Straits Times Interactive - SE ASIA

Arroyo declares emergency

24 Nov 2009 06:31 GMT

MANILA - PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo on Tuesday put parts of the troubled southern Philippines under emergency rule following a massacre of at least 22 people there, her spokesman said.

Spokesman Cerge Remonde said the proclamation covered the province of Maguindanao, where the massacre occurred on Monday, and two other neighbouring areas that together had a combined population of 1.54 million people.

Ex-Thai PM Samak dies

24 Nov 2009 03:22 GMT

BANGKOK - FORMER Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej, who was forced from office in 2008 for appearing in television cooking shows, died of liver cancer on Tuesday at the age of 74, associates said.

Samak led the People Power Party (PPP) to victory in elections in December 2007, the first since a military coup that ousted his ally, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, just over one year earlier.

Massacre toll set to rise

24 Nov 2009 03:19 GMT

MANILA - THE death toll from an attack on a group of journalists and politicians in the lawless southern Philippines is set to climb above 22 with the discovery of shallow graves, officials said on Tuesday.

The victims were among a group of more than 40 people abducted by gunmen linked to a powerful politician on the southern island of Mindanao on Monday.

Filipino spy case ruling delayed

23 Nov 2009 23:48 GMT

NEWARK (New Jersey) - A JUDGE has delayed a ruling on whether a former Philippine National Police officer who served prison time for receiving classified US government documents will be extradited to face murder charges.

US Magistrate Esther Salas heard arguments on Monday on Michael Ray Aquino's attempt to fight extradition.

Orang utans get trackers

23 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR - VETERINARIANS have been tracking three orang utans they implanted with tiny transmitters as part of efforts to protect the endangered primates once they reintroduce them to the wild, a Malaysian official said on Monday.

French and Austrian veterinarians worked with the Wildlife Department in eastern Sabah state on Borneo island to implant specially designed coin-sized transmitters in the necks of the orang utans for the first time ever in September, said Dr Senthilvel Nathan, the department's chief field veterinarian.

Gunmen fire on US homes

23 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

BANDA ACEH (Indonesia) - GUNMEN fired at the home of two American academics in the Indonesian province of Aceh on Monday, the latest in a string of attacks directed against foreigners in the region, police said.

No one was injured in the attack on the home of Michelle Ahmad and Sarah Willis in the provincial capital Banda Aceh at around 5.45am (2245 GMT Sunday, 6.45am on Monday Singapore time), police and witnesses said.

Moves may not be enough

23 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT

JAKARTA - PRESIDENT Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday night that he has told the police and Attorney-General's Office to drop the corruption case against two graft-busters for lack of evidence.

He also defended the government's bailout of Bank Century in November last year, dismissing rumours that part of the bank's funds benefited his Democratic Party campaign team and his own re-election team.