With the Diphtheria, a fatal respiratory disease, spreading rapidly through Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh it truly gives the rest of the world insight into just how unsanitary these refugee camps are. With over 600,000 refugees in Bangladesh the outbreak threatens to turn into an all out epidemic; making matters worse is that approximately half of the refugees in Bangladesh… Read more »
Tensions are building between Taiwan and China as Taiwan makes strides towards independence. The election of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party struck some nerves in Beijing who says they, “certainly will not allow Taiwan to separate from the motherland.” Taiwan is actually situated in pretty geopolitically significant spot, especially if they were to gain their independence. An independent Taiwan would… Read more »
Al Jazeera–Governments across Southeast Asia have been using laws and the judiciary to curb press freedoms – now, they have found a handy crutch to lean on as they intensify clampdowns: US President Donald Trump’s “fake news” mantra. Most worrying to media rights advocates is that several countries are promoting new legislation or expanding existing regulations to make publishing fake news an offence…. Read more »
Al Jazeera–The Philippine Congress has vowed to fast-track a long-delayed bill establishing self-rule for Muslims in the southern island of Mindanao, in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s warning that another war could break out if the legislation collapses. Three House of Representatives sub-committees are consolidating their reports on Muslim autonomy, and public consultations in seven communities have been scheduled before the… Read more »
Myanmar and Bangladesh have agreed on a system to return the Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. They have decided to set up transit camps to send the refugees to posts within the boundaries of Myanmar. The two countries have high expectations for the return, they aspire to process over 300 people daily.
BEIJING (Reuters) – Russia held firm as China’s top crude oil supplier in December for the 10th month and racked up its second year as the No.1 supplier to China in 2017, customs data showed on Thursday, leaving rival exporter Saudi Arabia in second place once more. Shipments from Russia hit 5.03 million tonnes in December, down 0.2 percent from… Read more »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Defence Ministry on Thursday denied that it was planning to build a military base in Afghanistan, branding such reports “groundless”. Russian news agency Ferghana News, which focuses on Central Asia, has reported that China will build the base in northern Afghanistan. The report was picked up last week by U.S. magazine The Diplomat and then in… Read more »
Source: Reuters BEIJING (Reuters) – China is willing to show utmost goodwill towards self-ruled Taiwan but won’t allow its separation from China, the country’s defense ministry said on Thursday after Taiwan’s president said she does not rule out the possibility of a Chinese attack. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said this week she does not exclude the possibility of China attacking… Read more »
Source: Reuters PARIS/LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – North Korea shipped coal to Russia last year which was then delivered to South Korea and Japan in a likely violation of U.N. sanctions, three Western European intelligence sources said. The U.N. Security Council banned North Korean exports of coal last Aug. 5 under sanctions intended to cut off an important source of the foreign… Read more »
Source: France24 Hong Kong’s leading democracy activists appealed Tuesday against their jail terms in a case seen as a litmus test for the independence of the city’s judiciary, which some fear is under pressure from Beijing. Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were jailed in August last year for their role in the 2014 Umbrella Movement mass pro-democracy protests, after Hong Kong’s government… Read more »