Eastern Briefings

Politics

Post Hanoi summit failure, speculation grows on what new mode of defense may be. Following the failure to reach an agreement at last month’s summit between the US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, tension has been building between the two sides, threatening the negotiations that they have built over the past year. While the breakdown of their second meeting did not lead to a war of words, North Korea said it was considering suspending talks with the United States, while Washington accused Pyongyang of “not doing what it needs to do.” The communist leader warned in his New Year’s speech this year he would have to find a new way for defending the North if the US did not keep its promises. As the US appears to have no intention of taking the “commensurate measures” the North seeks for the denuclearization steps it has taken, speculation has grown as to whether

Politics

Six of them were involved in the Marawi siege in the Philippines. Thirteen suspected militants, including six pro-Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members allegedly involved in the deadly Marawi siege in southern Philippines, have been detained by Malaysian authorities. Malaysia’s national police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said 12 Filipinos and a Malaysian were arrested on March 11 and 12 by police’s Counter Terrorism Division, with the help of Special Branch, Sabah police and elite multi-tasking special forces unit 69 Commando. “They were detained for their suspected involvement in several terror groups… either the ASG, Maute combatants or the Royal Sulu Force (RSF),” he said in a statement on Monday (March 18). “Some of them were also involved in giving protection to foreign terrorist fighters who are hiding in Sabah.” The first arrests, the Inspector-Genera

Politics

Many have called on the International Criminal Court to investigate Duterte’s deadly drug war. International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors will be denied entry and deported if they try to enter the Philippines to investigate President Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity, Malacañang said on Monday. “Certainly we will not allow any attempt at interfering with the sovereignty of this country,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters a day after the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC became official. The President withdrew the Philippines from the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal last year after ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that she had opened a preliminary examination of information brought against the Philippine leader about thousands of extrajudicial killings in his brutal war on drugs. Investigation can go on

Politics

The decision was made by the country’s National Human Rights Commission. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has delivered its opinion to the Constitutional Court that criminal penalties for women who undergo abortion, as well as doctors who perform them, are unconstitutional. The current law on abortion violates the right to self-determination, among others, the rights panel said Monday. Marking the first time the rights panel has ever expressed an official position on the highly volatile issue, it sent its statement to the court last week ahead of next month’s ruling on the constitutionality of the nation’s abortion laws.

Politics

Sunday’s upcoming election will be the first poll Thailand has held since the military took over in 2014. Next Sunday will be a crucial day for Thailand, as voters cast their ballot to decide on the country’s future. But what happens after the ballot boxes are closed remains uncertain. Will this election end a decade-long political conflict, or will it just create a new round of battles? With voting just a week away, observers and political scientists The Nation spoke to believe that the most likely scenario after the poll is that General Prayut Chan-o-cha will return as prime minister, thanks mainly to support from Phalang Pracharat Party and its allies. Based on this scenario, Uttama Savanayana’s Phalang Pracharat along with its allies – Ruam Palang Prachachat

Politics

Many worshipers from Southeast Asia were present at the mosque at the time of the shooting. At least forty-nine people were killed and dozens injured in shootings at two mosques in New Zealand’s second-largest city of Christchurch on Friday (March 15) in what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said was a well-planned terror attack, forcing the government to place the country on its highest security threat level, the Straits Times reported.  Police said all mosques in the country have been asked to close their doors. Christchurch was also initially placed under lockdown. Ms Ardern said Friday was “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”. “This can only be described as a terrorist attack,” Ms Ardern sai