‘Chump’ or saviour? Donald Trump divides US veterans living in Vietnam

When US President Donald Trump lands in Danang, once a key US wartime airbase, he’ll receive a mixed welcome from American veterans who fought on Vietnamese soil but now call the coastal city home.
Trump fans among Danang’s community of war vets are keenly awaiting an “America First” clarion call by a man they are proud to have as president when he addresses the APEC summit of world leaders on Friday.
Others are strikingly less enthusiastic. Former marine David E. Clark…

Indian teenager kills schoolmate to postpone exams

India arrested a teenager on Wednesday for allegedly slitting the throat of a seven-year-old schoolmate in hopes the murder would lead to an exam being postponed, federal investigators said.
The 16-year-old is accused of killing his young schoolmate in September at a smart public school near Delhi in an attempt to delay an impending test and parent-teacher meeting.
Police had initially detained a bus conductor over the murder, claiming he killed the boy after the young pupil resisted a sex…

Duterte warns Trump to ‘lay off’ human rights issue during his visit to the Philippines

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he would tell US President Donald Trump to “lay off” if he raises the issue of human rights when they meet. Trump will be in Manila on the last leg of his 12-day Asian trip, which includes visits to Japan, South Korea, China, and Vietnam. The US president will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, make a state visit to Hanoi and end his trip with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations…

Why is the US calling Asia-Pacific the Indo-Pacific? Trump to ‘clarify’

US President Donald Trump will offer a clearer picture on why he and other senior White House officials have begun referring to the Asia-Pacific as the “Indo-Pacific” by the end of his 12-day, five-nation tour of the region, Washington’s envoy in Tokyo said on Tuesday.
Trump had discussed the Indo-Pacific “concept” with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, ambassador William Hagerty said following the president’s two-day Japan visit, adding it was too early to draw…

Indonesia steps up internet obscenity purge following threat to block WhatsApp

Indonesia said on Tuesday it will summon executives of messaging services and search engines, including Google, to demand they remove obscene content, but dropped a threat to block WhatsApp Messenger after a certain image format was taken off the service.
The internet is already partly censored in Indonesia, but the latest steps mark an escalation against a background of growing conservatism in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
“We will call all providers, including…

Australian politicians told they need to prove citizenship

Australian politicians will have to prove they are not foreign citizens under plans proposed on Monday as the conservative government grapples with a constitutional crisis that has cost it a majority in parliament.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a set of measures making it compulsory for MPs formally to declare they are not dual citizens and provide evidence to support it.
“Every member of the [lower] house and every member of the Senate has a personal obligation to ensure that…

Supersized scandal: ‘Fat Leonard’ probe widens to ensnare more than 60 US navy admirals

The “Fat Leonard” corruption investigation has expanded to include more than 60 admirals and hundreds of other US navy officers under scrutiny for their contacts with a defence contractor in Asia who systematically bribed sailors with sex, alcohol and other temptations, according to the navy.
Most of the admirals are suspected of attending extravagant feasts at Asia’s best restaurants paid for by Leonard Glenn Francis, a Singapore-based maritime tycoon who made an illicit…