Philippine police commanders on Wednesday revealed that 1,600 people had been killed in the past six months in the war on drugs, with the latest figures coming just days after President Rodrigo Duterte admitted having lost control of the crackdown. The latest figures from the Philippine National Police brings the official death count to more than 6,600. It immediately prompted campaigners to demand a full investigation into Duterte’s crackdown, which human rights groups claim may be…
Japan: a man’s world, with a record number of women running for election
Nearly one in three candidates contesting Japan’s upper house election next month is a woman, a record number in a country with one of the world’s worst rates of female political representation.Of the 273 candidates running in the July 21 election, where 124 seats across the country are being contested, 82 are women – accounting for 30 per cent of candidates and surpassing the previous record of 27.6 per cent seen in the 2001 upper house election.Japan has one of the widest gender gaps in the…
Filipinos burn Chinese flags in protest against Duterte’s ‘weak’ response to South China Sea sinking
Demonstrators in Manila on Tuesday burned Chinese flags in protest over what they said was a “weak” response by President Rodrigo Duterte to the sinking of a Philippine fishing boat in the South China Sea.Holding placards with messages such as “End China Aggression” and “China hands off Filipino fishermen” around 50 protesters joined the Justice for Philippines rally at Rizal Park, denouncing what they said was an effort by the president to belittle the incident, in which 22 Filipino fishermen…
China-Philippines ‘hit and run’: Duterte’s deafening silence is sign of his Beijing dilemma
“I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep,” Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the legendary Napoleonic-era diplomat, once admitted.A direct witness to Napoleon Bonaparte’s audacious military expeditions, which turned France from a besieged revolutionary state into an intercontinental empire, he potently realised the power of leadership in times of crisis.Today, many are wondering what kind of leadership the Philippines has amid…
Malaysian minister: China must treat Southeast Asian neighbours ‘exceedingly well’ to prove its rise is peaceful
If China wants to prove its rise can be peaceful, then treating its Southeast Asian neighbours “exceedingly well” will be a litmus test of its commitment, Malaysia’s deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong said on Monday.“Much as China believes that it is the victim of bullying by the West, particularly the United States, China needs to do everything possible to prevent the perception of smaller states that China is a bully,” said Liew at a forum in conjunction with the 45th anniversary of…
Indian magician Jadugar Mandrake missing after Ganges escape stunt goes wrong
An Indian magician who entered the Ganges river on Sunday tied up with steel chains and rope is missing, police said.Chanchal Lahiri, known by his stage name “Jadugar Mandrake” (Wizard Mandrake), was lowered into the river by crane as family members, media and police watched from the banks.But the 40-year-old failed to emerge from the water, triggering a frantic search by authorities.“We are still searching,” a family member said.Lahiri earlier said he had successfully pulled off a similar…
Italy’s ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ arrested in Thailand for George Clooney fraud, fake Rolex scams
An Italian who allegedly posed as Hollywood superstar George Clooney to sell clothes online has been arrested with his wife in Thailand after years on the run, police said on Sunday.Francesco Galdelli, 58, and Vanja Goffi, 45, were arrested on Saturday at a house on the outskirts of Pattaya after an operation between Thai and Italian authorities, officials said.“During interrogation, Francesco confessed to claiming to be George Clooney and opening a clothes business to trick people into sending…
On the Singapore media’s run-ins with Lee Kuan Yew, and the newsroom calamity waiting to happen: veteran newsman PN Balji tells all in new book
Reluctant Editor: The Singapore Media as Seen through the Eyes of a Veteran Newspaper Journalist by PN Balji sheds further light on the complicated and at times confrontational relationship between journalists and the government in Singapore’s tightly controlled media environment.Balji spent 40 years working in five newsrooms and oversaw the coverage of some of Singapore’s most significant events. This book also recounts the highs and lows of his career and the behind-the-scenes drama…
Veteran Singaporean newspaper editor PN Balji on press freedom, Lee Kuan Yew and the ‘sin’ of self-censorship
Government dominance over Singapore’s media dating back to the era of Lee Kuan Yew, the city state’s late founding prime minister, will likely continue even as a new generation of leaders prepare to take power, according to one of the country’s most respected former newspaper editors.PN Balji, the former chief editor of the English language newspapers Today and The New Paper, said however that during his decades-long career he found Lee – father of the current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong –…
Malaysia’s Azmin Ali sex scandal: politician Haziq Abdul Aziz arrested at airport after confessing to appearing in video
A politician who confessed to being in a sex video that implicated a Malaysian minister has been arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, local media reported on Friday.Haziq Abdul Aziz, a member of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), was arrested at about 5.30pm. The police have not yet revealed the reason for his arrest.It follows the arrest on Friday morning of two members of the opposition for not cooperating with the police and using abusive language after one refused to hand over his…