Southeast Asia

A U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in Vietnam on March 4 for the first time since the end of the war, as the former foes bolster military ties in the face of Beijing’s build-up in the disputed South China Sea.

A bank manager in Italy has been sacked after she refused to provide credit to a Turkish company, the Sabah newspaper reported on Feb. 28.

Two Indonesian Christians were publicly flogged in conservative Aceh province Feb. 27 for playing a children’s entertainment game seen as violating Islamic law, as hundreds of onlookers ridiculed them and took pictures.

Police teams busted a drug gang in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district after seven months of surveillance, apprehending the ring’s female leader and 15 suspects, the Sabah newspaper paper reported on Feb. 22. 

Philippine senators began a public inquiry on Feb. 19 into the $300 million purchase of two navy frigates, to determine whether President Rodrigo Duterte’s closest aide had interfered in the procurement process.

The international military maneuvers "Cobra Gold" are taking place on the territory of Thailand, they are considered one of the largest in the Asia-Pacific region. More than 11,000 troops from 29 countries will participate in the exercises, the Ministry of Defense announced in the kingdom on Tuesday.

Two armed ethnic groups signed a cease-fire in Myanmar yesterday in a move which the government hopes will revive a flagging peace process dogged by continuing fighting and widespread distrust of the army.

A British warship will sail from Australia through the disputed South China Sea next month to assert freedom of navigation rights, a senior official said yesterday in a move likely to irk Beijing.

Two armed ethnic groups signed a cease-fire in Myanmar yesterday in a move which the government hopes will revive a flagging peace process dogged by continuing fighting and widespread distrust of the army.

The government is working on a new regulation that will make it compulsory for 500,000 public transport vehicles to install “black boxes” by the end of 2019, in a move to help to reduce deadly accidents, daily Sabah reported on Feb. 6.