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South East Asia
UN agencies step up relief efforts to typhoon-affected victims in Philippines
UN agencies are stepping up their relief efforts to those affected by Typhoon Haiyan, which buffeted the Philippines a week ago, flattening towns and cities and claiming thousands of lives, a UN spokesman said here Monday. “Nearly 13 million people across nine regions have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan, including…
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South East Asia
Six tourists killed as double-decker ferry capsized in Pattaya, Thailand
An overcrowded tourist ferry capsized and sank near a popular Thai seaside town, killing six tourists, including two Russians and a Chinese, police said. The rest of the roughly 200 people aboard were rescued. The double-decker ferry, carrying Thai and foreign tourists, left Lan island for the 30-minute trip to…
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South East Asia
Thousands of Thais gather in protest against government’s amnesty bill
An estimated 10,000 Thais demonstrated on Thursday near a Bangkok railway station in protest against a bill aimed to grant amnesty to those involved in previous mass protests. Organized by the opposition Democrat Party, the number of the anti-amnesty demonstrators who began to gather since late afternoon might increase twice…
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South East Asia
Aung San Suu Kyi visits Rome to receive overdue honorary citizenship
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has picked up an overdue honor from Rome, a city she fondly recalled enjoying, along with its gelato, 40 years earlier. The Nobel Peace Prize winner received Rome’s honorary citizenship Sunday night in City Hall on the ancient Capitoline Hill. In 1994, Rome had conferred…
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South East Asia
[Photo Break] Be happy!
All happy families resemble each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. – Leo Tolstoy
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South East Asia
Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara, Thailand’s Supreme Patriarch dies at 100
Thailand’s Supreme Patriarch, who headed the country’s order of Buddhist monks for more than two decades, died Thursday. He was 100. Doctors said that Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara (SOM-ded PRA YA-na-SUNG-WORN) died at Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, where he had been treated since being admitted for an illness more than…
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South East Asia
Indonesian democracy challenged by local customs
Indonesia is a vast tropical country of sprawling archipelago with extremely diverse cultures and a demographic make-up of over 300 ethnic groups, and more than 700 living languages spoken. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world and also has a significant Christian Protestant and Catholic population. Hindus mostly…
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East Asia
Philippine President Aquino III visits S. Korea to discuss trade, investment
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III begins a two-day state visit to South Korea on Oct 17 to discuss trade, investment and defense cooperation. It wasn’t clear on Wednesday whether the trip would even take place, as President Aquino rushed to the central Philippines to inspect heavy damage from Tuesday’s 7.2-magnitude…
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South East Asia
Clash of values over Bukit Brown, Singapore’s ‘Angkor’
In 1860, the jungles of Cambodia yielded a hidden secret when French naturalist Henri Mouhot stumbled upon the ruins of Angkor Thom. Intriguing wall figures and building architecture had led him to the long-lost Bagon at Kampong Thom in the deep forests of the Tonle Sap Lake, of whose grandeur…
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South East Asia
APEC leaders meet on sustainable growth, regional cooperation
The 21st informal economic leaders’ meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) kicked off here on October 7 in Bali, Indonesia, with sustainable growth and regional cooperation high on the agenda. This year’s APEC gathering, themed “Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Global Growth,” highlights such topics as achieving sustainable growth with…
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