20

DPA - With its senior commanders in their 60s and 70s, the largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines may seem headed for a serious leadership crisis that could set back its struggle for a Muslim homeland.

But the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) says a new generation of leaders is ready to take over in case their dream of a Muslim homeland in the southern region of Mindanao would not be attained within the life time of the current leadership.

Murad Ebrahim, chairman of the 12,000-strong MILF, said junior commanders were being trained for war and peace as well as national development.

'We are training them both for peace and war,' he said in an interview inside Camp Darapanan, an MILF camp in the outskirts of Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

'Our training is geared towards nation-building, towards preserving the peace. But it is also geared towards a situation where they have to defend themselves.'

Murad, however, warned that the next generation of MILF leaders who are in their 30s and 40s may not be as patient as the current leadership in negotiating with the Philippine government since they grew up facing hardships caused by war.

I had dinner with this woman in Singapore last year. I've met some amazing people in my time and she is certainly at the top of the list. Few women have her courage and passion. And few people, men or women, have her intelligence. Her profile in the Times is worth a read.

Although, I have to add, there is an tone of whimsical dismissal in the profile. As if a woman couldn't have a full, rich life living on her own? Without a man? That's bullshit--if she doesn't need a man, she doesn't need a man. Who am I to say otherwise by implication or not? Also, the thing to keep in mind is just how patriarchal a place Singapore is and how much courage she has to live the life she leads. That's not to be underestimated and it is to be applauded.

B Lynn Pascoe, Under Secretary of the United Nations for Political Affairs, visited the IDP camps and met President Rajapaksa and his ministers.

Commenting on his visit to the north, Mr. Pascoe stated that he was “impressed by the work done by the Army, the demining teams, the UN staff and the civil society” and that the team also witnessed the rehabilitation work that was underway. He also stated that in Jaffna, they were able to feel that the people were looking forward to getting more opportunities and that there was a feeling that a “whole era was waiting for them”.

“In the Mannar area, we witnessed crews repairing roads and a school, as well as construction work on a large water reservoir to serve some 2,500 families slated to be resettled next week. We saw work being done in preparing rice fields for planting before the monsoons. We received a briefing and demonstration by the military on progress in clearing mines out of the Mannar Rice Bowl region.

Malaysia | Sept 15

USA Today -

Afraid that her 37-year-old husband will leave her after he gets out of drug rehab, a 107-year-old Malaysian woman says she is ready to get married again — for the 23rd time.

This tale of matrimony and longevity is told by Malaysia's The Star, channeled by the BBC.

Four years ago Wook Kundor married hubby No. 22, Mohammed Noor Che Musa, 70 years her junior. But now that he's away in Kuala Lumpur to kick his addiction, she's worried he won't come home. She says she's lonely and insecure.

“I am not searching for a man as handsome as our prime minister, but someone to accompany me in my twilight years,” she said. "I realize I am an aged woman. I don’t have the body nor am I a young woman who can attract anyone. My intention to re-marry is to fill my forlornness, and nothing more than that."

She might change her plans, she said, if he still has feeling for her. "I will wait for him without thinking of another marriage.”

Andrew Buncombe | Sept 9

The Independent - For the emergency department of Bhutan's largest hospital, last Tuesday was a pressing day. In the space of a few hours six people were rushed in, all suspected of having tried to commit suicide.

One of the patients, a 35-year-old housewife, said she had taken 30 sedatives after problems at home. The second, a woman of 27, had swallowed 15 paracetamol tablets after quarrelling with her husband. The third to require urgent treatment was a 17-year-old girl who was rushed in unconscious having drunk nail polisher remover after an argument with her sister. The other three cases were prisoners from the local jail who had emptied a bottle of mysterious spirit. Some reports claimed they had tried to take their lives, but officials are unsure.

By the standards of a hospital in a large city in the West the numbers might be unremarkable, but the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital is in Thimphu, capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which has a total population of less than 700,000. What's more, this enigmatic mountainous nation is feted around the world for its gross national happiness (GNH) – a national policy in which the emotional well-being of citizens is considered more important than their financial bottom line.

Yet evidence suggests that all is not so happy-clappy in this high-altitude Buddhist kingdom. Suicide appears to be becoming common as Bhutan's population – for centuries cut off from the outside world – struggles to deal with the pace of change. News reports detail how growing numbers are taking their lives, usually by poison or hanging. A Bhutanese newspaper claimed: "In some villages, committing suicide has almost become a norm."

Nansan, Yunnan, China | August 27

Al Jazeera - Thousands of people have crossed the border from northeastern Myanmar into China after tensions flared between government troops and ethnic minority groups in the region, activists, state media and witnesses have said.

Officials and local residents said large groups of refugees have been streaming over the border into the town of Nansan in southern Yunnan province this month.

Dick McMichael | Aug 21

Special to the Ledger-Enquirer - William Calley, the former Army lieutenant convicted on 22 counts of murder in the infamous My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, publicly apologized for the first time this week while speaking in Columbus.

"There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai," Calley told members of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus on Wednesday. His voice started to break when he added, "I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry."

In March 1968, U.S. soldiers gunned down hundreds of civilians in the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. The Army at first denied, then downplayed the event, saying most of the dead were Vietcong. But in November 1969, journalist Seymour Hersh revealed what really happened and Calley was court martialed and convicted of murder.

Calley had long refused to grant interviews about what happened, but on Wednesday he spoke at a Columbus Kiwanis meeting. He made only a brief statement, but agreed to take questions from the audience.

He did not deny what had happened that day, but did repeatedly make the point — which he has made before — that he was following orders.

Jonathan Adams | Media Roundup | Aug 17

CSM - Philippines government alleges MILF involvement in a firefight last week with members of the militant Abu Sayyaf, calling into question a cease-fire with the rebel group.

The Philippines government has stepped up calls to eliminate Abu Sayyaf after clashes last week with the home-grown militant group killed 23 government soldiers and wounded 25 more.

The violence has also cast doubt on the durability of a recent cease-fire between the government and insurgents from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), since members of the latter are suspected to have reinforced Abu Sayyaf.

On Saturday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called for the "annihilation" of Abu Sayyaf on the island of Basilan (click here for a map of the region), where the clashes took place, according to the Inquirer, a Philippines daily.

Tania Branigan/Beijing & Justin McCurry/Tokyo | Aug 10

The Guardian - • Up to 600 people feared buried as record rainfall hits island
• China evacuates 1 million from east coast provinces
• Deadly tropical storm Etau triggers floods in Japan

Hundreds of people are missing in a village in Taiwan after it was buried by a mudslide when typhoon Morakot struck the island yesterday morning, a police official has reported.

At least 34 people have died and millions of others been affected across east Asia after Morakot and a separate tropical storm battered China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan.

Southern Taiwan suffered its worst flooding for half a century as the typhoon dumped up to 2.5 metres (8.2ft) of rain.

The official, surnamed Wang, said around 100 people from Hsiao-lin village, in Kaohsiung county, had been rescued by military helicopter or other means, according to Associated Press.

Lin Chien-chung, a rescued resident, told the Taipei-based United Evening News he believed 600 people were buried in the mudslide and that it covered "a large part" of the village. Hsiaolin is thought to have around 1,000 inhabitants.

Kuala Lumpur | August 1

Reuters - The Malaysian police said that they used tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of protesters on Saturday and that they arrested almost 600 people in the biggest demonstration in the country’s capital in almost two years.

Led by the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, the protestors gathered here in the capital to demand that the government rescind a law that allows the imprisonment of citizens without trial, a measure that has been used in the past against the opposition. The police estimated that about 10,000 protesters participated.

Carol Huang | July 24

CSM Global News Blog - The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi resumed Friday after several weeks of on-and-off delays, with the defense presenting its closing arguments in a courtroom closed to reporters.

The holdup may have been intended to help the government of Burma (Myanmar) lay low during a time of international attention – including at a regional summit this week, held next door in Thailand and attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.