The death of a Brazilian woman who fell while climbing a volcano in Indonesia has renewed scrutiny of safety standards at the country’s adventure tourism hotspots, amid a string of recent accidents involving foreign visitors. Juliana Marins, 26, fell some 600 metres (1,968 feet) while attempting to summit Mount Rinjani, a volcano on Lombok island, […]
Read MoreBy Resty Woro Yuniar A five-year-old Indonesian boy was allegedly struck on the head with a wine bottle by a stranger in Singapore – an incident that has prompted Indonesian media outlets and social media users to question personal safety in the city state, long regarded as one of the world’s safest travel destinations. The […]
Read MoreThailand’s military has closed border crossings into Cambodia to almost all travellers, including tourists and traders, citing security concerns as tensions between the two Southeast Asian neighbours remain escalated over a simmering border dispute. The deterioration in ties was sparked by brief armed clashes in a border area that left one Cambodian soldier dead late […]
Read MorePhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte has described the impeachment complaint against her as “nothing more than a scrap of paper” in her formal response to the Senate, saying the case was baseless and should be dismissed for being unconstitutional. The impeachment, widely seen as a test of political alliances, comes amid an acrimonious falling out […]
Read MoreBy Raissa Robles The Philippines’ Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio has called on the country to steer away from its “unbalanced” foreign policy in an implicit criticism of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, as she offered her clearest indication yet of where she stands on China. In a speech delivered to a group of Filipinos at the Parliament […]
Read MoreBy Resty Woro Yuniar On his first state visit to Singapore, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto was strikingly candid: he had “copied with pride” his neighbour’s approach to housing and investment, he said – presenting the city state as a model for his own government’s ambitious development agenda. But chasing Singapore’s success risks overlooking the deeper […]
Read MoreBy Joseph Sipalan Southeast Asian nations are urging the evacuation of their citizens from Iran and Israel as the air war escalates, with Malaysia warning of “rapidly deteriorating conditions” and Thailand preparing to bring back tens of thousands of migrant labourers from Israeli farms and factories. Thousands of Iranians have fled the capital of Tehran […]
Read MoreBy Sam Beltran About 150 Filipinos in Israel have requested help from Manila to return as the conflict escalates with Iran. However, most of the 30,000-strong community, primarily domestic workers and carers, are reluctant to leave their wards behind. The Philippine embassy in Israel revealed the number of repatriation seekers on Tuesday. Migrant Workers Secretary […]
Read MoreJAKARTA: An Indonesian minister’s denial of mass rapes that took place during the country’s 1998 riots has been slammed by rights activists and the National Commission on Violence Against Women. Culture Minister Fadli Zon’s remarks that the mass rapes were “all hearsay” and “rumours” have incited fresh concerns over the government’s plan to release new […]
Read MoreBy Raissa Robles The Philippine army has signalled it would welcome additional US Typhon missile systems to accelerate troop training and strengthen deterrence, despite Beijing’s repeated denunciations of the system as a destabilising force that risks fuelling tensions in the South China Sea. Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie […]
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