Amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, President Joko Widodo has followed through on a two-year-old pledge to strengthen Indonesia’s military presence on Natuna Besar, the largest of several hundred small islands on the southern fringe of the waterway. Indonesian officials familiar with the plan say the 1,720 kilometer island — the closest large land mass to an increasingly assertive China — will soon be equipped with a surface-to-air missile system, elements of a marine battalion and upgraded air and naval base facilities. The military base was opened in mid-December. The dailyReport Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox In 2017, the government produced an updated national map in which the country’s 200 nautical mile economic exclusion zone (EEZ) north of the Natuna islands was renamed the North Natuna Sea – a move that subsequently drew protests from China. In a formal letter to the Indonesian embassy in Beijing, China’s … [Read more...] about Indonesia arming up in the South China Sea
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Hello, 2019: The world rings in the new year with fireworks, protests, and prayers for the dead
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By The Associated Press Mon., Dec. 31, 2018 Fireworks, concerts, spiritual services and political addresses abounded to mark the transition to 2019 as revelers around the globe bid farewell Monday to a year filled with challenges to many of the world’s most basic institutions, including political, trade and religious ones. A look at how people around the world are ushering in 2019: RIO DE JANEIRO More than 2 million people celebrated the new year on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. A 14-minute fireworks display ushered Brazil into 2019 only hours before far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro will be sworn in as president. Article Continued Below Many Brazilians were on the road to the capital of Brasilia on Monday night to watch the former army captain’s inauguration Tuesday afternoon. The last evening of 2018 in Rio was a sticky 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius), and many Brazilians took a dip in the water and made their offerings to … [Read more...] about Hello, 2019: The world rings in the new year with fireworks, protests, and prayers for the dead
Hello, 2019: Revelry, reflection mark transition to new year
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By The Associated Press Mon., Dec. 31, 2018 Fireworks, concerts, spiritual services and political addresses abounded to mark the transition to 2019 as revelers around the globe bid farewell Monday to a year filled with challenges to many of the world’s most basic institutions, including political, trade and religious ones. A look at how people around the world are ushering in 2019: RIO DE JANEIRO More than 2 million people celebrated the new year on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. A 14-minute fireworks display ushered Brazil into 2019 only hours before far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro will be sworn in as president. Article Continued Below Many Brazilians were on the road to the capital of Brasilia on Monday night to watch the former army captain’s inauguration Tuesday afternoon. The last evening of 2018 in Rio was a sticky 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius), and many Brazilians took a dip in the water and made their offerings to … [Read more...] about Hello, 2019: Revelry, reflection mark transition to new year
News Chasing shadows: can technology save the slaves it snared?
LONDON - For Filipina teenager Ruby, a Facebook message offering a job in a cyber cafe across the country seemed too good to be true. It was. Days later, the 16-year-old orphan was dragged in front of a webcam by her new employers and forced to perform sex acts for clients - becoming another captive in the growing global slave trade to be lured, trapped and abused through technology. "It was like a bomb exploded ... I had been totally fooled," Ruby, now 21, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the back of an empty church in Tagaytay city in the Philippines. "I felt degraded and disgusted - I blamed myself," she said. "I was forced to do things you could not imagine a 16-year-old having to endure." Webcam slavery: tech turns Filipino families into cybersex child traffickers Modern technology - be it mundane messaging apps or complex cryptocurrencies - is fuelling the modern-day slave trade by enabling traffickers to ensnare more victims, expand their illicit empires, and outfox law … [Read more...] about News Chasing shadows: can technology save the slaves it snared?
Election 2015
Welcome to The Myanmar Times ongoing analysis of Myanmar's highly-anticipated election. We've set up an Election Parties page – a handy "cheat-sheet" of sorts – to help you keep track of major parties, as well as an Election Voices page, where you can find conversations with candidates and electoral experts, and comments from you, our readers. We've also been covering the results as they develop live over on our Election Live Blog – check it out! To get involved in the conversation, send us a message at Facebook.com/TheMyanmarTimes, Tweet us @TheMyanmarTimes using the hashtag #MyanmarElection or send us an email at [email protected], Subject: "People's Pundit" and have your voice heard! Final Pyithu and Amyotha Hlttaw results, as of the final UEC results announcement November 22 For more information, including full party tallies, check out our election live blog, and to see results for the Pyithu and Amyotha Hluttaws … [Read more...] about Election 2015