Myanmar air strike kills at least 19 youngsters while they sleep

A Myanmar ethnic minority armed group said on Saturday that a junta air strike killed at least 19 students, including children, in western Rakhine state.
The Arakan Army (AA) is engaged in a fierce fight with Myanmar’s ruling military for control of Rakhine, where it has seized swathes of territory in the past year.
The Rakhine conflict is one element of the bloody chaos that has engulfed Myanmar since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in a 2021 coup, sparking a…

Lions that killed zookeeper at Thai safari park to be retrained

Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has ordered the retraining of five lions that fatally mauled a veteran zookeeper at Safari World in Bangkok.
The case has since prompted the closure of the park’s predator zone and sparked a review of safety practices at wildlife attractions across Thailand.
Jian Rangkharasamee, a 58-year-old keeper who had worked with lions and tigers for two decades, was killed on Wednesday after reportedly stepping out of his…

Will Indonesia’s US$80 billion sea wall hold firm against environmental critics?

Indonesia is seeking China’s help to build a US$80 billion giant sea wall along the northern coast of Java in a project that officials see as essential to protecting millions of residents and key industries from rising seas and sinking land, despite criticisms over its financial and environmental costs.
President Prabowo Subianto broached the project with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a meeting on September 3, on the sidelines of Beijing’s Victory Day parade, according to Indonesia’s…

Philippines’ Duterte suffers from deteriorating cognitive condition: lawyers

Lawyers for detained former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte say he suffers from significant cognitive deficiencies that affect his memory and daily functioning, according to documents made public by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Duterte, 80, was arrested and taken to The Hague in March on an arrest warrant that linked him to murders committed during his “war on drugs” where thousands of alleged narcotics peddlers and users were killed.
His lawyers have since then argued he is…

Indonesia’s new finance chief plans US$12 billion boost for lending

Indonesia’s new finance minister wants to immediately flood the economy with roughly US$12 billion in cash to jump-start lending, proving his commitment to President Prabowo Subianto’s growth agenda barely three days into the job.
The government would transfer half of the 400 trillion rupiah in cash reserves that it held with the central bank to state-owned lenders, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa told lawmakers in a hearing on Wednesday. He added on Thursday that the cash injection would…

10 South Korean soldiers injured in unexpected explosion during military drill

At least 10 soldiers were injured in an explosion during a live-fire simulation drill at a South Korean military base on Wednesday, the defence ministry in Seoul said.
The explosion happened at a military base in the northern border city of Paju, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement, where an artillery unit was conducting a drill simulating live-fire procedures but without real ammunition.
“At approximately 3.24pm on Wednesday, a mock training round designed to simulate artillery fire and…