MANILA (AFP) – A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck at sea off the southern Philippine coast late on Friday (Feb 8), though there were no early reports of damage and the local seismology office said it expected none. The US Geological Survey and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake struck at 7.55pm, its epicentre about 41km east of… Read more »
Bangkok, Thailand (CNN)A Thai political party has nominated the King’s sister as its candidate for prime minister in March elections — an unprecedented move that could upend the political landscape and give the revered monarchy an overt role in politics.Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, the 67-year-old elder sister of King Vajiralongkorn, will run for the Thai Raksa Chart Party (Thai Save The… Read more »
Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, the government of Myanmar denies their armed forces raped Rohingya women and girls in a campaign of ethnic cleansing that forced more than 740,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee the country since late 2017. In a long-delayed submission to the United Nations women’s rights committee this week, Myanmar said there was “no evidence… Read more »
Scores of ethnic-minority villagers have crossed from western Myanmar into Bangladesh in recent days amid fighting between the Myanmar military and ethnic Rakhine rebels, according to Bangladesh border guards and an activist. Members of 38 families said they fled their homes fearing attack from military helicopters, Colonel Zahirul Haque Khan, the Border Guards Bangladesh commander in Bandarban district where the group of 136 people… Read more »